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The Marking Guideline Hack Manual

A memo isn't one big all-or-nothing answer — it's a checklist of small, separately awarded marks. Here's how to collect as many of them as possible, even on a question you don't fully know how to solve.

1
The Formula Mark ( $M$ )
Write down the correct formula, verbatim from the formula sheet, before you do any calculation. This is an automatic mark on its own — you earn it just by quoting the right formula, even before substituting a single number.
2
The Substitution Mark ( $A$ )
Substitute the known values correctly into the formula. This mark is earned the moment your substitution is correct — even if your calculator input goes wrong afterwards and the final answer is wrong.
3
Continued Accuracy ( $CA$ )
If you make a mistake in one part of a question (say, 3.1) but then use that incorrect answer correctly for the rest of the question (3.2, 3.3), you still earn full marks for those later parts. One mistake does not have to cost you the whole question — so never stop working just because an earlier answer feels wrong.

⚠️ Practical takeaway: never leave a question blank. Writing down the correct formula alone, even with no further working, is often worth a mark on its own — and every step after that keeps earning marks independently, even from a wrong start.

See this in action

Browse real memos in our past papers library to see exactly how M, A, and CA marks are assigned question by question.

Browse past papers

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