Science exam boards (GCSE)

192837465

I was just wondering which science exam board is the hardest. I took 21st century OCR science which to me wasn’t too east but other people, especially teachers have said that AQA science is hard but when i look at their past papers all it asks is to fill in gaps in sentences and multiple choices answers. In OCR we had to write a lot.
Also i took triple science so the extra p7,c7,b7 and does anyone know if these are taught in the core topics in the AQA board and their triple science content is harder or more advanced etc.
This is all because I am worried that what I have done [triple science OCR] is equivalent to AQA double science or whatever it is called??????? If so that means I have wasted an option !!!!!??????!!!!!
But its too late now because i have already taken all my GCSE's!

If anyone can help that would be great :smile:

Reply 1

lovmaths

1

192837465

I was just wondering which science exam board is the hardest. I took 21st century OCR science which to me wasn’t too east but other people, especially teachers have said that AQA science is hard but when i look at their past papers all it asks is to fill in gaps in sentences and multiple choices answers. In OCR we had to write a lot.
Also i took triple science so the extra p7,c7,b7 and does anyone know if these are taught in the core topics in the AQA board and their triple science content is harder or more advanced etc.
This is all because I am worried that what I have done [triple science OCR] is equivalent to AQA double science or whatever it is called??????? If so that means I have wasted an option !!!!!??????!!!!!
But its too late now because i have already taken all my GCSE's!

If anyone can help that would be great :smile:

I do AQA triple science and we have to write a lot as well - look at these past papers:
biology:
http://store.aqa.org.uk/qual/gcse/qp-ms/AQA-BLY1H-W-QP-JUN09.PDF
chemistry:
http://store.aqa.org.uk/qual/gcse/qp-ms/AQA-CHY1H-W-QP-JUN09.PDF
physics:
http://store.aqa.org.uk/qual/gcse/qp-ms/AQA-PHY1H-W-QP-JUN09.PDF

Reply 2

192837465

OP

Thanks for that - just wondering have you finished gcses or are you still doing them. And the content looks quite different like in physics it was all about the universe etc. but yours looks different.

Would you mind having a look at OCR past papers to see what you find harder???
Ignore the first question because it’s the ideas in context question where you get a booklet which you have to read before the exam - did you have that??

PHYSICS:
http://www.ocr.org.uk/download/pp_09_jun/ocr_41732_pp_09_jun_gcse_a333_02.pdf
CHEMISTRY:
http://www.ocr.org.uk/download/pp_09_jun/ocr_41721_pp_09_jun_gcse_a323_02.pdf
BIOLOGY:
http://www.ocr.org.uk/download/pp_09_jun/ocr_43971_pp_09_jun_gcse_a223_02.pdf

Also how does the AQA exams work - like in OCR we take 2 exams in each science and an extra for triple science. And have you already covered the stuff in the exam links i have sent?
One last thing, this year in the exams i took we had to write even more that in those past papers!!!

thanks soo much - i know it’s a lot to ask :biggrin:

Reply 3

Tabers

15

I did OCR Gateway Science triple (I think it was OCR it might not have been but it was definatly gateway science).

I'm not sure how universitys see triple science and double science. All I know is that I came out with a core science and then a separate grade for each of the sciences. I liked doing them all separate because I felt that I was not as good at physics so it meant that I could stuff it up without stuffing up the others but in the end up I got the same in all of them so it made no difference. So for me it was a much better choice to do triple science. But I never had a choice anyway as we did it depending on what group we were in.

Reply 4

Hanz_a93

15

AQA is definantly the hardest. Just sat my exams a couple of weeks ago.
I have also compared AQA past papers with OCR past papers and AQA looks way harder

Reply 5

Hanz_a93

15

192837465

Thanks for that - just wondering have you finished gcses or are you still doing them. And the content looks quite different like in physics it was all about the universe etc. but yours looks different.

Would you mind having a look at OCR past papers to see what you find harder???
Ignore the first question because it’s the ideas in context question where you get a booklet which you have to read before the exam - did you have that??

