[DingDong!]

(Original post by Moiraclaire)
Attachment 151126Attachment 151127Attachment 151128

I don't think theses are any harder than today's maths paper.
The style has definitely changes but in terms of actual difficulty - pretty similar ?

I'd say the was pretty similar to my C2 exam last week . In fact I prefer that one better, you get to choose 8 questions of your own rather than having to answer everything.

[najinaji]

(Original post by Moiraclaire)
Attachment 151126Attachment 151127Attachment 151128

I don't think theses are any harder than today's maths paper.
The style has definitely changes but in terms of actual difficulty - pretty similar ?

3 hours?!

[HarryMWilliams]

It is completely relative to the candidate sitting them. In my honest opinion.

[DjamesH94]

(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?

Just a quick thing, where did you get a paper from 1972 from?

[Defragmentation]

(Original post by Drewski)
Something like 'Functional Skills Maths' or a similarly window-licking level of nonsense.

Functional Maths doesn't count. We weren't even told we were entered for it, just had to go down and sit the exam - I don't even think we got a certificate or anything.

[CosmicVengeance]

OCR biology unit 2 was an absolute killer i think most people wont even get a C on that paper probably one of the hardest, on the other hand ocr chemistry f322 was a walk in the park, heavily based on past papers, if you learnt mark schemes easy b/a

[Shoxx]

(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?

All the past papers I have done for my subjects have been easy and I have got pretty good marks without revising but then the actual exams I had this year were veryyy hard compared to them :/ Especially OCR, ugh. So I think overall they're easier than past times but they're definitely getting harder each year round

[chinaberry]

Well- the thing is, they're not necessarily easy to click with, you either do or not. But they (arts subjects) have much less depth and breadth, generic answers are praised, there is much less room to grow in creativity and encourage intellectual meanderings....to reiterate, it's not just about how little effort you need for an A. It's about how we've been taught since Year 1, how we grow to fit the mold and how we shouldn't be doing that....

[Iron Lady]

(Original post by Drewski)
I know you're talking about A Levels, but saw the following question on a GCSE Maths paper.

"Maximum Heart Rate (MHR) is calculated by taking 220 and subtracting the person's age. Geoff is 22. What's his MHR?"

For 2 marks.
On a calculator paper.


Something's wrong with the world.

Was that the foundation paper?

[craig12]

(Original post by DjamesH94)
Just a quick thing, where did you get a paper from 1972 from?

My teacher was cleaning out one of her cupboards and the found paper and mark scheme. You might be able to get it somewhere on the internet.

[craig12]

(Original post by boomersooner)
I would say that the exams themselves have not necessarily become easier but the transparency of information available to students has increased and this has greatly improved the ability of students to prepare for exams. I say this as someone who is a mature student taking A-Levels for personal interest at the moment in preparation for another degree and who also sat A-Levels 20 years ago.

When I first did them there was zero availability to students of past papers and mark schemes and the the courses were all linear so you studied for 2 years before doing a mock exam and that was generally your first encounter with any kind of past paper. If someone failed and needed to retake that meant a summer on a crammer course if your parents could afford it or you were stuck with the grades you had. The seemingly constant resits and remarks that students see as normal was non-existent at least at my school. That said there was less pressure overall I feel as there was only one exam period so the stress of exams and waiting for results was confined to just a few months from the June through August at the end of the second year.

I don't think it's as simple as comparing a paper from 1972 to one from 2012 because these days the volume of information that a student needs to learn per exam is greatly reduced and students have access not only to the specification/syllabus but also to the internet and so many diverse ways of learning. Believe me it took a lot longer to study back then when the main option was books and there was none of this immediate technology available.

In many ways I think the current system of mainly teaching to test is the primary reason that grades have increased and papers seem easier these days but I also think it is a shame that the system has become like that because I think students these days miss out on really understanding and enjoying their subjects because the entire exercise has become about filling a bucket rather than lighting a fire.

That's a very good point I know, comparing two individual papers isn't representative of how exams have changed over time; I only mentioned it because it's one example I have encountered.

