[Bellissima]

LOL i didn't notice because i didn't go that far back with past papers... but ok, OCR does this a lot. the thing is because it's the legacy papers they aren't on the OCR website as far as i'm aware... or at least they aren't on the part of the website for past papers for F215. if they were then i'd find it more acceptable. if it weren't for TSR i wouldn't even know that legacy had existed let alone past papers from it so it's unfair for those who don't know about the papers and which current exams they're linked to, which is OCR's fault. they should put legacy papers on their website.


i wish i HAD done this because that question was HARD... i'm scared to look at the mark scheme.


edit - 7/10 i'm not too upset... i HATE those reading microscope pictures (where i lost the 3 marks) because the different parts are abiguous as is the V segment arrow.

[hprmc]

(Original post by YB101)
1. tell me on thing in life that's fair please and then MAYBE, just maybe I'll consider your comment.

2. That's your own fault, not the exam boards fault.

3. who the **** revises a dictionary? seriously who?

pahahahaha i have a friend who revises the dictionary

[hardcoreabzii]

(Original post by hprmc)
i love how you assume that the people who havent done well are the only ones who are complaining. that is such a stupid assumtion :L
tbh i only need an E in this exam to get an A overall.. therefore it really doesnt matter how bad the exam went for me as as long as i get an E i will be fine. therefore your arguement is completely invalid about people "trying to scapegoat the examboard" as most people who are complaining are probably intelligent enough not to need to do that. we are complaining because it is just wrong and should not be allowed.

Yes I agree, I also just need an E and that was through hardwork and determination but the fact is that this person is assuming that we're complaining that the exam was hard and that we failed. Yes that may be the case with some individuals but at the end of the day it does not take away the fact that it was a completely copied question and it could have given someone or some groups an advantage over others.

Furthermore, I know of schools where they give every single past paper that they can find - and not all schools do that because of various reasons such as the cost of printing every paper. I genuinely believe that it has given people an advantage and even if I had seen the paper I would still think the same thing.

Its very unfortunate that OCR was this lazy to be honest. Shame on you.

[YB101]

(Original post by hprmc)
pahahahaha i have a friend who revises the dictionary

haha I might take that up during my summer holidays. I'm sure hArdcoReabZii 2k12 would appreciate that

[Nickini]

(Original post by sheldon93)
Correct, they would.

I wonder why exam boards don't just do this then? Apparently it would be completely acceptable!

[soempty]

People who read question in the book and it comes up on the exam have an unfair advantage.
You should write a letter complaining about this.

OP is ridiculous such as the guy who complained about maths question from textbook coming up. As an exam candidate you should be ready for any question which is within the syllabys, if you don't know it, it's only your own fault for not revising such question and not being prepared. On the other hand if i simply memorised answers to questions i saw without any understanding (hard but possible) and gave answers it doesn't matter that i will have marks and someone won't i made an effort which they didn't.

[hprmc]

(Original post by YB101)
1. good for you, I hope you get that A you worked so hard for

2. who are you to say it's wrong? When did you turn into the head OCR examiner? It's a subjective opinion

thank you
clearly id make a fairer test paper than the thickhead who decided to recycle an 11 mark question.
11 marks is more than 10% of the paper... thats a difference between a whole grade, maybe even two. it's ludicrous that a markscheme was available out there that had the answers of a tenth of the paper in it.
it defeats the whole purpose of exams if the markschemes for the questions are already out there for people to see.

[Varsh05]

(Original post by -Simon-)
You didn't realise OCR did this?! I did most of my revision for chemistry from the legacy spec for OCR as they just copy questions. Anyone who wanted to secure a good grade would use this for revision as some of what is being examined is a candidates ability to recall information and some is the ability to apply this information. That's why past papers are made available to ensure that you understand the format, type of questions and topics that may come up.

I would suggest that this issue you are having is caused by yourself failing to revise from the past papers effectively enough.


EDIT: sending it to the BBC would be your best option though, as it is unimaginative on OCRs side but I maintain that every candidate (if they were revising effectively) should not be disadvantaged.

