Are exams getting easier? Check out these old papers...

I'd probably fail those papers (except the English one which just looks similar to Standard Grade English, which also had a paper where you had to write a story on the fly), but that's because I haven't learnt the syllabus. If I'd learnt the material the exams are testing you on I don't think it would be that bad.

Reply 23

Entangled

12

In the English paper question choices:

f) How would you explain the increase in violence in our society?
g) 'The Clown.'

Reply 24

Llewellyn

14

Very interesting... thanks for this.

I can't see a noticeable difference in difficulty.

Reply 25

Joinedup

The 'hardness' of the papers is only part of the story. A levels before 1988 were norm graded so only the top 10% of students in a cohort got an A grade.
Even with identical papers half the people getting A grades under current grading would definately not get an A grade under pre 1988 grading.
Therefore it was more difficult to get an A grade in the distant past.

Reply 26

Jimbo1234

It has been shown time and time again that the exams are getting easier due to a build up of the little things eg. how many marks a question is worth, breaking a question down into 8 parts etc.
Those papers would be very hard as you have very little to go on as you are just given a short question and nothing else.

Reply 27

Chief Wiggum

I'm not sure about the actual questions' difficulty, but the proportion getting the higher grades has increased dramatically, so in that sense, it is easier to get a higher grade nowadays.

Simply looking at the question papers without taking into account the proportion of people getting awarded the different grades is slightly pointless IMO.

Reply 28

chrissy dee

1

but a lot of people could have failed then or studied really hard.

Reply 29

It's one thing judging the paper's difficulty but it's another thing entirely when you look at the grade boundaries and mark schemes. I have no way of knowing exactly what level of detail and accuracy they really expected at O Level compared to now.

It could easily be the case that old papers were hard but had low grade boundaries which would mean that you really can't tell the difference between the two courses in general. This is because difficulty should actually be based on how hard it is to get an A (or any grade) rather than the difficulty of the actual question.

For example I could ask the question "Is there a god?" on a GCSE or A Level paper. Objectively the question is the same wherever you put it, but looking at the context you'll know it would be much harder to get an A in the A Level version of the question, therefore it's harder.

Sorry for being pedantic, I'm just questioning whether question difficulty is really a reflection on how hard the papers actually are (which sounds very nonsensical but still :P )

Reply 30

Original post by Chief Wiggum

I'm not sure about the actual questions' difficulty, but the proportion getting the higher grades has increased dramatically, so in that sense, it is easier to get a higher grade nowadays.

Simply looking at the question papers without taking into account the proportion of people getting awarded the different grades is slightly pointless IMO.

Perhaps teaching methods are better now and people work harder than they used to, spending more time on exam critical ideas rather than straying from the syllabus etc. It is actually a very complicated process to compare exams, especially considering all the politics involved.

Reply 31

Original post by Jimbo1234

It has been shown time and time again that the exams are getting easier due to a build up of the little things eg. how many marks a question is worth, breaking a question down into 8 parts etc.
Those papers would be very hard as you have very little to go on as you are just given a short question and nothing else.

Typically males tend to perform better with non-modular exams (i.e. one exam at the end of a course and no coursework) so perhaps it isn't so much a case of changing difficulties but simply appealing to different learning methods? Perhaps ones that are more prevalent or practical even.

Reply 32

Venom123

16

The older papers were painfully easier!

Reply 33

RachelSophia

14

the difference is exams these days reward marks for structure, fluency and exam technique as well as what you write. [exams normally say you will be rewarded marks for your written communication in this question]

There are more areas you can get marked in which makes it seem easier to get more marks... however i believe it is harder because there is so much you're considering when you're writing and you put in so much more prep... whereas before you could know all the information and not have to write quick essay plans in the exam. We spent weeks of lessons purely on how to structure your answer.

As for the difficulty in questions... i think they're pretty much the same... if anything i'd rather take an older paper and get judged on my knowledge rather than my struggle with essays and structure :s-smilie:

Reply 34

. . .

Original post by shooks

No matter how results day goes tomorrow, there's one age-old story that's bound to appear in the papers: "exams are getting easier".

Hmm, are they really? Here are some old O-level exam papers from 1968 - how do they compare to the exams you've just taken? There are exams in there on commerce, geography, history, english and science.

How do they stack up against today's A-levels?

Of course we are going to find it difficult we haven't revised or learned the content for them.

Reply 35

laura1234

1

Bearing in mind that the people who took those exams will have probably revised the things that came up then no they probably aren't easier. The only thing which would seem to make them harder is the way in which they are marked, e.g. one paper says that candidates are penalized if they miss things out whereas now you can't loose marks and for many subjects examiners have to mark 'positively'. I didn't take any of those subjects at A level so they look pretty hard to me but give me an A level paper from 2012 in a subject I never took and I would say the same thing.

Reply 36

Jam'

15

Original post by shooks

This is me. :smile:

All the best for results day - you could always try take your mind off it for five minutes in the arcade. :tongue:

Oh awesome! Welcome xD

We have an arcade? Say whaaaa

Reply 37

Jimbo1234

Original post by Nice Marmite

Typically males tend to perform better with non-modular exams (i.e. one exam at the end of a course and no coursework) so perhaps it isn't so much a case of changing difficulties but simply appealing to different learning methods? Perhaps ones that are more prevalent or practical even.

Non-modular exams are easier though as you do not need to retain as much information.

Reply 38

Original post by Jimbo1234

Non-modular exams are easier though as you do not need to retain as much information.

What do you mean by easier? One may be more difficult than another but it is all relative to how other people perform when it comes to the actual grade you achieve. Besides, it might not be easy for some people to sustain constant revision throughout the year for modules - many people (typically guys more than girls) find cramming easier to stomach and these are the people who perform better in non-modular exams. For them non-modular exams are easier.

Reply 39

Jimbo1234