GCSE ICT Unit 3 (AQA) Discussion and Help

I am about to start the Controlled Assessment for Unit 3 (the Project Managing one). I've done Unit 2 (the Website Design one), in which I scored 120/120 UMS and 100% raw; in fact, my teacher used a seperate grading system devised by him (out of 200), just because, out of the 120 pupils studying ICT in my year, 40 of them were good enough for 120/120 UMS and 30 for 100% raw. In this system, the second highest mark in my whole year was 180/200, and I actually got 200/200. My 100% stayed after moderation, as did that of nearly everyone else in my year.

But the way I got this was by working after school, under supervision, and asking for continuous help or advice on a side-project (i.e. a similar project but not the same); our teacher would tell us to carry this side-project along, and then come to him for advice, so he could basically read the mark scheme out to us without the boards being able to say that he was helping us with the Controlled Assessment. This is, in part, responsible for my success.

However, at the end of last year, my teacher retired. And he's been replaced by a strict man who is neither going to give after-school help, nor allow us to work after school. In Unit 3, it is a lot of work to get full raw marks, but I want it dearly, and I would appreciate any advice anyone can give on how I might ensure that I do as well as possible.

Thanks.

It's because working after school isn't really allowed. Nor is the "side-project" thing really. You're gonna have to cope on your own this time, and I wouldn't aim for full marks. At my school, I was the only one to get above a B in Unit 2, because our teacher stuck to the rules. The time limit is 25 hours, no doubt you went over? You're gonna have to work more quickly, that's for sure. On the plus side, Unit 3 seems clearer than Unit 2 (e.g. no tasks with generic names and descriptions). Don't be an idiot and say "I WANT FULL MARKS!" - just be happy with an A*! The only tip I can give you is just do as many screenshots as you can really.

No, you misunderstand. The side-project is the AQA Specimen Paper for Unit 3 which AQA readily provides all centres (at least, they provided my school with it), and I can't see why it could be illegal for us to: 1) work after school on it, since it doesn't have text that directly relates to our current project, or 2) be given the mark-scheme for it, because, again, that mark scheme would be different to the one for the current project. They are two different projects: on one of them, we followed the rules completely (25 hours, only lesson time, no teacher questions), and after-school, we worked on a RELATED side-project (not the same thing, just somewhat similar: too different for anything to be copied over), for which we were given the mark scheme.

I got full raw marks on Unit 2 (as did 29 others, out of 120 total pupils, in my year last year; 40 total got 100% UMS, 113 got A*'s (including everyone in my class of 25), and the remainder all got A's), sticking with perfect legitimacy to the time limits and without getting the mark schemes for the actual project, and I certainly don't see why I can't do the same in Unit 3.

The purpose of this thread was to ask for a clarification of any advice concerning particular sections of Unit 3.

No, i understand perfectly. You had access to this "side project" during the actual assessment right? So you could have easily just copied and pasted it in. We did one of the specimen tasks before starting Unit 2 properly and, had I spent enough time on it or had access to it in my actual assessment, I could certainly have used it. It had a webpage and a database just like my proper task. Also, unless you go to a really good grammar school, to have so many A*s/As in one year is a little suspicious, don't you think?

Finally, was there any need to tell us your UMS score, raw score or about the marking method the teacher you hold in such high-esteem developed? A simple "What do I need to do get an A*" or even "What do I need for full marks", sans boasting, would have sufficed.