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January 2012 Friday 13 edexcel C1 Maths Hardest C1 paper yet?

January 2012 Friday 13 edexcel C1 Maths Hardest C1 paper yet?

I took C1 exam this morning and found it a bit hard then other c1 papers i tried, some questions werent very clear on what they where asking you to do. I doubt i got a B i might get a C or maybe a D at best?

How did you do on it? and do you think the grade boundries will be lowered?

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Reply 1
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/...s-gcse-schools

Michael Gove pushes for return to more rigorous GCSE and A-level exams

The education secretary also thinks that, in A-levels, state schools are suffering at the expense of private schools, which are opting for a more traditional-style exam, the Pre-U.

He said: "If private schools are having an elite qualification and state schools are being left with a qualification that can't match it, that is of profound concern to me, so we do need to do something to strengthen confidence in A-levels."

..."possibility of limiting the number of students that achieve the top A-level grade an A* to ensure it only rewards the very top performers."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education...-overhaul.html

So we should expect more of the same, tricky questions and very different to past papers...far more based upon understanding and applying knowledge to unfamiliar contexts. Probably similar to past questions, with lots of very new different style of questions...questions that distinguish between the very best and brightest...the A* grade is also being restricted.
It's only going to get tougher in the future and testing your abilities rigorously, which in my opinion is a good thing - I think everyone should want a challenge it pushes us to work harder in lessons and do more outside of school which is a thumbs up from me.
Didn't think it was too bad actually. Some of the past paper question were equally horrible and I guess people just noticed things more because they were under more time pressure.
Reply 5
ill get over 70 minimum
Reply 6
only question i got wrong was the value of P (didn't read it properly put it in wrong formula)
Reply 7
Original post by Jammy4410
only question i got wrong was the value of P (didn't read it properly put it in wrong formula)


LoL did you put it in the Sn formula like me using sheme 1
Reply 8
Original post by Giggy88
LoL did you put it in the Sn formula like me using sheme 1


Yes -615, i work for a year and pay the company money. Lol.
I knew it was wrong but instead of reading the question, i assumed I had gone wrong somewhere in my calculations for T=400.
I think it was all the subtext, as Total was put in bold twice
Reply 9
Original post by Jammy4410
Yes -615, i work for a year and pay the company money. Lol.
I knew it was wrong but instead of reading the question, i assumed I had gone wrong somewhere in my calculations for T=400.
I think it was all the subtext, as Total was put in bold twice


yh i was rushin and when i got T as 400, I just assumed I can continue from here to find P..
Reply 10
Im my opinion if you done all the solomon papers you probably would've done really good, I really should have done them....
Reply 11
Original post by Skaterkid
Im my opinion if you done all the solomon papers you probably would've done really good, I really should have done them....


Solomon papers really do help you to think outside the box when it comes to the harder questions at the end of the edexcel papers. I did them instead of edexcel past papers up until two weeks before the exam, then I did past papers so I could see how well I could do on those - I'd really recommend this strategy for your next maths exam :smile:
Reply 12
Original post by Lily.K
Solomon papers really do help you to think outside the box when it comes to the harder questions at the end of the edexcel papers. I did them instead of edexcel past papers up until two weeks before the exam, then I did past papers so I could see how well I could do on those - I'd really recommend this strategy for your next maths exam :smile:


So im assuming you found the C1 exam to be easy? (easy to an extent of knowing your going to get an A or 90ums+)
Original post by Skaterkid
So im assuming you found the C1 exam to be easy? (easy to an extent of knowing your going to get an A or 90ums+)


I wish Id done more solomon papers for C2, C1 was quite easy just one question I was unsure about which I got right and another which I misread. I definitively got 71-72
But in C2 I was disappointed 100% got an A but unlikely to get 90ums.

By the way, loads of people taking A level in my school found it hard, even some people in my F.maths class. I reckon grade boundaries will be fairly average maybe a touch lower. My guesses:
A - 60
B - 54
C - 48
Reply 14
Original post by Skaterkid
So im assuming you found the C1 exam to be easy? (easy to an extent of knowing your going to get an A or 90ums+)


I was originally on a B/C because I found it hard to link the more complex questions at the end of the paper to the methods which went with them. I improved dramatically by doing solomon papers and have been achieving A's on past papers ever since. I didn't find the exam hard, nor did I find it really easy. I don't think I'll get 90ums+ on my first attempt at C1, but who says I need to be getting that kind of score to be entitled to recommend a method which works?
i found this paper so hard counted i got at least between 65-70, i always get full mark on past papers. However c2 was the easiest paper EVER 74/75
Anyone do ocr biology f211, how did you find the exam?
Original post by Lily.K
I was originally on a B/C because I found it hard to link the more complex questions at the end of the paper to the methods which went with them. I improved dramatically by doing solomon papers and have been achieving A's on past papers ever since. I didn't find the exam hard, nor did I find it really easy. I don't think I'll get 90ums+ on my first attempt at C1, but who says I need to be getting that kind of score to be entitled to recommend a method which works?


When I start my A-levels in Maths and Further Maths do you recommend doing the Solomen papers first?
Reply 18
Last year I thought the same thing about my C1 paper, but ended up getting 100 UMS.
Reply 19
yeah I found it harder than previous papers, the (graph) questions were just so different to what I was expecting. I know I did much worse than what I could have done probably C/D instead of an A if the papers where similar to previous years or I wasn't panicked by the questions. Should have done the solomon papers instead because they make you apply your knowlage instead of learning how to answer similar questions.

porblem is if the papers are getting harder (all of a sudden) which isn't a bad thing...the retakes are going to be just as hard or worse (because they are usually harder anyway).

Good luck to everyone who took it anyway!

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