So they do use some questions from the Legacy section thing on the website??
I never knew that!
I'll keep that in mind for future use.
Thank You

[AishaTara]

(Original post by Flyteryder)
Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to complain about one of the questions asked in the F215 Biology paper I sat on 15th June 2012. Two sections of a question, worth 10 marks collectively, were directly copied word for word from question 4a and 4b of the 'Mammalian Physiology and Behaviour' 2805/05 paper from June 19th 2003, which can be seen here: http://pastpapers.org/A2/biology/mam...0June%20QP.pdf

This question was copied word for word into F215 June 2012, with the Figure, marks allocated and wording of the question being exactly the same. This will have given an advantage to anybody who saw the 2805/5 2003 paper and its mark scheme, which will result in some students being awarded marks for simply remembering what they have read on the past paper and mark scheme, and not for applying their knowledge of GCE Biology to the question asked.

As a student who is depending on the result of this exam to secure my university place, I am very disappointed with OCR. Inevitably, the grade boundaries will be raised for the F215 paper, as every student who saw the 2805/5 paper of June 2003 will have secured the 10 marks allocated to this question in F215 June 2012. This will make it harder for me, and every other student who did not see the 2805/5 paper, to secure their places at university, with students possibly losing out on their university place due to OCR's exact repetition of a question from a previous year.

I understand that many questions are reworded over the years, using different content and different scenarios, but the exact repetition of a question is unacceptable. I would like a response from somebody who is responsible for setting this paper, not a generic computer automated reply. I would like to know how OCR will set the grade boundaries for F215 June 2012, due to the fact that some candidates will have had an advantage over others, due to OCR's inability to set a fair and original question.

Yours faithfully,

My name

----------------------

Did anybody else notice this? I would like more people to complain to maximise the chance of action being taken by OCR.

Tbh, i dont know if that would be a reasonable point to make. The examiners report always state that they encourage students to do past papers, so if they had been done, those would have been an easy few marks to gain. Yes some students would be at an advantage, but that would be good for them for doing the past papers. Secondly, it wouldn't be memorizing the mark scheme, as you would have had to understand the question in order to write the answer :/

[swiftylol]

Anyone saying this happens all the time, please provide an example. Thanks

[hprmc]

(Original post by hardcoreabzii)
Yes I agree, I also just need an E and that was through hardwork and determination but the fact is that this person is assuming that we're complaining that the exam was hard and that we failed. Yes that may be the case with some individuals but at the end of the day it does not take away the fact that it was a completely copied question and it could have given someone or some groups an advantage over others.

Furthermore, I know of schools where they give every single past paper that they can find - and not all schools do that because of various reasons such as the cost of printing every paper. I genuinely believe that it has given people an advantage and even if I had seen the paper I would still think the same thing.

Its very unfortunate that OCR was this lazy to be honest. Shame on you.

exactly!!! even if i had seen the paper before the exam, i would still be complaining!

[YMLT]

I agree with the OP completely.

Fair enough, similar topics & questions will come up in exams year after year (particularly if they're not well answered the previous year), but to completely reuse a question word for word and then allocate exactly the same marks (suggesting the mark scheme will be exactly the same too) is just silly, incompetent and lazy.

It wouldn't have been hard to OCR to change the question around slightly, which would have meant those who had done a sufficient amount of past papers would've been familiar to the style of question, whilst those that had specifically looked at the paper & mark scheme in question wouldn't have gained an advantage.

Are there any other example of this?

[Varsh05]

(Original post by AishaTara)
Tbh, i dont know if that would be a reasonable point to make. The examiners report always state that they encourage students to do past papers, so if they had been done, those would have been an easy few marks to gain. Yes some students would be at an advantage, but that would be good for them for doing the past papers. Secondly, it wouldn't be memorizing the mark scheme, as you would have had to understand the question in order to write the answer :/

Lool,I was just debating in my mind whether I should say that or not!

[hprmc]

(Original post by swiftylol)
Anyone saying this happens all the time, please provide an example. Thanks

i really wanted to *thumbs up* this but iv ran out of rates haha
exactly! people just keep saying "it happens all the time" but they can provide no actual examples... i was arguing over this topic yesterday with someone on TRS and his feeble attempt at an example was a one mark question off an AQA paper that was about the same thing. it was even word for word. and it was only one mark

[AishaTara]

(Original post by Varsh05)
Lool,I was just debating in my mind whether I should say that or not!

aha yeah :/ doing past papers is a core way of revising. Some students in my school, cba to do past papers, but my teacher says doing past papers can affect your final result by a grade or more, as mark schemes often enable you to pick up key terminologies etc
so OP is properly going to get the same response from OCR.

