[Existentialistic]

(Original post by Deceptively)
I've done 5 past papers today... possibly the most exhausting revision day of my life. But all I can say is that I have huge amounts of rage towards this exam board. Some of the questions are absolutely ridiculous and often unanswerable (those haemoglobin graphs... anyone else find them too cryptic to even imagine what they want you to write, or was I just taught it in a bad way?), and the worst part is that they are extremely pedantic and inconsistent. They'll refuse to accept a certain word for one paper, then accept it for exactly the same question in another! I have a bunch examples for this if anyone would like to hear them...

Pretty much the reason why I dropped Biology and have hated WJEC since.

[vickiex]

Gotta agree with everything said about mark schemes! So annoying when they'll underline words too and despite you writing exactly what the underlined word means you can't gain the mark cause you didn't use the word, too picky! Good to vent haha - GOOD LUCK THIS AFTERNOON EVERYONE! (working on 3rd time lucky for me and that... please be nice WJEC)


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[popnit]

Good luck everybody!
We WILL beat WJECs ass!

[DingDong!]

Good luck everyone! Anyone have any idea what's coming upp?

[D.V.Evans]

I hate wjec with a passion!!!

[JHD1995]

Does any body know how long until we can talk about the BY2 paper?

[thewelshboyo]

Straight away. WJEC exams are only done in the UK.

[JHD1995]

(Original post by thewelshboyo)
Straight away. WJEC exams are only done in the UK.

Jolly good then,

[JHD1995]

After failing BY1 in January 2012 I was re-sat BY1 on 14th May and sat BY2 today (21 May). The questions were, in my opinion, challenging but easy at the same time.

BY1 exam, the Mitosis question with the worker ants blew my mind - I did understand it and answer it eventually, I see that the exam boards are moving more towards how science works yay!

BY2 today was brilliant, myself and other candidates in the room whizzed through the paper and had finished it with 45 minutes to spare. I can not remember what was actually on the paper, so I'll get a blank one from my Biology teacher tomorrow and check my answers with notes. How did everyone find it?

[Myda]

I think this paper was actually not too bad, better than some others but a couple of questions definitly made it harder. Will never forget the small intestine question! After talking to other people it seemed like such an easy question. Will have lost so many stupid marks.

[Poppy_Ki]

(Original post by Myda)
I think this paper was actually not too bad, better than some others but a couple of questions definitly made it harder. Will never forget the small intestine question! After talking to other people it seemed like such an easy question. Will have lost so many stupid marks.

I agree. There were definitely a lot of easy marks (the first few questions) but I absolutely hated the heart questions! What did you put for the valves? I put A-Pulmonary valve, B- aortic valve and C- tricuspid valve but I really don't think I got that right

[Deceptively]

I think that was a really good paper, and after I made such a fuss about WJEC, it seems they might actually have thought more about the questions - I didn't feel there were any "impossible" questions on there (thank goodness they didn't do haemoglobin graphs!).

However, neither of the essay questions were really my cup of tea... I did my best on the reproduction question, there, though I only thought of three points for the flowering plants part so I don't know if I'll get all three marks there... Also I found that the topics covered in the paper were repetitive and quite limited... they seemed to ask a lot of questions about blood vessels and gas exchange and very little on anything else...

Also it took me a long time to work out that the microscope picture was of the casparian strip and not just the edge of the root - I was going to write root hair cell, originally, for structure C but changed my mind... I found it bad that the next 6 marks relied on knowing what those cells were called. (Was endothelium the right answer, also? I wasn't sure...)

[Deceptively]

(Original post by Poppy_Ki)
I agree. There were definitely a lot of easy marks (the first few questions) but I absolutely hated the heart questions! What did you put for the valves? I put A-Pulmonary valve, B- aortic valve and C- tricuspid valve but I really don't think I got that right

I think it was A - tricuspid, B - bicuspid, C - semi-lunar.
(Not sure if A and B were the other way around - tricuspid was whichever one out of the top two had three flaps, bicuspid had two.)

[Lysipud]

Well I found it hard what did everyone put for the heart valves?? And what about for labelling that section of a buttercup for vessels A and B then cell C?

[D.V.Evans]

personally I thought and everyone in my class thought that exam was a bloody stinker!

[Coffee_Please]

why do WJEC insist on putting such weird diagrams that heart diagram especially

what did you guys put for the reason that the bicuspid valve must be replaced and the semi-lunar valves not so often?
i put because of weakened tendons and the fact that the valve had to work against gravity... i wasn't sure

[Jessica-May]

what did everyone think of the small intestine question?? what answers did everyone get for it?

[Poppy_Ki]

(Original post by Deceptively)
I think it was A - tricuspid, B - bicuspid, C - semi-lunar.
(Not sure if A and B were the other way around - tricuspid was whichever one out of the top two had three flaps, bicuspid had two.)

Damn- thats what I had first but I thought it was wrong and changed it, I really don't think I got any marks on that whole question

What did you put for the last part of the villi question (the name and function of the cell)?

[jamsie555]

on the intestine question i said:
A) capillary network
B) epithelial cells
C) lacteal

anyone else?

also what did people write for D on the heart diagram? spent ages looking at that!

[jamsie555]

(Original post by Poppy_Ki)
Damn- thats what I had first but I thought it was wrong and changed it, I really don't think I got any marks on that whole question

What did you put for the last part of the villi question (the name and function of the cell)?

I said Cell Y was a goblet cell and that it secretes mucus and alkaline juice