AQA English Literature A - Love Through the Ages June 2011 Exam :D

did anyone else do this exam in January and if so how do you think it compares?

Can I just put in a plea for you all to stop worrying? All of you are listing mistakes which are keeping you up at night and asking for reassurance. Firstly, it's unlikely that any of the mistakes you have listed will invalidate the entire exam paper. That's not how the mark schemes work - there aren't traps set for the unwary to fall into so that they are inevitably going to fail. You will be rewarded for the good things you DO write.

Secondly, no one can give you an accurate idea of what grade you're going to get, because no one's seen what you've written, and even if they did, as none of them are examiners, they don't have the experience to tell you anything much. I'm not an examiner for this subject, but I have taught A level Lit for 23 years and I can't tell you without seeing what you've put.

Thirdly, there's a very real danger of fueling collective hysteria which helps no one. The possible pool of wider reading is infinitely deep. There are some popular choices for wider reading amongst teachers which are recommended for the simple reason that we've got them in the stock room hanging over from previous syllabuses, but that doesn't make them any more valid than other texts. It's what you do with them that matters. Likewise, there are almost as many different links to be made as there are candidates. That's the beauty of Literature, as well as the reason why people of a more scientific turn of mind find it frustrating. So just because you didn't get a link that someone here has posted, it doesn't mean that you are wrong.

I completely understand that you are under enormous strain here. I see it first hand, working in a very high pressure school, and also having been a parent going through it from that point of view too. I understand the need to re-evaluate your experience - it's how human beings learn. However, I would suggest being kind to yourselves and stepping away from the overthinking. Leave TSR for a bit because it's only going to make you feel worse, if you are prone to fretting. You cannot live in a state of fever pitch all the way to results day and in any case, many of you will still have other exams. Things usually have a way of working out, which is hard to see when you are this close to it. If you've been conscientious over 2 years, it will pay off. Please don't make yourselves ill.

Good luck with the rest of the summer!

After doing the exam I thought it went really well... Until tonight when I thought about question two only to realise that after thinking I'd already written about a prose wrote about two dramas instead so I do not have all three genres in question two!!
Does anyone have any idea of how much I will be penalised for this?

OMG AFTER MONTHS OF BEING TERRIFIED I ONLY WENT AND GOT FULL MARKS IN THIS EXAM. ACTUAL FULL BLOODY MARKS.

you only have to see what i posted on here after the exam to know how utterly terrified i was but OMG. HAPPINESS LEVELS THROUGH THE ROOF.

Ahh I got full marks too and I'm doing English at uni so was chuffed. Droppped 4 marks in coursework too so got an A* and it was amazing

I was so happy! and I'm so glad I did, otherwise I wouldn't have got into uni..they wanted 3 A's, and I got A*, A, B, B, but cos I'm doing Lit at Uni they let me in anyways

HAPPINESS.

Well done all. I think I did mess this up a bit, I ended up with a B, when I wanted and needed an A.

But Cardiff Uni accepted me anyway without argument! Huzzah!

Well done! I remember you from the revision study group you set up the day before the exam.

I'd be interested to read the examiner's report for this exam to see what they have to say about candidates and the second question as I thought it was a tricky question (that Wyatt poem still haunts me).

Yeah I remember you Congrats on your A! I'm a bit annoyed with myself for dropping just a few marks to a B, but I'm in to where I want to go anyway which is such a relief.

I would say I wanted to see the report, but frankly I want to forget it ever happened now it's over.

Does anybody know how many marks you needed out of 120 to get a C?

You can find it here. Grade C in the LITA3 exam paper ("Love through the ages") is 39/80 raw marks or 72/120 when converted to the UMS scale.