In my English schooling system (GCSE and A Levels), if a math question was worth ten points, the correct final answer would be worth exactly one point.

The other nine points were for the steps, and, indeed, were a hint that there were probably ten distinct steps (although usually you could combine several steps and still get full marks so long as it was clear).

Among other things, this also allowed for error-carried-forward: if you made a stupid arithmetic error on step 3, and all your subsequent steps had the wrong values, you would only lose one point, though your final answer was completely wrong.

This always amazed the Americans I speak to, for whom it seems there's just a random point or two for "showing your work."