Command words

Command words are the words and phrases used in exams and other assessment tasks that tell students how they should answer the question.

The following command words are taken from Ofqual’s official list of command words and their meanings that are relevant to this subject. In addition, where necessary, we have included our own command words and their meanings to complement Ofqual’s list.

Define

Specify meaning

Describe

Set out characteristics

Discuss

Present key points (detailed writing taking into account different ideas, characteristics and/or features)

Explain

Set out purposes or reasons

Give

Produce an answer from recall

Identify

Name or otherwise characterise

Name

Identify correctly

Outline

Set out main characteristics

Tick

Put a mark to indicate something is correct

What

Specify something

Which

Specify from a range of possibilities