Cambridge IGCSE Global Perspectives (0457): Topic: Social identity and inclusion — Practice 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 – examination boards hold copyright in their own papers. Use these alongside the official past papers from your board or school.

This practice set is for Cambridge IGCSE Global Perspectives (0457), using the Cambridge IGCSE Global Perspectives (0457) syllabus for examination in 2025, 2026 and 2027, Version 2 (published April 2025). “Social identity and inclusion” is one of the topics in section 3, and the topic list is used for Component 1 Written Exam, Component 2 Individual Report and Component 3 Team Project. Knowledge of content is not assessed. These questions use the topic to practise the assessed skills. Questions 1 to 9 practise the source and argument skills of Component 1. Questions 10 and 11 are planning tasks for the Individual Report and Team Project.

See also the study guide, revision notes, Global Perspectives hub and 0457 checklist.

Questions

1. Read Source A.

Source A – original text written for Marlbridge (all places, people and figures in Sources A to D are fictional)

Last September, Larkfield School (a fictional school) started a lunchtime “world club”, where students take turns to run activities from their own cultures. All 24 students who joined from other towns or countries that term took part. By December, 18 of the 24 newcomers said they had made at least one friend. The head teacher said: “This is the best idea we have ever had. Every school in the country should copy it. Newcomers will never feel lonely here again.”

Identify one fact and one opinion in Source A. [2]

2. Using Source A, explain why the head teacher’s view that every school in the country should copy the club is not fully supported by the evidence. [4]

3. Read Source B.

Source B – original text written for Marlbridge

Blog post by the owner of SmartStep Uniforms, a school uniform supplier in the fictional country of Veloria

Every school in Veloria should have one strict uniform, with no exceptions for cultural dress or traditional hairstyles. Uniform makes everyone equal. Students who look the same will simply get on better. Parents I speak to every week agree with me. Anyone who disagrees wants chaos in our schools.

(a) Explain what is meant by a vested interest and identify the vested interest in Source B. [3]

(b) Analyse two weaknesses in the reasoning of Source B. [4]

4. Study Source C.

Source C – original text written for Marlbridge

The fictional Brennmouth Youth Forum posted an online survey link on its social media page. Students aged 14 to 16 from three schools, which have 2,500 students in this age group, answered. Students ticked one group only. They were asked whether they agreed with the statement “I feel I belong at my school”.

Group	Respondents	Agreed	Percentage agreed
Born in Brennmouth	230	184	80%
Moved to Brennmouth in the last 3 years	120	54	45%
Have a disability (self-reported)	50	26	52%
Total	400	264	66%

(a) Identify the group least likely to agree that they belong at their school. [1]

(b) Calculate the difference, in percentage points, between students born in Brennmouth and students who moved there in the last 3 years. [2]

(c) Explain two reasons why Source C may not be reliable evidence of how all students in the three schools feel. [4]

5. The Youth Forum claims: “Newcomer students feel less included than students born locally.” Suggest how the Forum could improve its research to test this claim. [6]

6. For the issue raised in Source B, school dress and appearance rules, suggest one local, one national and one global perspective. For each, give one reason why someone might hold it. [6]

7. The town hall in a fictional town has council meetings on an upper floor with no lift. Explain two possible consequences of this, for two different groups. [4]

8. Read Source D.

Source D – original text written for Marlbridge

Two councillors in the fictional city of Marrow Bay discuss funding for festivals.

Councillor Reyes: Marrow Bay has five main cultural communities. Each should receive money for its own festival. When people celebrate their own traditions, they feel proud and respected. Last year, 3,000 people attended the Lantern Festival run by one community, which shows how popular these events are.

Councillor Hale: Separate festivals keep people apart. One shared city festival, where every community has a stage, would help people learn about each other. Everyone I know prefers events that bring the whole city together. If we fund five festivals, the city will become five separate towns.

