A-Level Results Day: Grade Boundaries

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username1967813

anyone do OCR RS (philosophy and ethics) ? I thought it went well but now its coming closer to results day I keep overthinking what I wrote, I hate the subjectivity of humanities subjects,

Hi, I do OCR Philosophy and Ethics, I found the former paper OK but the latter a bit dodgy but manageable.

Subjectivity is a nightmare but it's positively marked so you'll get credit for what you put rather than losing credit for what you miss out

Reply 41

marioman

Original post by lucabrasi98

Wait what?

The Edexcel mark schemes are already available.

On either 17th August or 18th August then the AQA mark schemes should be leaked onto this site (usually they are only available to teachers).

Reply 42

carpe.noctem

Original post by connieiscrazy

I feel like my essay structure was appealing, so i'm worried I won't even reach the higher bands. But anyway good luck, are you planning on continuing philosophy and ethics to A2 ?

Reply 43

username1967813

Original post by nihil_nimis

I feel like my essay structure was appealing, so i'm worried I won't even reach the higher bands. But anyway good luck, are you planning on continuing philosophy and ethics to A2 ?

I'm sure you will have done fine - AS structure is a lot easier than A2, as in the first part of the question you just regurgitate info and in the second you just put simplistic strengths and weaknesses.

I've actually just finished A2 and I found the topics much more in-depth. As I've said, the essay structure is slightly different - you have to both regurgitate info and sustain an argument in the same essay, but it's pretty easy to get the hang of.

Reply 44

carpe.noctem

Original post by connieiscrazy

Oh i'm actually really unsure if I should continue it to A2, I find it incredibly interesting but i've heard its a big step up in both workload and difficulty in A2 and people tend to do worse in A2, is this true ? Also do you have any tips or advice for doing philosophy and ethics at A2 ? Sorry for all the questions. :redface:

Reply 45

Lannew1

Original post by bishbashbosh123

anyone know what grade boundaries could be like for OCR A2 F214 and F215 Biology exams? hopefully not a big increase!

I completely failed them so I probs brought them down singlehandedly

Reply 46

username1967813

Original post by nihil_nimis

No problem, I'm happy to help :smile:

If you're interested in it, that'll help with the workload as you'll be more willing to put the hours in because you enjoy it. Don't listen to the scaremongering; it is a step-up, but not a massive one, I didn't find it huge and got 30/35 or above in all essays all year (just bloody hope I got that in the exam lmao). The key thing for A2 essays is to sustain an argument but remember to acknowledge both sides of the question to show breadth of knowledge.

Reply 47

kerryrevie

Original post by lucabrasi98

Alright let's get this out the way. How many of you cheated on your ISA's which inevitably contributes to the disgusting grade boundaries we're going to see?

I have friends in 4 local schools and they all confirmed multiple classes cheated. Meanwhile there's our school doing it properly. It's so frustrating to know I'm inevitably getting a B grade max in the ISA. And that's in my best one. In my worst I'll probably get a D.

In first year biology I had an extremely strict teacher, like I asked her 'is this the beaker we have to use?' and she took marks off me, and didn't tell me the answer. I got an E in that ISA. 2nd year I resat it and did my A2 ISA with a different teacher, far more leniant but still did everything properly. All he did was show us how to do all the statistical tests beforehand, hinting that if we are looking at temperature between 2 beakers it would probably be for differences and therefore standard error (or whichever one it was). I believe I'm likely to get a C on my resit and an A/B on my A2 ISA. The chem teacher cheated (extra time, talking etc) and we all had to be under investigation for AQA, interviewed about the ISAs providing statements etc.. I think it's unfair that so many centres cheat and I'm glad they got rid of them, but in my opinion doing everything by the book with them is very difficult and grades are often compromised because of it :/. Hopefully the boundaries aren't too high since it's the last year they're doing them.

Reply 48

lucabrasi98

Original post by kerryrevie

. Hopefully the boundaries aren't too high since it's the last year they're doing them.

It's likely that grade boundaries will be high for that exact reason. People know they can't resit it so they'd be more likely to cheat. Ffs I know a girl that literally had her teacher put the mark scheme on the board using a projector. She got 49/50 and only lost a mark on her graph.

Tbh it's gotten to the point where I'm not mad because everyone else is cheating. It's naive to expect people not to. I'm mad because our teachers would rather us do it properly and be disadvantaged lol. At least if I miss my offer, i won't have to deal with bullcrap ISA's when i redo the year.

I feel especially bad for the kids in our class with Cambridge offers who need near full UMS in their others units to compensate for their poo A2 and AS ISA grades lol

Reply 49

kerryrevie

Original post by lucabrasi98

Yeah it's a shame that it's such a bad system, they should've gotten rid of them a long time ago. Your teachers should have just bit the bullet and let you get a decent grade in them :/.

That's true but in my experience with past papers and stuff, it isn't even that hard to get max UMS in the other exams :/ I mean it's not really easy but for someone who actually has an offer from Cambridge it's definitely doable. Just have to hope everyone is good enough in BIOL4/5 to make sure their ISA grade has little impact.

Reply 50

Aph

Original post by lucabrasi98

Ummm we can resit you know???
And cheating as you mentioned will always happen unfortunately. And it happens at the bad schools in my experience.

Reply 51

Windies

I did History A2 and everyone in my class ended up with 1-2 grades below on coursework mark.
Teacher told class to remove / not do a specific requirement of the coursework (i'd done it first draft and got marked down for it), once removed, after gone for internal moderation, head of department marked all of the coursework down for not doing iy.

Reply 52

antigone-

Original post by Windies

Jesus that is awful! Exactly why I hate coursework, it makes you far too reliant on your teacher. Is there not a way you can complain or contest the coursework mark?

Reply 53

-jordan-

Original post by Aph

Ummm we can resit you know???
And cheating as you mentioned will always happen unfortunately. And it happens at the bad schools in my experience.

It happens at all types of schools. If you give the teacher access to the mark scheme in advance they will struggle to resist temptation. Our exams officer stopped handing it out until the teacher showed they were completed. I remember reading in the news about one of the big sixth form colleges, with a good reputation, 1000+ students doing it across all the Science A-levels.

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 54

ConicalFlask

Teacher: Wouldn't you rather have a D you got by yourself than an A that isn't really yours?
Me: Ummm no I'll have the A thanks.

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 55

Aph

Original post by -jordan-

I think mine had all the stuff and didn't cheat at all. I was always told that the only ones who cheat are the ones who are bad and can't get student up to standard.

Reply 56

-jordan-

Original post by Aph

I think mine had all the stuff and didn't cheat at all. I was always told that the only ones who cheat are the ones who are bad and can't get student up to standard.

It depends on the teacher, not the school. I had a teacher last year that cheated them. But he left and this year we did the A2 one properly and it went fine. Ironically we did better this year.