[Jim-Jam]

(Original post by -aimz)
They've changed, not necessarily got harder or easier. Now, knowing what the examiner wants is half the battle of doing the exam.

Yeah this is it, you could be a ****ing genius and finish with straight E/U's if you don't answer how they want.

[Joinedup]

The questions are a bit of red herring, They graded the papers differently... Used to be a norm based system where the top 10% got A and so on rather than a criteria based system as is used now.
If you don't think it's got easier to get an A, what do you think was the reason driving the introduction of the A* grade?

[Bey Taco]

I always found the older papers easier when I was doing A-levels. Exams have definately changed, although I am not sure in what ways, the thinking style and what they are looking for is completely different. In my physics exams there were fewer calculations and much more written work and questions which wanted you to actually understand and have a feel of the subject and have read around the field. The older style papers needed you to have some idea and use them to deduce others but now, the papers are written straight out of the textbook, the textbook has become like your bible, they ask very specific questions from the textbook so if you have read and learnt everything from the textbook by memory you can do well. However, there are some questions, top level questions which require a high level of understanding, these only make up about 10-20% but still they are very hard. In all, they have become easier in the way that resources are all available and out there but have become harder because they require you to do more work to learn them throughtly whereas before you could get away with having some idea. Basically it is good for hardworkers and not so good for people who are somewhat smart but dont work enough.

[KiwiBerry]

Not if you do A level OCR biology or chemistry

[venenecinema]

GCSEs definitely have. It's down to competition for the market share between exam boards.

[Issy123]

A level exams, imo, aren't getting easier!

When i do legacy past papers for Chemistry from around 2000, they are so much easier than the ones we get now You get a LOT of 'apply your knowledge' and 'suggest' questions nowadays making it harder to see what the examiners asking for.

I'm not too sure about GCSE's though.

[Issy123]

(Original post by KiwiBerry)
Not if you do A level OCR biology or chemistry

I feel you

[sleep99]

No, people are just getting smarter...

[Joinedup]

The questions are a bit of red herring, They graded the papers differently... Used to be a norm based system where the top 10% got A and so on rather than a criteria based system as is used now.
If you don't think it's got easier to get an A, what do you think was the reason driving the introduction of the A* grade?

[electriic_ink]

It doesn't matter. What matters is how badly we're doing compared to the rest of the world.

[SuziieB]

My teacher once told our class..
"...Sometimes, I feel like crying for you guys, because you know the answers to the question and you know what the question is asking from you, but you are not using the exact keywords that the examiner is looking for..."

Sometimes in an exam, your answer might be a better and more thorough explanation of the question, but if none of the words in the mark scheme are in your answers, you get zero.

Also these days, there is no real passion for the subject anymore. The main goal is to get the highest grade possible and to imagine what words an examiner would want not to really understand and enjoy the subject.
That is why like a lot of people, I can almost never get a 100% in an exam not because I don't know the subject but because I can never accurately guess what words are needed in the question.

[desijut]

I dont think STEP has got easier...

[ebam_uk]

I think definitely A level exams have got easier, but bare in mind there are loads of exams out there like the Cambridge Tripos exams, which are fiendishly difficult....

So take it on point that A levels are a lot easier but the main problem became the jump from A level to University ( cambridge) was unreal... the total way of thinking is soooo different....

[kopite493]

when i did my gcses 5 years ago they asked 5 leading professors to take the tests that matched there field (physics,maths etc) the highest grade was a B take that how you will

[Drewski]

(Original post by sleep99)
No, people are just getting smarter...

I'm an exam invigilator, the other day one kid asked me what a certain word meant. We're not allowed to help so I simply said sorry I can't and walked away.

The word was extravagance. The kid was in yr 12.

Some kids might be getting smarter, some are still thick as mud.

[alexkol]

Students are getting better and the exams harder

[cambio wechsel]

(Original post by Drewski)
I'm an exam invigilator, the other day one kid asked me what a certain word meant. We're not allowed to help so I simply said sorry I can't and walked away.

The word was extravagence. The kid was in yr 12.

You reckon kids are getting smarter, eh?

likely he was thrown by the misspelling.

[bahjat93]

(Original post by craig12)
I know this is a reoccurring question but I thought I would state my views. I do think to an extent GCSEs have become easier over the years but have A-level exams? The reason I ask is because I tried an A-level Chemistry paper from 1972 today. I actually got an A and I thought it was pretty easy. I know this isn't representative of all exams. Also people (generally geriatrics) always say how, "exams were harder", in their day but I did an exam from, "their day", and it was pretty easy.

So what are your thoughts?

GCSE's are for babies, i did my little brother C2 (chemistry unit 2) GCSE paper yesterday and manage to drop 1 mark that was because i missed the question .
A levels "back in the day" were really easy, this is because of the wording. They'd ask you simple questions and if you knew the answer you'd just write it down but now the type of questions they ask you are around the bush and leave you wondering WTF! .
I'm doing A2 and i can definitely tell you A levels have not gotten easier and come exam day you will see that the pass rate will fall this year thanks to some MPs

[Dragonfly07]

Exams are definitely getting harder. They're just getting easier to pass because sudents have more resources today than they ever did. Also they get past exam papers and questions often repeat themselves in slightly different forms.

In A levels all I did to study for the exams was go over tens of past exam papers.I didn't even consult one book.

[goape]

Exams are always getting easier, like society is always declining

or alternatively the older generation are exhibiting a superiority complex