IGCSE ICT: Styles — Practice Questions

These questions cover Cambridge IGCSE ICT 0417 Topic 14: creating, editing and applying styles (font, alignment, enhancement, spacing and bullets) and the purpose and uses of a corporate house style. Styles are tested practically in Papers 2 and 3, so the page includes practical-style tasks with an examiner-style checklist as well as theory questions.

These are original questions written for Marlbridge, for revision and practice on this content. They are not reproduced past-paper questions, and they do not replicate the exam’s exact structure, question count or mark tariffs — Cambridge International holds copyright in its own papers. Use these alongside the official past papers available through your school or Cambridge directly.

Related: Styles revision notes · Styles study guide

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Section A: short answers

1. Give one example of a serif font and one example of a sans-serif font. [2]

2. State what is meant by fully justified text. [1]

3. Name two settings for bullets that can be included in a style. [2]

4. State what is meant by a corporate house style. [1]

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Section B: structured questions

5. A report contains 40 headings, each formatted by hand.

(a) Explain two advantages of using a heading style instead. [2] (b) The manager decides all headings should be green rather than blue. Describe how a style makes this change quick. [2]

6. A style called Body must be 11 point, serif, fully justified, with 6 points of spacing after each paragraph and single line spacing.

(a) Identify which of these settings are spacing settings. [2] (b) Explain the difference between spacing after a paragraph and line spacing. [2]

7. A bank uses a corporate house style for its letters, leaflets and website.

(a) Describe two features that the house style is likely to specify. [2] (b) Explain two benefits to the bank of using a house style. [4]

8. A student formats one subheading by hand as 14 point, bold, underlined and left aligned. She wants every other subheading to match.

(a) Describe how she can update the Subheading style to match this example. [2] (b) Give two text enhancements and two text alignments named in the 0417 syllabus. [2] (c) Explain why a sans-serif font is often chosen for headings in a presentation shown on screen. [1]

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Section C: practical-style tasks

Use a word processor with any three paragraphs of text and a short list. Take screenshots of each style’s settings as evidence.

9. Create a style called MB-Title: sans-serif font, 20 point, bold, centred, dark red. Apply it to the first line. [5]

10. Create a style called MB-Bullet: square bullets, indented 1.5 cm, left aligned, 1.5 line spacing. Apply it to the list. [4]

11. Modify MB-Title so that it is also italic, and show that the change has been applied to the title. [2]

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Worked answers

1. Serif: for example Times New Roman, Georgia, Garamond (1). Sans-serif: for example Arial, Calibri, Helvetica, Verdana (1). [2]

2. Text that is aligned to both the left and the right margins (spaces between words are adjusted). [1]

3. Any two of: bullet shape; alignment; line spacing; indent. [2]

4. A set of rules for the appearance of all of an organisation’s documents, such as fonts, colours, logo and layout, so they look consistent. [1]

5. (a) Any two: all headings are formatted consistently (1); formatting is applied in one step, saving time (1); fewer errors because no heading is missed or formatted differently (1); headings can be used for navigation or a contents list (1). [2] (b) Modify the heading style’s colour once (1); every heading that uses the style changes to green automatically, so 40 headings do not have to be changed by hand (1). [2]

6. (a) 6 points of spacing after each paragraph (1); single line spacing (1). [2] (b) Spacing after a paragraph is the gap left below the paragraph before the next one begins (1); line spacing is the space between the lines inside the paragraph (1). [2]

7. (a) Any two: the fonts and sizes to use; the colour scheme; position and size of the logo; layout/margins; styles for headings and body text. [2] (b) Two benefits explained, 2 marks each:

• Customers immediately recognise the bank’s documents (1), which builds a consistent brand image and trust (1).
• Staff can use templates and styles that already exist (1), saving time and making documents from different departments look the same (1).
• Documents look professional (1), which gives a good impression of the bank (1). [4]

8. (a) Select the formatted subheading (1) and choose to update the Subheading style to match the selection, so every paragraph using that style takes the new formatting (1). [2] (b) Enhancements: any two of bold, underline, italic (1). Alignments: any two of left, right, centre, fully justified (1). [2] (c) Sans-serif letters have no small strokes, so they are often clearer and easier to read on a screen or from a distance (1). [1]

9. 1 mark each:

• Style named MB-Title exactly.
• Sans-serif font.
• 20 point and bold.
• Centred.
• Dark red, and the style is applied to the first line. [5]

10. 1 mark each:

• Square bullet shape.
• Indent 1.5 cm.
• Left aligned with 1.5 line spacing.
• Style applied to every item in the list (no items formatted by hand). [4]

11. The MB-Title style definition is changed to include italic (1); the title updates automatically to bold italic without being reformatted by hand (1). [2]

Frequently asked questions

Does the examiner check the style or just the appearance? Tasks often ask for evidence of the style settings, so take a screenshot of the style definition as well as the formatted text. Text that only looks right may not show that a style was created and applied.

What is the quickest way to change every heading at once? Modify the heading style. Every paragraph that uses that style updates automatically.

Official syllabus

Cambridge International, Cambridge IGCSE Information and Communication Technology (0417) syllabus for 2026, 2027 and 2028, Version 3, Topic 14 “Styles” (Create, edit and apply styles; Corporate house style).