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AQA A2 Biol4 January 2012 pre- exam discussion

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Reply 80
Original post by Besakt
Yeah the AQA biology has a very awkward mark scheme, I suppose we just have to practice, I did the June 2011 exam paper as a mock and got 46/75 which is terrible because of poor exam technique, it is so annoying as you know the answer but because you haven't phrased the answer in the way they like you don't get the mark.


Exactly! It's so frustrating. I've had rejections from Leicester AND Sheffield because their mark scheme is just so rubbish I can't get the one particular word/phrase their looking for when I I know the content so well I could teach the entire class the syllabus from memory and everything would be 100% clear and correct, but no. The annoying thing is my college swapped from OCR to AQA the year I was supposed to start A Levels and the only reason I have to now do AQA is because I had to leave because of illness:angry:

I hate AQA.
It's true that AQA questions tend to be vague and not direct to the point of what they're actually asking for. Just make sure you state the obvious - this is one thing that a lot of people don't do.
Reply 82
Original post by Apa
Exactly! It's so frustrating. I've had rejections from Leicester AND Sheffield because their mark scheme is just so rubbish I can't get the one particular word/phrase their looking for when I I know the content so well I could teach the entire class the syllabus from memory and everything would be 100% clear and correct, but no. The annoying thing is my college swapped from OCR to AQA the year I was supposed to start A Levels and the only reason I have to now do AQA is because I had to leave because of illness:angry:

I hate AQA.


One of the questions in the June 2011 paper I answered word for word from the textbook which I've now pretty much memorised and still got it wrong. :redface: Don't even get me started on "how science work" questions.
Reply 83
Original post by NutterFrutter
It's true that AQA questions tend to be vague and not direct to the point of what they're actually asking for. Just make sure you state the obvious - this is one thing that a lot of people don't do.


The questions they ask are so vague yet the answers they want are so specific. :confused:
Original post by Besakt

Original post by Besakt
The questions they ask are so vague yet the answers they want are so specific. :confused:


It's AQA, it's to be expected. I hate the HSW questions. :yep:
Original post by Besakt

Original post by Besakt
One of the questions in the June 2011 paper I answered word for word from the textbook which I've now pretty much memorised and still got it wrong. :redface: Don't even get me started on "how science work" questions.


Do you have the June 2011 paper on your computer?
Reply 86
Original post by NutterFrutter
Do you have the June 2011 paper on your computer?


No but I will probably have the paper copy on monday. Why?
Original post by Besakt

Original post by Besakt
No but I will probably have the paper copy on monday. Why?


Was wondering if you could upload it. :wink: Doesn't matter. :smile:
Reply 88
Original post by NutterFrutter
Was wondering if you could upload it. :wink: Doesn't matter. :smile:


:lol: Got a mock exam coming up?
Original post by Besakt

Original post by Besakt
:lol: Got a mock exam coming up?


Not until after the Christmas break. :colone:
Reply 90
Original post by NutterFrutter
Not until after the Christmas break. :colone:


I wouldn't want to rob you of the satisfaction of revising awkward AQA biology mark schemes. :biggrin:
Original post by Besakt

Original post by Besakt
I wouldn't want to rob you of the satisfaction of revising awkward AQA biology mark schemes. :biggrin:


Indeed, I shall be revising. :yep:
Original post by Apa
I took both my Unit 1 & 2 exams in June due to illness and I just completely failed on both of them. On every other exam I took in June I got an A and I have had a look at my paper and the mark scheme and my exam technique is just not at all what they're asking for. Has anyone else overcome problems with their exam techniques? I don't want to do the past papers too many times because once you've done a paper one and gone through the mark scheme any future attempts are obviously not going to be accurate of your knowledge.


soo frustrating, i know the feeling.
I did unit one in january, and knew averything but got 40%, so i had just scraped an E,
i resat in January aswell as the rest of AS, and got a B in that exam which i was really happy with :smile:,
i felt the same about the past papers, but i did them untill i would get at least 90% of the marks, because in the exam they can ask pretty much the same questions about diffrent species/ phrased slightly diffrently, and you will know exactly what to look for,
dont be to disheartened, im sure youl do better in january :smile:
Reply 93
Original post by 05dochertyf
soo frustrating, i know the feeling.
I did unit one in january, and knew averything but got 40%, so i had just scraped an E,
i resat in January aswell as the rest of AS, and got a B in that exam which i was really happy with :smile:,
i felt the same about the past papers, but i did them untill i would get at least 90% of the marks, because in the exam they can ask pretty much the same questions about diffrent species/ phrased slightly diffrently, and you will know exactly what to look for,
dont be to disheartened, im sure youl do better in january :smile:



That is so comforting to hear - I just got back my mock exam for Jan and I got like 45% and I know full well that I could recite the syllabus by heart :/ Going from an E to a B is amazing though, it's really encouraging! I've printed out literally every exam on the AQA website so hopefully doing them thousands of times will help! :P
Original post by Apa
That is so comforting to hear - I just got back my mock exam for Jan and I got like 45% and I know full well that I could recite the syllabus by heart :/ Going from an E to a B is amazing though, it's really encouraging! I've printed out literally every exam on the AQA website so hopefully doing them thousands of times will help! :P


Ahh thankyou, i'm aiming for an A now to do it at university, i know i love it, and i know i can do it its just the bastard mark schemes that get me :frown:(,

Good! im like 100% sure it was the past papers that got my grade up, and also doing quiz cards is really usefull so you don't forget infomation :smile:! i'm sure youl do fine, you've still got a month or so to revise!

good luck!
Reply 95

I got 41% in my mock - argh! I got all the graph and analysis questions wrong. At least I know what to focus on but still...
Original post by tamii05

Original post by tamii05
I got 41% in my mock - argh! I got all the graph and analysis questions wrong. At least I know what to focus on but still...


Graph questions should be common sense, most people will lose marks for not understanding the graph properly. But describing the graph will most likely be linked with correlation, linking between two or more factors and causation.

Analysis questions can be tricky, as they're HSW (most of the time).
Reply 97
Original post by NutterFrutter

Original post by NutterFrutter
Graph questions should be common sense, most people will lose marks for not understanding the graph properly. But describing the graph will most likely be linked with correlation, linking between two or more factors and causation.

Analysis questions can be tricky, as they're HSW (most of the time).


Guess I don't have much common sense, lol. Hopefully, it'll get better with practice. :crossedf:
Hey guys, do any of you know what the grade boundaries for an A at AS were last June?
Original post by hellz_bellz!

Original post by hellz_bellz!
hey guys, do any of you know what the grade boundaries for an a at as were last june?


It's 240/300 UMS for an A at AS.

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