Document production

A page break ends the page and starts new text at the top of the next — the layout stays IDENTICAL either side. A section break creates a boundary across which the layout itself can change, letting a two-column block sit between single-column sections. To make only part of a document display in columns you therefore need a section break, not a page break.

Many candidates recall "gutter margin" but far fewer can EXPLAIN its purpose. The mark scheme wants two elements: (1) extra margin space on the edge where the document will be bound, and (2) so the printed text is not obscured by the binding. A vague "a type of margin" or "extra space" gives only element (1) and earns no credit on an "explain the purpose" question.

An indented paragraph moves EVERY line in from the margin by the same amount. A hanging paragraph does the opposite: the FIRST line stays at the margin and only later lines are indented — as in a bibliography entry, the label at the margin and the text hanging beneath. Candidates often cannot recall "hanging", or default to "indented" for both and lose the mark.

Numbers with differing digit counts (e.g. 4.50 and 12.99) align correctly ONLY with a decimal tab, which lines every value on its decimal point. A left tab aligns the start of each entry, a right tab the end, so both leave the decimal points ragged; a centred tab centres each value. Choosing any of these for a figure column is the common error.

Leaving both off lets find-and-replace change text you did not intend. Match case restricts matches to the same upper/lower-case pattern, so "Sun" will not alter "sun". Whole words restricts matches to a standalone word, so "Sun" is not changed inside "Sunday". Each guards a different match, so a task needing both requires BOTH on.

A bookmark is a NAMED MARKER placed at a point in a document — it records a location and holds no content itself. Candidates wrongly think it "stores" the linked material, or relate it to a physical book. A hyperlink is the clickable link that jumps to that bookmark; the bookmark only tells it WHERE to go, and must already exist before a hyperlink can target it.

Both make characters smaller, so candidates mix them up. Superscript raises text above the line — a footnote marker or exponent. Subscript lowers text below the line — the numbers in a chemical formula. The direction is the whole distinction: superscript up, subscript down; a further slip is enhancing the wrong character.