AQA GCSE English Language Exam 29th May 2012

I'm exactly the same as you - I find science and maths so much easier

I messed the timing of that exam up so badly that I only had 35mins for section B :/ oh well...I'm defo gonna have to retake that one next year!

I'd say todays paper was slightly harder. I took this paper in January, although my English skills were worse, I must say the sources were much more easier to work with, much easier. This one had really crap articles, so I assume it's going to be harder for a lot of people. When we were in class we were told you needed 64 out of 80 for an A*. I got a C in Jan exams, so I must have got about 50 marks. For a B you would need around 55 marks imo

The reading was alright, the comparison was a bit crappy. I was talking about language techniques+feelings in the feelings question .. as in how the lang techniques show the feelings, is that okay? UHM i compared source 2 and 3. I only said one or two things about the 2nd source as to the 3rd where I rambled on and on. Also for the writing describe question, it said no more than 2 and a half. I have big handwriting so I wrote 3 and a half sides. Hm, I also just was describing and I forgot to add how I overcame this uncertainty so I just added a concluding paragraph talking about how to over come it. So i wrote 3 pages describing and 1 para just saying how I overcame the unsure-NESSSSS. Uhm, the argue question wasn't too bad this time.

I'm thinking I probably got 60/80 ish - just a rough guess - what grade is that usually?

In january it was 47/80 for a b grade

Oh gosh I'm so bad at English......, that's barely half of the paper right....
I swear the examiner was in a bad mood.

How do you think you did? I personally messed up on time...again. The argument question was a mess, used like 2 connectives, a failed semi colon, a crap rhetorical question. Oh my...what a fail

I'm sure you did loads better than me! I didnt have time to change mine at all!!! Even if it was to something about God

So the retakes in Novemeber, do we come back to school to do them or do we take them in college?? I didn't realise we could retake these exams seeing as we're leaving soon!

Are there!?! This is news to me, are you certain? ( I felt it went horribly, if you haven't guessed)

Hahaha, well they might count the argument about the statement as our opinion... I'm pretty sure English language, along with maths, is one of the few GSCEs offered for retakes- you might have to come back into school, but I'm not entirely sure, you should probably check with your teacher

yeah thats what i thought. its YOUR article with YOUR point of view

Guys, I only did 6 points for Question 1 and summarised them briefly; can I still get 8 marks?

For Question 2, I was pretty happy; I just analysed the effectiveness of the picture and headline and linked them to the text with quotes.

For Question 3, I only made three points: they were about 1) Parrado's curious thoughts of what lay ahead, 2) Canessa's feelings of exhaustion, 3) Parrado being scared, but this only increasing his curiosity. Is this okay? According to the examiner report, it shouldn't be treated as a language question but as another inference question of thouhgs/feelings, which I feel I did; but is three points enough?

For Question 4, I had three paragraphs which compared Sources 2 and 3 throughout (so 6 points overall, one compared with another). I looked at vivid imagery and alliteration, basically; because the mark scheme and examiner reports seem to stress that looking for vivid, exciting and evocative phrases is the best thing to do? I also linked in how they both convey feelings of relief (e.g. wet with tears, alliterative 'rescued'), but Source 3 exaggerates this at its purpose is to entertain, whereas Source 2's purpose is to inform so provides a more objective account. I hope this is okay; as Source 3 was a non-fiction book is it okay to say that its purpose is to entertain, even though it is factual? Was question 4 simply to explain Parrado and Canessa's thoughts and feelings, or was it to do with the rescue? I just analysed the thoughts and feelings throughout the extract...

For Question 5, I did an account of me waiting to be picked to perfom a speech for my speaking and listening.. I used some similies and vivid description; ambitious words, and what I hope will be rather light-hearted. This is an uncertain experience, right? I then said that I discovered how to overcome it by having complete confidence in onself: 'I think I can, I think I can.... I KNEW I could'. Hope this is okay.

For Question 6, I was all over the place! However, I used some argumentative techniques (ASPAREFOREST) but not any facts/statistics (don't you think facts/statistics would be irrelevant for an article on role models)? However I made four points, acknowledged the other side (countered it with numerous rhetorical questions) and an intro and conclusion. Not really very logically structured/didn't make sense, but I was tight for time, particularly with only 30 minutes.

Please answer my questions! x

Apparently if we re-take, we have to do all the controlled assessments again too!!!

I found the English paper quite challenging. Especially the question on a radio script?? My English teacher didn't teach us about how to write a radio script. Did u guys get that same questions? If so how did you find it?? Is the radio writing script even in the syllabus, jw lol as the teachers didn't think it was!!! I'm so gonna fail this exam without a doubt!!

Apparently if we re-take, we have to do all the controlled assessments again too!!!