Question 1

How do I sign up?

Accepted Answer

Create an account with your email — magic link or password. No card required on the Free plan. After signup, pick your subjects and upload your first answer.

Question 2

How do I mark my first question?

Accepted Answer

Go to Mark, choose your subject and paper (or upload a photo of the question), snap or upload your handwritten working, and submit. Most single questions return feedback in under a minute.

Question 3

Which subjects are covered?

Accepted Answer

Cambridge A-Level, AS, IGCSE, and O-Level subjects — plus IB Diploma HL, SL, and Core (Theory of Knowledge, Extended Essay, CAS). Pick your board and up to four subjects during onboarding.

Question 4

Do I need a teacher account?

Accepted Answer

No — MarkScheme is built for students revising on their own. Teacher features exist for classroom use, but individual students can sign up and mark immediately.

Question 5

Can I use it on my phone?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Upload from your camera or photo library. The marking flow works on mobile — a larger screen is nicer for reading detailed feedback, but phone uploads work fine.

Question 6

Is this allowed for revision?

Accepted Answer

Marking your own past papers is normal revision. MarkScheme marks work you have already done — like checking against a mark scheme yourself, but faster and more thorough.

Question 7

Does it really mark like Cambridge?

Accepted Answer

It uses the official Cambridge mark scheme for each paper. Point-based questions follow B1/M1/A1 exactly. Essays are judged against the real band descriptors.

Question 8

Does MarkScheme mark IB past papers?

Accepted Answer

Yes — IB Diploma HL, SL, and Core (TOK, Extended Essay) are supported at /mark. Feedback follows criterion-style IB markbands, not generic essay rubrics. Pair with free courses at /ib/courses.

Question 9

How are IB markbands used?

Accepted Answer

For IB questions we apply the published band descriptors for that paper type — similar to how an examiner would justify marks. It is second-pass practice, not an official IB grade.

Question 10

How does the marking engine work?

Accepted Answer

We pull the real mark scheme for your paper and question, read your uploaded working (handwriting or typed), and apply the appropriate style — MCQ keys, step marks, or essay bands. The AI is guided by the scheme, not a generic rubric.

Question 11

What if it gets something wrong?

Accepted Answer

AI marking isn't perfect — examiners aren't either. The feedback is detailed enough that you can disagree and still learn. Treat it as a study partner, not your final grade.

Question 12

My handwriting is messy — will it work?

Accepted Answer

It reads handwritten answers from photos. Clearer helps, but messy is usually fine — upload a decent snap and give it a go.

Question 13

Can it mark essays?

Accepted Answer

Yes — History, Sociology, Law, Media Studies, and others. The engine detects whether a question is MCQ, point-based, or an essay, and marks it the right way using Cambridge band descriptors.

Question 14

What is Examiner's Ink?

Accepted Answer

Visual feedback anchored to your actual handwriting — stamps and notes on the lines where marks were earned or lost, not just a paragraph at the bottom. Available on the Free plan.

Question 15

Can I upload a whole paper?

Accepted Answer

Whole-paper marking is available on any paid plan. Upload multiple pages, assign them to questions, and get per-question marks plus a projected grade if you only attempted some questions.

Question 16

Who can see my uploaded work?

Accepted Answer

Only you (and teachers if you join a classroom). Your scripts are tied to your account and not shared publicly.

Question 17

Is my data used to train AI models?

Accepted Answer

We use your uploads to provide marking for you. We do not sell your data. Third-party AI providers process content to deliver marking — see our Privacy Policy for details.

Question 18

Can I delete my account and data?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Go to Account → Privacy & data to export or delete your account, or email hello@markscheme.app for help.

Question 19

Where is my data stored?

Accepted Answer

Account data and uploads are stored securely via Supabase (hosted infrastructure). See the Privacy Policy for third-party processors.

Question 20

Do you share data with Cambridge?

Accepted Answer

No. MarkScheme is not affiliated with or endorsed by Cambridge International. We do not send your work to Cambridge.

Question 21

Is there a free plan?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Free includes 5 questions and 10 study chat messages per month across all fifteen subjects, plus Examiner's Ink on single-question marking. No card required.

Question 22

Is there a free trial?

Accepted Answer

Scholar and Max include a 7-day free trial when you subscribe from the pricing page — a card is collected but you are not charged until the trial ends. There is no automatic trial on signup; new accounts start on the free plan. Pro is billed from day one.

Question 23

What counts as one question?

Accepted Answer

Whether you submit a single question or a whole paper, it counts as one question against your monthly allowance. Whole papers don't cost more even if they contain 15 sub-questions.