Evaluate the arguments of the two councillors. Which argument is better supported? Give reasons for your judgement. [12]

9. The fictional Larkfield town council wants newcomer students in all its schools to feel more included. It is considering three courses of action:

• extending the world club (Source A) to every school
• free after-school classes in the main school language for newcomers
• a town-wide campaign challenging stereotypes about newcomers

Evaluate which course of action would be most effective. Use evidence from Sources A and C and your own reasoning. [16]

10. A student plans an Individual Report with the title “What is social identity?”

(a) Explain why this title is not suitable for the Individual Report. [2]

(b) Suggest an improved global research question on this topic and explain how it allows the student to research different perspectives. [4]

11. A Team Project team chooses this local issue: “Students who use wheelchairs cannot reach the school library, which is on an upper floor with no lift.”

(a) Suggest an action the team could carry out. [2]

(b) Explain how the team could measure the success of its action. [3]

(c) Suggest how team members could divide their research so that each explores a different perspective. [3]

Answers

Questions 8 and 9 are extended responses: the real exam marks these with levels of response, not point by point. The points below are indicative.

1. Fact: “18 of the 24 newcomers said they had made at least one friend” (or “all 24 newcomers took part”). [1] Opinion: “This is the best idea we have ever had.” [1] [2] Examiner insight: Quote the exact words from the source; a paraphrase can blur a fact into a claim and lose the mark.

2. Only 24 students took part, a small sample for judging a whole country. [1] It ran in one school for one term, so it may not work in other schools. [1] 6 of the 24 newcomers had not made a friend, so “never feel lonely” goes further than the evidence. [1] There is no comparison with newcomers before the club, and the result is self-reported. [1] [4] Examiner insight: Link a specific detail of Source A to the claim it fails to support; vague calls for “more research” earn little.

3. (a) A vested interest is when a person or organisation would gain if others accepted their argument. [1] The writer owns a school uniform supplier. [1] Strict uniform rules with no exceptions would mean more families must buy the standard uniform, so the writer could profit. [1] (b) “Parents I speak to every week agree with me” relies on anecdote [1], and these parents are probably the writer’s own customers, so they are not a representative sample. [1] “Anyone who disagrees wants chaos in our schools” attacks opponents instead of answering their reasons. [1] The claim that students who look the same “will simply get on better” has no evidence and ignores students who may feel excluded if their cultural dress is banned. [1] Examiner insight: “Analyse” needs each weakness named and then explained; naming a flaw alone earns half the credit.

4. (a) Students who moved to Brennmouth in the last 3 years (45%). [1] (b) 80% minus 45% [1] = 35 percentage points. [1] (c) The link was posted on social media, so only students who follow the Forum could answer [1], and these self-selecting students may have stronger views than others. [1] Only 400 of 2,500 students responded, about 16%, so most students’ views are missing. [1] Students could tick one group only, so a newcomer with a disability is counted in just one group, which distorts the comparison. [1] Examiner insight: Reliability marks come from the method details printed in the source, so name the sampling method and the response rate rather than saying “the sample is small”.

5. Choose a random sample from each school’s register instead of using a social media link [1], so every student has an equal chance of being asked. [1] Survey all three schools with a higher response rate, for example in tutor time. [1] Let students tick more than one group, so overlaps such as newcomers with a disability are recorded. [1] Use a scale or several questions instead of one agree statement, so “belonging” is measured more fully. [1] Interview some newcomers to find the reasons behind their answers. [1] [6] Examiner insight: “Suggest” rewards specific, practical steps; each method change should say what weakness in the original research it fixes.

6. Local: a student whose family wears traditional dress [1] may want exceptions because their appearance is part of their identity. [1] National: the Velorian education ministry [1] may value clear rules that every school can apply in the same way. [1] Global: international human-rights organisations [1] may value non-discrimination and the freedom to express cultural identity. [1] [6] Examiner insight: A perspective earns credit only with its reason; naming “the government” with no reasoning scores half at most.

7. Wheelchair users cannot attend meetings [1], so their views are not heard when decisions about their town are made, which may leave them feeling excluded. [1] The council may lose residents’ trust and face complaints [1], and its decisions may be worse because it misses views of people affected. [1] [4] Examiner insight: “Two different groups” means two different people or bodies; two consequences for the same group earn only half the marks.