PHYSICS:
http://www.ocr.org.uk/download/pp_09_jun/ocr_41732_pp_09_jun_gcse_a333_02.pdf
CHEMISTRY:
http://www.ocr.org.uk/download/pp_09_jun/ocr_41721_pp_09_jun_gcse_a323_02.pdf
BIOLOGY:
http://www.ocr.org.uk/download/pp_09_jun/ocr_43971_pp_09_jun_gcse_a223_02.pdf

Also how does the AQA exams work - like in OCR we take 2 exams in each science and an extra for triple science. And have you already covered the stuff in the exam links i have sent?
One last thing, this year in the exams i took we had to write even more that in those past papers!!!

thanks soo much - i know it’s a lot to ask :biggrin:

In AQA for core science GCSE you sit 6 exams (6 modules), 2 modules from each science: Biology,chemistry,physics. The questions are multiple choice but its harder than you think it is since the grade boundaries are realy high and multiple choice answers look very similiar to one another.

For the additional science GCSE you sit 3 papers, a paper for each science. Same goes for triple science GCSE. Coursework counts for 25%. These two exams are written exams not multiple choice.

Reply 6

lovmaths

1

192837465

Thanks for that - just wondering have you finished gcses or are you still doing them. And the content looks quite different like in physics it was all about the universe etc. but yours looks different.

Would you mind having a look at OCR past papers to see what you find harder???
Ignore the first question because it’s the ideas in context question where you get a booklet which you have to read before the exam - did you have that??

PHYSICS:
http://www.ocr.org.uk/download/pp_09_jun/ocr_41732_pp_09_jun_gcse_a333_02.pdf
CHEMISTRY:
http://www.ocr.org.uk/download/pp_09_jun/ocr_41721_pp_09_jun_gcse_a323_02.pdf
BIOLOGY:
http://www.ocr.org.uk/download/pp_09_jun/ocr_43971_pp_09_jun_gcse_a223_02.pdf

Also how does the AQA exams work - like in OCR we take 2 exams in each science and an extra for triple science. And have you already covered the stuff in the exam links i have sent?
One last thing, this year in the exams i took we had to write even more that in those past papers!!!

thanks soo much - i know it’s a lot to ask :biggrin:

I'm in yr10 and I've just done Paper1 for Physics, Chemistry, and Biology - so I don't think I've covered the topics on those OCR paper :p:

In AQA, there are 3 papers for each science and controlled assessment (ISA)
Grade boundaries:
the total mark is 45 and the grade boundaries vary each year but here's the rough idea -
For Physics, sometimes 29/45 is enough to get you an A* but usually, I think it's around 32-33 and Chemistry and Biology grade boundaries tend to be a bit higher than that..

hope this helps :smile:

Reply 7

192837465

OP

Thanks everyone :biggrin:

It has helped a little bit, i am quite disappointed that our school did the easy option.
I will be taking maths, further maths, physics and chemistry next year so i will have to do some catching up on some of the stuff i missed out on :mad:

Is there anyone who has taken similar science a-levels who did the 21st century triple science course for GCSE [there might not be as it is quite new :frown:

] If so was you at an advantage because of the triple unit or disadvantage because of the exam board ????????

Reply 8

Expendable

11

192837465

Thanks everyone :biggrin:

It has helped a little bit, i am quite disappointed that our school did the easy option.
I will be taking maths, further maths, physics and chemistry next year so i will have to do some catching up on some of the stuff i missed out on :mad:

Is there anyone who has taken similar science a-levels who did the 21st century triple science course for GCSE [there might not be as it is quite new :frown:

] If so was you at an advantage because of the triple unit or disadvantage because of the exam board ????????

Triple award 21st Century = Triple award AQA etc, no-ones going to penalize you because your school chose a certain exam board, and official OfQual (sp?) regulates all exams and alters UMS marks to ensure that they're all equally graded;

For example, a 90/100 in 21st Century may get you AAA Triple GCSE, whereas it might only take 70/100 to get you AAA Triple GCSE on AQA, the exams may vary in difficulty but what you as a candidate need to do in order to achieve said grade is the same.

Reply 9

Nafiza25

6

AQA is the easiest exam board compared to OCR . I've asked 2 teachers on which exam board is the easiest for science? They said AQA and they also said that if any that does AQA science and wants to do it for ALEVEL. Then it will be predominately difficult for them.

Science exam boards (GCSE)

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