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Bullet points on long exm questions?

Hey guys,

I did my WJEC ICT exam last week, and at the end of the paper was a 13-mark question about online gaming. "Excellent", I thought. "I know about this topic." The question had something like 'Give three input devices (blah blah)' 'Name two health hazards (blah blah blah)' and 'Discuss advantages and disadvantages of online gaming'. So I did it, and I'm pretty sure I made all the points, but the problem is, I bullet-pointed them all. I've read in the textbook since that we shouldn't bullet point answers to essay questions... but I just thought it would be easier for the examiner to mark! I've done similar things in my C1 and B1 exams. My question is, will I lose marks for bullet-pointing my answers to these sort-of questions (even if the content is right)?
If it was a Quality Of Written Communication question, then yes, you will lose marks.
If not, I don't think it matters.
Reply 2
Avatar for savandwich
savandwich
OP
7
Original post by surina16
If it was a Quality Of Written Communication question, then yes, you will lose marks.
If not, I don't think it matters.


Nooooo D: but that's surely not fair, because it's never explicitly stated! If I find out that I'm only a few marks off of a higher grade etc, is it worth taking this issue up with WJEC/Edexcel?
Reply 3
Avatar for z33
z33
21
apparently examiners hate that - only do it when you have time left
and yes I only found this out like last month :cry2: been doing it all my life because prose is bare effort T_T
Original post by savandwich
Nooooo D: but that's surely not fair, because it's never explicitly stated! If I find out that I'm only a few marks off of a higher grade etc, is it worth taking this issue up with WJEC/Edexcel?


I just looked at a random WJEC ICT paper and saw that on one question they do seem to assess QWC - it says "Remember that the quality of written communication will be assessed in this question". If your question didn't say that then you won't get marked down, but the examiners do definitely state when you are assessed on QWC.
I don't think you should talk to the exam board as they'll say it was your fault :redface:
Reply 5
Avatar for savandwich
savandwich
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7
Original post by surina16
I just looked at a random WJEC ICT paper and saw that on one question they do seem to assess QWC - it says "Remember that the quality of written communication will be assessed in this question". If your question didn't say that then you won't get marked down, but the examiners do definitely state when you are assessed on QWC.
I don't think you should talk to the exam board as they'll say it was your fault :redface:


But QWC isn't really specific... in English exams, it always says "all questions should be answered in continuous prose"... so surely they'd write that? I'm perfect with spelling, punctuation, grammar, etc so it seems... just really unfair :frown:
Reply 6
Avatar for savandwich
savandwich
OP
7
Original post by z33
apparently examiners hate that - only do it when you have time left
and yes I only found this out like last month :cry2: been doing it all my life because prose is bare effort T_T


and here I thought they'd prefer it because it's easier to mark! :banghead:
Original post by savandwich
But QWC isn't really specific... in English exams, it always says "all questions should be answered in continuous prose"... so surely they'd write that? I'm perfect with spelling, punctuation, grammar, etc so it seems... just really unfair :frown:


Idk I think they would just assume you know what they mean by QWC... :redface:
It's fine, you won't get 0 marks, you'll just lose some because it wasn't in continuous prose :smile:
Original post by z33
apparently examiners hate that - only do it when you have time left
and yes I only found this out like last month :cry2: been doing it all my life because prose is bare effort T_T


but prose takes up more space when you don't know the answer :colone:
Reply 9
Avatar for savandwich
savandwich
OP
7
Original post by surina16
Idk I think they would just assume you know what they mean by QWC... :redface:
It's fine, you won't get 0 marks, you'll just lose some because it wasn't in continuous prose :smile:


Yeah, that's true. And maybe if I had a really nice examiner...? :colondollar:

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