"I also think it is a shame that the system has become like that because I think students these days miss out on really understanding and enjoying their subjects because the entire exercise has become about filling a bucket rather than lighting a fire." I thought that was a very good point. My teacher constantly tells my class how her students from her maths class years ago, all went on to do maths and still keep in touch, telling her about their new discoveries and what not. Whereas now, students just want to get the grade. Personally I don't think it is down to the student's themselves it's the exam boards. The exams are limited and too specific.

[UWS]

People are getting smarter and there is more competition to get into the top universities, so the average is obviously going to be higher

At the same time, exam papers are getting harder to accommodate the increased competition

[Moiraclaire]

(Original post by boomersooner)
I would say that the exams themselves have not necessarily become easier but the transparency of information available to students has increased and this has greatly improved the ability of students to prepare for exams. I say this as someone who is a mature student taking A-Levels for personal interest at the moment in preparation for another degree and who also sat A-Levels 20 years ago.

When I first did them there was zero availability to students of past papers and mark schemes and the the courses were all linear so you studied for 2 years before doing a mock exam and that was generally your first encounter with any kind of past paper. If someone failed and needed to retake that meant a summer on a crammer course if your parents could afford it or you were stuck with the grades you had. The seemingly constant resits and remarks that students see as normal was non-existent at least at my school. That said there was less pressure overall I feel as there was only one exam period so the stress of exams and waiting for results was confined to just a few months from the June through August at the end of the second year.

I don't think it's as simple as comparing a paper from 1972 to one from 2012 because these days the volume of information that a student needs to learn per exam is greatly reduced and students have access not only to the specification/syllabus but also to the internet and so many diverse ways of learning. Believe me it took a lot longer to study back then when the main option was books and there was none of this immediate technology available.

In many ways I think the current system of mainly teaching to test is the primary reason that grades have increased and papers seem easier these days but I also think it is a shame that the system has become like that because I think students these days miss out on really understanding and enjoying their subjects because the entire exercise has become about filling a bucket rather than lighting a fire.

All I read was there were no past papers - my mum said that she got her A in maths (34 years ago) by doing millions of past papers, ergo you/ your school just didn't know where to get them.

Sorry for being to lazy to read the rest Was just strolling through mid revision

[SpicyStrawberry]

GCSE exams are much easier than they used to be. When I did my Science GCSEs I felt like bashing my head on the desk at the amount of tick box questions there were (one paper consisted almost entirely of them), so people who just showed up with no idea still had a chance of getting things right which is not how it should work. GCSEs are supposed to test your knowledge and understanding, not how to put a line in a box.

When looking back at the work my mum had to do 20 years previously for her O-levels to my GCSEs our coursework/exams are a total joke. As for A-levels, I'd say the standards are quite similar but information is more freely available with the internet and teachers having to jump through hoops to get people to pass their exams.

People could get into top universities with C grades at A-level 20 years ago, now you need straight A*/A grades, so it levels out.

[DjamesH94]

(Original post by craig12)
My teacher was cleaning out one of her cupboards and the found paper and mark scheme. You might be able to get it somewhere on the internet.

haha nice

[Joinedup]

I can't talk about chem papers but i've seen some modern physics papers and they've got stuff we used to be expected to know written on them, the equations of motion, ohms law (including rearrangement to make v, i and r the subject).

[lemoncup]

You could get As, Bs and even Cs at A-level and get into Oxbridge in earlier years, but now with Cambridge particularly there seems to be a lot of emphasis on getting high nineties when applying some subjects (e.g. Maths/Natsci). *Weeps*

[candleflame]

(Original post by Liam6993)
Yes, they've got easier. But universities and employers now want much higher grades than they used to, so it evens itself out.

I think this

[QwertyG]

Bet night before exams people pray its easy then when it turns out to be easy you get topic like these........

[pshewitt1]

For me this year having revised hard for my physics 3 paper I would have expected an A due to the past papers I did being hard, the exam I sat was so easy the grade boundaries screwed my grade to a C