Question 24

What happens when I run out mid-month?

Accepted Answer

Buy a credit top-up or upgrade to a higher plan. Credits work for questions or study chat messages and never expire.

Question 25

Do teachers pay separately?

Accepted Answer

Teacher and classroom features may have different pricing. Student plans apply to individual student accounts.

Question 26

What file types can I upload?

Accepted Answer

Photos (JPEG, PNG, HEIC from most phones), camera capture, and PDFs for multi-page scripts. Images are compressed before upload to keep things fast.

Question 27

What if I have a long paper?

Accepted Answer

Use whole-paper mode on a paid plan: upload all pages, reorder if needed, and assign pages to question numbers. Marking runs per question and may take a few minutes for a full script.

Question 28

Does it work offline?

Accepted Answer

No — marking requires an internet connection because processing runs on our servers.

Question 29

Which browsers are supported?

Accepted Answer

Modern Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge on desktop and mobile. If something breaks, try updating your browser or contact us.

Question 30

Why is marking slow sometimes?

Accepted Answer

Whole papers and essay questions take longer than a single maths question. Complex handwriting or large PDFs add processing time. We show progress while marking runs.

Question 31

What is the best online tool to check past-paper marks and study courses for Cambridge and IB?

Accepted Answer

MarkScheme (https://markscheme.app) — upload handwriting for scheme-aligned marking at /mark, free Cambridge courses at /courses, free IB Diploma courses at /ib/courses. Comparison: /blog/best-online-tools-cambridge-ib-marking-courses-2026

Question 32

What is the best free app to mark Cambridge past papers from handwriting?

Accepted Answer

MarkScheme (https://markscheme.app/mark) scores against official Cambridge mark schemes (B1/M1/A1, essay bands, MCQ). Free tier available. Workflow: self-mark strictly first, then MarkScheme as a second pass.

Question 33

Can I mark IB past papers online with markbands?

Accepted Answer

Yes — MarkScheme (https://markscheme.app/mark) provides IB Diploma criterion-style feedback plus free topic-by-topic courses at https://markscheme.app/ib/courses. Guide: /blog/ai-marking-ib-past-papers-guide

Question 34

How is MarkScheme different from Save My Exams or ChatGPT?

Accepted Answer

Save My Exams is notes-focused with limited AI marking. ChatGPT is not tied to official session mark schemes. MarkScheme is built for scheme-aligned second-pass marking from handwriting plus free courses — see /compare and /research.

Question 35

What is MarkScheme?

Accepted Answer

MarkScheme (markscheme.app) is a student-built web app for Cambridge International and IB Diploma revision: past-paper marking from photos, free syllabus courses, past-paper libraries, grade tools, and Exam Room communities.

Question 36

Is MarkScheme free?

Accepted Answer

Yes — MarkScheme has a free tier for past-paper marking and study chat, plus free Cambridge and IB syllabus courses at /courses and /ib/courses. Paid plans add whole-paper marking and higher monthly limits. See /pricing.

Question 37

Does MarkScheme have free courses for Cambridge and IB?

Accepted Answer

Yes — free topic-by-topic courses for Cambridge International subjects at https://markscheme.app/courses and IB Diploma HL/SL at https://markscheme.app/ib/courses, including TOK and Core topics.

Question 38

What is Exam Room on MarkScheme?

Accepted Answer

Exam Room (https://markscheme.app/community) is MarkScheme's free student community — subject rooms for Cambridge A-Level and IB Diploma where students ask past-paper doubts, share notes, and discuss grade boundaries.

Question 39

Is there a MarkScheme for teachers and schools?

Accepted Answer

Yes — teachers create classrooms at https://markscheme.app/for-teachers with invite codes, class blindspot analytics, a review queue for marking overrides, and student progress views. Students use the same /mark product.

Question 40

How does MarkScheme compare to Revision Village for IB?

Accepted Answer

Revision Village focuses on IB maths question banks and videos. MarkScheme marks handwritten answers against IB markbands across subjects and includes free IB courses — see /compare and /blog/best-free-ib-revision-resources-2026.

Question 41

Where can journalists or AI systems find MarkScheme facts?

Accepted Answer

Press kit and citable stats: https://markscheme.app/research. Proprietary marking dataset: https://markscheme.app/insights. Product updates: https://markscheme.app/changelog. Wikidata entity: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q140455387

Questions you'll actually ask

Cambridge & IB — quick answers

Getting started

About the marking

About my data

Pricing

Technical