F215 Biology (15/06/12) - POLL

This is so silly. Exam boards have every right to recycle questions, and it's hardly as if this is going to be a truthful response from an angry set of students. Why would anyone do a question from bloody 2003

Some people evidently have. I would never do a question from that far back though..

This is so silly. Exam boards have every right to recycle questions, and it's hardly as if this is going to be a truthful response from an angry set of students. Why would anyone do a question from bloody 2003

We got given a revision CD with this question on. In fact it was the only question that our teachers could find about muscles.

The only way I can see a question from that far being done is if it's from a revision book, which, indeed, it is in one of the revision books, a more obscure one, which I don't have. The point is, though, that exam boards have every right to recycle questions, AQA regularly use the same question in 3 or 4 consecutive exams.

not to this exrent... its understandable if they recycle an odd question that perhaps you have to explain something for... but this was just going to far because the whole page was identical to the 2003 paper. like as if they had taken the page and photocopied it. all the recycled questions on that page combined came to 10 marks.. thats just going to far.
and the fact that it was a question where you had to lable a microscope picture, clearly if you have seen that microscope picture you are at a great advantage because they dont tend to be clear and even the most able students might not be able to distinguish what they are. and also since there was a calculation in the question that was something we learned in AS, clearly people who have done the question will be at an advantage because the ones that havent will not have revised AS material...

This is a synoptic paper. It says that on the front of every paper at A2. They are 100% entitled to ask questions from AS, and my understanding is that 15% of the marks on each paper at A2 are on AS topics.

In the specification, it says about being able to describe, with the aid of diagrams and photos, the structure of muscle cells, or words to that effect. They are completely entitled to ask you that question, regardless if you've seen it before or not. If you have worked to the specification then you should be able to answer that question.

The same argument applies, there is no reason why someone who knows his stuff should be unable to answer any of the reused muscle questions.

Yes, but the argument really should be should OCR be able to reuse the same exam question? Could they not even be bothered to get a new muscle cell image? or even put the questions in a different order??

they have taken the pastpapers.org website down... thats a bit fishy since i was on it last night...does anyone know where i can find the legcy papers elsewhere?
and how do i start a new thread on TSR?

For the latter two points, I think OCR should be entitled to do it exactly as they want, unless it can be proved that it aids people who've done the past paper. With the picture labelling one, I can see your point. But you know, for the magnification one, some boy managed to get the right answer simply because they knew the text book value and then managed to use common sense. The idea that you're putting forward is that some people can be advantaged. OCR's point could be that everybody coming into the exam is expected to know the full contents of the syllabus (as that boy did) and hence their choice of image wouldn't make anyone disadvantaged.

The first one is something for the regulator, I. expect if enough people complain then they'll have a look and maybe an informal word with OCR, then again, this stuff has probably happened before.

http://rfosbery-biology.co.uk/A2%20Exam%20Paper.htm try here and the paper you want is June 03 '2805/05 Mammalian Physiology and Behaviour'

New thread: go into a subforum (ie biology exams) and then there will be a button the left hand corner that says 'create new thread'.