petition for lower grades. gcse aqa biology 2016

There was nothing wrong with the exam, the first question about the drinking habits of 15 year olds is a sensible one, are not the majority of entrants 15 years of age?? this means that it is easier for those people to engage in the question. It should be a familiar situation for goodness sake, we all know that 15 year olds drink in varying amounts even I know that and I am a Senior Soldier (Salvation Army).

While I agree that the grade boundaries don't need to be lowered (what real impact would this have?), I don't think the biology paper was a good paper; while logic-based questions should account for a portion of the exam because logical skills are key to both biology and life in general, the majority of questions should be knowledge-based because the primary aim of exams is to test how well students have learnt the specification. This paper did not successfully test the above criteria because it focused on common sense questions, with a significant minority of marks requiring revised knowledge, or even an understanding of biology. As a result, somebody who walked into that exam without revising could easily gain twice as many marks as somebody who revised for a month. At the risk of sounding childish, this is not a fair assessment of work ethic or biology knowledge.

I don't believe a petition will have any significant effect, but I do believe it is wise to feedback to AQA that this exam will likely be a poor reflection of biology knowledge and that some students are dissatisfied with the content of questions, because they will continue to write biology papers for many years to come. Moreover, I believe the exam board has a moral responsibility because they are entrusted by schools and pupils alike to deliver suitable, appropriate content. Again, while I am not as outraged as many by the controversial question surrounding teenage drinking, it is, ultimately, illegal for 15 year olds to buy alcohol (as was the implication of this question), and as a trusted organisation I do believe the exam board should support and encourage the adherence of laws.

Personally, I don't drink and I wasn't offended by it, but I do think it is understandable why some people were. There is no logical reason why the statement could not have been altered so that the party in question were 18-year-olds, thus ensuring the information was in keeping with British law and upholding their implied moral responsibility.

I am afraid I disagree with your assessment of the exam, although the first 1 or 2 questions were mainly testing common scene after this actual knowledge was then heavily tested. May I be so bold unto asking in what capacity are you commenting on this paper, currently it seems you are using secondary bias data from hypersensitive pupils.

I am commenting based on my own, first-hand experience of the paper which I sat on Tuesday. Admittedly, I can't remember the paper in full, however I do remember my assessment of the paper at the time of sitting the exam and feeling thoroughly disappointed by the unprecedented changes in exam format.
I also accept that my opinion may be over-exaggerated as a result of my own disappointment.

Obviously, the exam will have been received differently by different people, and I am sure we will have to agree to disagree, but I stand by my statement that the exam was disproportionate in its testing of 'How Science Works' knowledge as opposed to the rest of the specification, and clearly this is a sentiment shared by many others who sat the exam. I have not signed the petition because I agree that the grade boundaries should remain as they have in previous years, and to an extent I accept that some specification knowledge would be required to achieve strong grades in this exam, however I do feel that a number of expectant higher-grade pupils will be disappointed come results day because this particular paper tested a different set of skills to previous papers. In this way, this paper will not be a fair reflection in comparison to previous years, as it is testing a different skillset, thus defeating the core, although wildly controversial, purpose of examinations.

I would also like to re-iterate my earlier statement that the exam board are in a position of trust, and it is understandable that some would feel this trust has been misplaced following the inclusion of underage drinking as a topic in the exam, despite the fact that this is not a belief I particularly share, as this was my core reason for replying to your comment. I don't wish to start a debate, I just felt I should balance the arguments in the thread.

One question, are you concerned about London Taxi drivers not carrying bails of hay?

There was nothing wrong with the exam, the first question about the drinking habits of 15 year olds is a sensible one, are not the majority of entrants 15 years of age?? this means that it is easier for those people to engage in the question. It should be a familiar situation for goodness sake, we all know that 15 year olds drink in varying amounts even I know that and I am a Senior Soldier (Salvation Army).