Cambridge O-Level Urdu (3247/3248): Paper 1 Revision Notes

Condensed for the final weeks. For the full explanation, use the Cambridge O-Level Urdu study guide.

Which syllabus are you sitting?

Confirm this with your centre before revising — the two Paper 1s are built differently, and revising the wrong one wastes time.

	3247 First Language	3248 Second Language
Paper 1 length	1 hour 30 minutes	1 hour 45 minutes
Paper 1 marks	50 (25 + 25)	50 (across 5 exercises)
Paper 1 shape	Part 1 Reading, Part 2 Writing	5 sequential exercises
Paired with	Paper 2 Texts (Unseen Passage, Poetry, Prose)	Paper 2 Grammar, Writing and Translation
Pitched at	Native/near-native fluency	Learned additional language

3247 Paper 1 — the two parts

Part 1 Reading (25 marks). A non-literary text of roughly 400 words, followed by comprehension questions of differing lengths. Marked against four reading objectives:

• R1 understand and convey information
• R2 understand, order and present facts, ideas and opinions
• R3 evaluate information and select what is relevant
• R4 recognise implicit meanings and attitudes

Part 2 Writing (25 marks). ONE composition of 300–400 words, chosen from argumentative, discursive, descriptive and narrative titles — each title drawn from a different topic or sub-topic, so two titles can still share a topic area provided they sit under different sub-topics:

1. Health and fitness (food and diet, sport)
2. The world of youth (music, culture, technology, fashion, family)
3. Education and training (school and college, work, professions)
4. The world we live in (current affairs, environment, travel, media)

Marked on three strands, each with its own levels ladder: task achievement and content (10 marks), structure (5 marks), language (10 marks). Top band language needs a confident range of complex sentence structures and wide, accurate vocabulary; top band content needs insight and full relevance, not just correctness.

3248 Paper 1 — the five exercises

Exercise	Task	Marks
1	Short-answer questions — skim/gist reading of a short functional text	8
2	Multiple matching — match sentences to paragraphs	9
3	Note-making — brief notes under supplied headings on a longer text	9
4	Summary — ≤100 words on the Exercise 3 text, own words	10
5	Writing exercise — ~150-word functional piece from a prompt (purpose, format and audience specified)	14

Reading carries roughly 60% of Paper 1’s marks and Writing roughly 40% — the opposite emphasis from Paper 2, which is almost entirely Writing. Source texts are drawn from contemporary topics — the syllabus gives examples such as conservation and environment, culture and history, science and technology, music and the arts, and human achievement, but the list is not exhaustive and texts may be drawn from any other area of contemporary interest.

Register — heavily credited in both

Task	Register	Address
Formal letter, report, article	Formal / neutral	aap throughout
Functional email/message (3248 Ex. 5)	Matches the specified audience	Check the brief
Message to a friend	Informal	tum acceptable
Discursive/argumentative composition	Formal but engaged	Consistent stance

Drifting register mid-answer costs marks even when every sentence is individually correct — in 3248 this sits inside W5, “use appropriate register and style/format for the given purpose and audience”, one of the five writing objectives actually named in the syllabus.

The accuracy points that decide the grade

• Gender agreement — noun, adjective and verb must all agree.
• Verb forms — tense, person, and a consistently held respect level.
• Postpositions — ne, ko, se, mein, par. The ergative ne is required with transitive perfective verbs.
• Izafat and compound constructions in formal writing.
• Script accuracy — dots and diacritics; a misplaced dot changes the word entirely.
• Punctuation to Urdu convention.

3248 marks this explicitly under W4 (control of punctuation and spelling); 3247 folds it into the Language strand.

Reading method — both syllabuses

1. Read the questions or task headings first.
2. Read the passage once for overall sense.
3. Locate the relevant section and read around it — inference answers (3247’s R4; 3248’s Exercise 1 gist questions) are rarely contained in one sentence.
4. Answer in your own words wherever a summary or note-making task requires it — 3248’s Exercise 4 explicitly instructs this.
5. Match answer length to the marks available for that part.

Exam traps

• 3247: choosing a Part 2 title without checking which topic area it belongs to, then running out of things to say. Writing under 300 words or drifting well past 400.
• 3248: exceeding the ~100-word limit on the Exercise 4 summary, which wastes time for no extra credit. Copying phrases from the Exercise 3 text instead of using your own words.
• Both: mixing respect levels within one piece; losing gender agreement under time pressure; omitting the ergative ne; leaving no time to check the script at the end.

Self-test

1. How many marks does 3247 Part 2 Writing carry, and across which three strands?
2. Name the four 3247 Part 2 topic areas.
3. How many exercises does 3248 Paper 1 contain, and which one is worth the most marks?
4. Which 3248 assessment objective explicitly names register and audience?
5. Why does a misplaced dot matter in Urdu script?

Answers: 1. 25 marks, across task achievement and content (10), structure (5) and language (10). 2. Health and fitness; the world of youth; education and training; the world we live in. 3. Five exercises; Exercise 5, the writing exercise, carries the most at 14 marks. 4. W5 — “use appropriate register and style/format for the given purpose and audience.” 5. Urdu letters are distinguished by the number and position of dots; changing them produces a different letter and therefore a different word.

Related resources

• Cambridge O-Level Urdu study guide — the full explanation this page condenses
• Paper 1 practice questions — original exam-style questions in both the 3247 and 3248 formats, with full worked answers