8. Indicative points:

• Reyes uses evidence: 3,000 people attended one festival. [1]
• But attendance shows popularity, not that people feel “proud and respected”, so the evidence does not match the claim. [1]
• Reyes gives no information about who attended; it may have been mostly the community itself. [1]
• Reyes’s argument rests on a value: respect for each group’s own identity. [1]
• Hale offers no data at all. [1]
• “Everyone I know prefers…” is anecdotal and a generalisation. [1]
• “The city will become five separate towns” is an exaggerated prediction with no evidence. [1]
• Hale’s argument rests on a different value: unity and a shared city identity. [1]
• Hale’s claim that a shared festival helps people learn about each other is plausible but unsupported. [1]
• Comparison: Reyes provides some evidence; Hale relies on assertion. [1]
• Neither considers cost, or a mixed option such as a shared festival plus smaller community events. [1]
• Judgement: Reyes’s argument is somewhat better supported because it uses some evidence, but both are incomplete. [1] [12] Examiner insight: The judgement is about the quality of each argument, not which festival you would prefer; top answers compare evidence, reasoning and values directly.

9. Indicative points:

• World club: tackles a direct cause of exclusion by giving newcomers a place to meet others and a valued role. [1]
• Source A: 18 of 24 (75%) newcomers made a friend, which suggests some success. [1]
• But the evidence is self-reported, from one school, over one term, with no comparison group. [1]
• It is cheap but needs committed student leaders in every school. [1]
• Language classes: tackle a language barrier that may stop newcomers joining lessons and friendships. [1]
• They could raise confidence and results over time. [1]
• But after-school classes may separate newcomers from other students. [1]
• Paid teachers make it more costly. [1]
• Campaign: aims at the attitudes of the whole community, not only newcomers. [1]
• It could have long-term effects if stereotypes are a cause of exclusion. [1]
• But campaigns are easy to ignore and may reach mainly people who already agree. [1]
• Its success is hard to measure. [1]
• Source C: 45% of newcomers feel they belong compared with 80% of local-born students, so a large gap needs closing. [1]
• Judgement: the world club is likely to be most effective in the short term: cheap, direct and with some evidence. [1]
• Justification: it could be combined with language classes for students who need them. [1]
• Success could be measured with a repeat of the Source C survey using a better sample. [1] [16] Examiner insight: Strong answers judge every option against the same criteria (cause tackled, cost, evidence, who benefits) and use figures from the sources.

10. (a) It is descriptive, asking for a definition rather than a debate. [1] It does not divide opinion, so there are no clearly different perspectives or courses of action to research. [1] (b) “Should school dress rules allow exceptions for cultural identity?” [1] It is global because schools in many countries have dress rules and students from varied cultures. [1] A national perspective could come from a ministry of education. [1] A local perspective could come from teachers or parents in the student’s own area. [1] Examiner insight: A good research question names a debate (“should”, “to what extent”, “how effective”), not just a subject.

11. (a) Set up a ground-floor library corner with a book-request system, and present evidence to the head teacher asking for a permanent solution. [1] This is realistic because the team can do it without building work. [1] (b) Record how many books are requested through the corner each week. [1] Survey wheelchair users and other students before and after. [1] Compare the results with a target the team set in advance. [1] (c) One member interviews students who use wheelchairs about their experience. [1] One interviews the librarian or staff about what is practical. [1] One researches how other schools have improved access. [1] Examiner insight: Team Project actions must be things the team can actually carry out and evidence; “build a lift” is not a team action.

Where marks are usually lost

• Calling a source “biased” without saying what evidence is missing or who gains.
• Saying “the sample is too small” without quoting the figures or the sampling method.
• Judging an argument by whether you agree with it instead of by its evidence and reasoning.
• Evaluating only one course of action in a question that offers several.
• Choosing an Individual Report title that does not divide opinion.
• Proposing a Team Project action the team cannot carry out itself.

Next steps

• Check gaps with the free diagnostics.
• More source practice: Written Exam practice, Individual Report practice, Team Project practice.
• Book a free trial class to have a teacher mark your answers.

Official syllabus

Cambridge IGCSE Global Perspectives (0457) syllabus for examination in 2025, 2026 and 2027, Version 2 (published April 2025). Your teacher will confirm which topics your class studies.