[hardcoreabzii]

(Original post by hprmc)
i really wanted to *thumbs up* this but iv ran out of rates haha
exactly! people just keep saying "it happens all the time" but they can provide no actual examples... i was arguing over this topic yesterday with someone on TRS and his feeble attempt at an example was a one mark question off an AQA paper that was about the same thing. it was even word for word. and it was only one mark

I think the main thing about this situation is that this was more than 10% of the paper and ALSO the fact that it was exactly the same. It makes me so angry when I think about it :|.

[Groat]

I'm not so worried about the unfair advantage, but rather the poor quality of OCR's exams and the fact they regurgitated a whole question. To those who say it happens all the time, I'd like to see an example of a set of 11 marks made up of multiple questions all identical. The odd part being re-used, or re-worded, is not the same.

They expect schools to pay for these exams, and then also charge ridiculous amounts for remarks - but they can't even be bothered to write a new question?

[hardcoreabzii]

(Original post by Groat)
I'm not so worried about the unfair advantage, but rather the poor quality of OCR's exams and the fact they regurgitated a whole question. They expect schools to pay for these exams, and then also charge ridiculous amounts for remarks - but they can't even be bothered to write a new question?

Completely agree.

[HnnahCleverly]

My complaint:


Dear Sir/Madam,

I hope you take the time to read the following as I have dedicated time to writing this, whereas I could be using this time to revise for an exam in the forthcoming week. I have been in education all my life in the United Kingdom and have been privileged to have received education at the expense of others. I am in the final year of college and yesterday undertook an exam written by the OCR exam board. The exam was the Biology F215 sat on the 15th June 2012 at 9.a.m I feel that I need to express my complete anger and disillusionment at the paper which I sat for a number of reasons.

This is not the first time I, or others for that matter have had problems with your papers that you have written up. An exam board which publishes papers with spelling errors justifies this. Last year, as you are fully aware, there were a number of complaints due to the F215 exam set. My elder sister in A2 at the time had an offer from Birmingham University for Medicine which required AAB, and missed an A in Biology by 5 UMS due to the paper set. I felt the paper set this year was just as bad as last years, if not worse, due to the numerous suggest questions and some absolute ludicrous questions.I feel cheated due to the fact that we are expected to revise 3 different modules for the exam, and yet the paper is predominantly based on subjective suggest questions? I have an offer for Medicine form the Kings College London and I am fully aware that missing the A grade in Biology is now a real possibility due to the paper you set. I feel the content did not test us on what we were asked to learn, and although I acknowledge that the exam tests students on synoptic and unifying concepts, there is a limit as to how many suggest questions you can ask.

Another major problem I have is the fact that the exam board re-used a whole question from one of the earlier legacy papers. I was absolutely shocked to find this exact question was in an earlier paper, and had not been modified in the slightest. I understand exam boards tend to re-use old specification papers, however copying a whole question is unacceptable, and what has infuriated me is the fact that these paper materials were not available to our college whereas they were to the other grammar sixth forms in Birmingham, only hours prior to the exam. I have never experienced this with AQA,Edexcel,WJEC or any other exam board that I have undertaken a paper with. The sheer laziness of the those who produced this paper has not only angered me, but the teachers and students who study A-level Biology at my college, as well as family and friends alike. The inconsistency with the questions asked in the papers you set amazes me as the Jan 2012 F214 paper was a standard paper where no one had any real complaints, however it is this paper that seems to consistently draw up controversy. Some suggest that you have a hidden agenda as you do not want people to gain places in Universities across the United Kingdom, I strongly disagree with this, however I do not want my younger brother or sister to go through this again, and feel the heartache that my sister did last year due to any of your papers you set.

I hope that you take the points I have made into consideration, and that they do result in action, whether it be a statement and I am expecting a significant drop in the grade boundaries for this paper. I will not hide my immense frustration and will do all that is in my power to get my voice heard, whether it costs me traveling half way across the country. Thank you for taking the time to read my views, and wish that these problems will be addressed in the future.


Yours Sincerely, Hannah Cleverly

[slappyhours]

throughout GCSE and A-Level years in my school it was common knowledge to both teachers and students alike that questions on a course were recycled through the years. why is OP complaining? I bet he wouldn't have been complaining about unfair advantages had he seen said question in the 2003 paper regarding his most recent Biology exam.