The Student Room Group
Uni students - Complete our survey >>
Uni students - Complete our survey >>
Uni students - Complete our survey >>

Article: How to do better without knowing more

Scroll to see replies

Original post by Angelil
1) I'm an examiner for several different exam boards, and this is probably the case for many examiners (i.e. they don't work for only one board). So that will even things out a bit - although the system will be flawed whether you have one board or several.

2) I wouldn't say 'many', lol. A few, possibly. Examiners are experienced teachers, for the most part, and they don't accept everyone who applies, either.

3) Only in exceptional cases (e.g. the paper is lost).

4) This is basically Ofqual's job (i.e. to standardise between boards). And as with 1), it's possibly flawed but better than nothing. Not sure where your evidence comes from in terms of WITHIN individual exam boards, though; I've been standardised by many different exam boards and never had any problem with the quality of the process. Furthermore, you are standardised for each exam series/each paper you mark - you don't just do it once and that's it for your whole examining career. Equally, if after standardisation, your marking is not of good quality, exam boards can and will terminate your contract.

5) See above

6) Believe it or not, the people in the exam system are human. We want to be fair to you and want you to get the result you deserve. Hard as it may seem to believe, we're not in it primarily for the money.


I know people in the exam system are human and are not in it for the money, the markers at least. Thats one of the many reasons that make the exam system so unreliable because people are unreliable. Essay subjects are the worst, the marking is so subjective and even other subjects the mark schemes are awful. Why would anyone be in it for the money when markers are paid so little, its the exam boards that are the ones in it for the money. (e.g. Edexcel or Pearson is a private FOR PROFIT company).
Of course people are unreliable individually. That's why you have the moderation process to make a collective judgment, and if, as mentioned, your marking as an individual does not reach that collective standard, you will have your contract terminated.

It's probably not perfect, because people aren't perfect. But it's the best we have.
Original post by chantsrichards89
not always that easy especially in essay based exams, as you can think you are writing the right thing but have missed the point of the question. sometimes you can completely blag the answer and get a good grade other times you can't. it all comes down to how much attention you paid in lessons to begin with as you could do all of the revision in the world but it isn't going to help if you didn't pay attention to begin with.


i agree, don't be stupid in the first place, and don't take a subject if you're incapable.
Sometimes it's useful to get the questions with the most marks out of the way. For example, in my science papers I flick to the six marker and answer it before I do the rest so that if I run out of time at least I have something down for it. I always attempt each question because you still might manage to receive a few marks if you show working out even if you get the wrong answer
Original post by aeroline1999
I know people in the exam system are human and are not in it for the money, the markers at least. Thats one of the many reasons that make the exam system so unreliable because people are unreliable. Essay subjects are the worst, the marking is so subjective and even other subjects the mark schemes are awful. Why would anyone be in it for the money when markers are paid so little, its the exam boards that are the ones in it for the money. (e.g. Edexcel or Pearson is a private FOR PROFIT company).


are so just sad or bitter because you messed up your exams?
where do you spout all this rubbish from?
do you have sources?
or do you just make rubbish up to assure yourself that you are actually clever on the inside?
lololololololololololololololololololololol
Reply 25
Avatar for Ellie402
Ellie402
I aced timings in my science GCSEs by spending the first 3 mins of every exam quickly reading / scanning the entire paper, front to back. That way you know what's coming, you can find the easier questions faster, if you're stuck, and you're also far less likely to miss questions by not seeing them. Interestingly enough, and I'm not sure of the scientific proof of this, but apparently if you read a question before coming back to it later in the paper, your subconscious starts working on it without you realising it, whilst you are already focused on the task at hand. I know this works very well for me, but it may just be me, or I was lucky I remembered more when I got to, say for example, the final, really difficult question that I would have struggled with in the beginning, or not been able to complete in time if I hadn't already read the question and had anidea of where the question was going, and what was required.

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you