For questions where there is a word limit, what happens if candidates write more or less than is specified?

While examiners are trained not to be overly strict on the exact boundaries of the word limits, candidates should nevertheless be strongly advised to stay within them. Candidates who write less than is specified will clearly reduce their opportunity to demonstrate their learning, and so are likely to self-penalise. Likewise, candidates who write more than the specified number of words may self-penalise in two ways: firstly, their writing may not be sufficiently concise as to meet the demands of the question (i.e. with regard to the specifications on focus and task completion in the relevant mark scheme); secondly, they may not leave enough time to adequately address other parts of the question paper.