BL1HP 9th January 2013 GCSE AQA exam thread

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Last year's June 2012 B1 was difficult (I found), it contained a lot of medicine trials and vague questions about drug testing, however I managed to get a mid-A. So just a word of advice, don't be put off by the difficulty of an exam :smile:

Similar to P1 last year... I thought I had got an A on it, it was so easy, but I ended up with a B (which I'm resitting a week tomorrow!) :smile:

Reply 61

ThatGirlx

Not trying to burst anyones bubble here..
But the grade boundaries for January 2012 were
48/60 - A*
39/69 - A
30/60 - B
22/60 - C

The ones for June 2012 were:
39/60 - A*
32/60 - A
25/60 - B
19/60 - C

Keeping in mind that the grade boundaries were very low in June and AQA got penalised for such low boundaries. Especially as less than 1% of students got an A* in January compared to Junes 10%

I reckon were looking at grade boundaries similar to January OR something along the lines of these:
46/60 - A*
37/60 - A
28/60 - B
20/60 - C

Good luck everyone!
Wish you all the best

- This was a retake, I took the exam last year and got an A 85, and was put into a retake so I have a lot of knowledge about the exam

Reply 62

ThatGirlx

Original post by MariaHudson

I think I did alright, think its stupid how if you do worse than your original grade you still keep it :angry:

Don't worry, the better grade counts :smile:

Reply 63

Annabel_rose

I found this exam quite a bit harder than the one in June! I was so angry to find that there was NOTHING on cloning or genetic engineering!
But what did everyone get for question 1) b, about why the gardener was wrong about type D pea?

Reply 64

Docjae

Original post by Annabel_rose

Wanna know about this question too...and what did everyone get for why the guy could be wrong about one of the disinfectants being used in the home?

Reply 65

ThatGirlx

Original post by DazBoy

Wanna know about this question too...and what did everyone get for why the guy could be wrong about one of the disinfectants being used in the home?

Was there even a question about disinfectants being used in the HOME? :confused:

and.. for the garderner one, I wrote that the table only shows the number of peas in the pod, not the mass. The pod with 2-3 peas could have a higher mass that the pod with 6-8 peas and vice versa

Reply 66

sykik

Original post by ThatGirlx

Was there even a question about disinfectants being used in the HOME? :confused:

and.. for the garderner one, I wrote that the table only shows the number of peas in the pod, not the mass. The pod with 2-3 peas could have a higher mass that the pod with 6-8 peas and vice versa

I wro

te the same

Reply 67

AbsurdBanana

Original post by DazBoy

Wanna know about this question too...and what did everyone get for why the guy could be wrong about one of the disinfectants being used in the home?

It's because the number of peas was specified but the mass wasn't! The question stated that he'd receive the most mass of peas from D. This may not be true because other types of pea pod may have more massive peas!

Reply 68

adz12

you were meant to talk about the size as it will be effective due to homes big quite large and you need a bacteria to cover a large space and you were meant to talk about time ass it takes 3 days for the bacteria to kick in

Reply 69

AbsurdBanana

Original post by ThatGirlx

For that question I wrote:
Environmental factor: Change in temperature temperature
Other Factor: Change in number of infectious diseases

I put the genetic makeup of the plant..

Reply 70

adz12

The mark scheme is going to be tight, my teahcer saw the paper and said toget an a* it will be abut 45/46/44/ and and A would be 36. I guess the was seen by the exam board as an easy paper wb you guys how did you find it

Reply 71

Docjae

oh haha i thought the table showed the mass. what about the one about the the disinfectants in the petri dish and why they possibly can't be used in the home?

Reply 72

chiarax213

Original post by BLHolyoak

oh ahaaa so did i and i put sunlight, but i then put predator because i didnt know what to put ahhaa :smile:

and what did you put for the question about multiple births? and the one about other methods white blood cells kill bacteria other than producing antibodies?

For the periwinkle question I answered that the small perwinkle can avoid predators better because of its size but the flat perwinkle cannot do this as easily. I also mentioned how its not used to the high tide levels and water amount like the small periwinkle. :tongue:

I said that the multiple births cause a greater risk to the mother and baby (e.g. still birth, miscarriage).

Reply 73

chiarax213

Original post by AbsurdBanana

I put the genetic makeup of the plant..

I said that too! :confused:

I hope it counts and gives us a mark

Reply 74

gandalfisawesome

I am pretty sure that it is the last time that the best grade counts, at least that is what my teachers told me :smile:

Do you think the majority of people who took the exam this time were retaking it (as our specification ends in june), which means that the people who got a*s last time would not be doing this exam, so the grade boundaries could possibly be lower?

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 75

AbsurdBanana

Original post by gandalfisawesome

I am pretty sure that it is the last time that the best grade counts, at least that is what my teachers told me :smile:

Probably, don't most schools sit B1 in June?

Reply 76

gandalfisawesome

Original post by AbsurdBanana

Probably, don't most schools sit B1 in June?

I think so :smile:

Reply 77

AbsurdBanana

What did you guys put for why the variation in the estimates at one IVF clinic was so much higher than the other? I put that the one with the high range predicted times IVF worked was using a new method/drug that had not been tested on real women before and so the result cannot be accurately predicted?

Reply 78

Annabel_rose

Original post by ThatGirlx

Was there even a question about disinfectants being used in the HOME? :confused:

and.. for the garderner one, I wrote that the table only shows the number of peas in the pod, not the mass. The pod with 2-3 peas could have a higher mass that the pod with 6-8 peas and vice versa

Argh that seems so obvious now! Thanks anyway! The disinfectant one was about the reasons for/agaisnt it being used. I put some rubbish about how it would be too strong for household use, but at the same time it would effectively kill bacteria.