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changes to A level exams

as we all know, A level exams have been made 'linear' with no exams in January starting from September this year. my question maybe a bit long to understand, so I apologise if you find it confusing :biggrin:. I just wanted to know if the format of the exam papers will also be changed. will they still be sectioned the same? or will all the modules be mixed up? for example... for maths, we have all the different modules. will the exam be sectioned indicating which pages are C1,C2,S1? or will the modules be mixed up where we will have random questions from any possible module like question 1 from C1, question 2 from C2,question 3 from C1 again and question 4 from S1?
(edited 10 years ago)
Reply 1
Original post by naseem hossen
as we all know, A level exams have been made 'linear' with no exams in January starting from September this year. my question maybe a bit long to understand, so I apologise if you find it confusing :biggrin:. I just wanted to know if the format of the exam papers will also be changed. will they still be sectioned the same? or will all the modules be mixed up? for example... for maths, we have all the different modules. will the exam be sectioned indicating which pages are C1,C2,S1? or will the modules be mixed up where we will have random questions from any possible module like question 1 from C1, question 2 from C2,question 3 from C1 again and question 4 from S1?


I don't think they're going to be linear. just all the same modules in June. so c1, c2 etc will all be separate exams. there won't be linear exams for a few years.

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Reply 2
Original post by sml96
I don't think they're going to be linear. just all the same modules in June. so c1, c2 etc will all be separate exams. there won't be linear exams for a few years.

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wow that's weird. I asked my school's examination officer and he said from September 2013, A level exams will be made linear with only 1 exam to be taken in june for each subject. sooo he's not right?
Reply 3
Original post by naseem hossen
wow that's weird. I asked my school's examination officer and he said from September 2013, A level exams will be made linear with only 1 exam to be taken in june for each subject. sooo he's not right?


as nice as that sounds for people like me who are doing further maths and have a total of 6 maths exams in june + 2 physics exams that's highly unlikely. I mean unless the exams are 3+ hours long then sure but highly unlikely.The specifications are the same. what subjects did you pick?
Reply 4
Original post by sml96
what subjects did you pick?

maths, physics, french and further maths
Reply 5
Original post by naseem hossen
maths, physics, french and further maths


pretty similar to me except I picked art. apologies you were right about linear exams but these start 2015. I was assuming you were starting a levels in September like me. if you are then the only thing that's changing is January exams are scrapped.

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Reply 6
Original post by naseem hossen
wow that's weird. I asked my school's examination officer and he said from September 2013, A level exams will be made linear with only 1 exam to be taken in june for each subject. sooo he's not right?


He's not right. A level exams are not linear, and the same unit exams will take place. The only thing that has changed is that the chance to take units in January (which was never possible for all units anyway) has been removed. Candidates can still take exams in more than 1 exam season (e.g. in Year 12 and Year 13) and can still re-sit as often as they like (but only once a year).
(edited 10 years ago)
Reply 7
Original post by naseem hossen
as we all know, A level exams have been made 'linear' with no exams in January starting from September this year. my question maybe a bit long to understand, so I apologise if you find it confusing :biggrin:. I just wanted to know if the format of the exam papers will also be changed. will they still be sectioned the same? or will all the modules be mixed up? for example... for maths, we have all the different modules. will the exam be sectioned indicating which pages are C1,C2,S1? or will the modules be mixed up where we will have random questions from any possible module like question 1 from C1, question 2 from C2,question 3 from C1 again and question 4 from S1?


To be honest with you, I don't think the tories have thought about that yet.
Reply 8
what about further maths?? i have been hearing that it is the only exception to the 'no-exams-in-january' rule. so will we be doing FP1 in january?
Reply 9
Original post by naseem hossen
what about further maths?? i have been hearing that it is the only exception to the 'no-exams-in-january' rule. so will we be doing FP1 in january?


who tells you these thing? i haven't heard of that but it sounds good. are you in year 11?

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Reply 10
Original post by naseem hossen
what about further maths?? i have been hearing that it is the only exception to the 'no-exams-in-january' rule. so will we be doing FP1 in january?


There was a petition for this from some Maths teachers but, as far as I'm aware, it hasn't been successful. It isn't as simple as it first appears. One difficulty is how you define a FM unit - it's perfectly possible to do FM with only 2 units that are solely for FM, and it's not worth the trouble of a whole exam season for (at most) 3 exams, even assuming anyone wants to do FP3 before the end of the A level course (it's not currently available in January, nor is FP2 with the majority of exam boards).

As soon as you start offering other units then you are offering them for Maths as well and (despite the fact that Maths is the only subject with 6 exam units) all the other subjects would cry foul.
Reply 11
Original post by sml96
are you in year 11?

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my story is a bit long and confusing. so i will just say yes, i am in yr11. im currently doing C1,C2 and S1.
Reply 12
Original post by naseem hossen
my story is a bit long and confusing. so i will just say yes, i am in yr11. im currently doing C1,C2 and S1.


that's more confusing are you retaking your a levels/as next year or something?

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Reply 13
Original post by sml96
that's more confusing are you retaking your a levels/as next year or something?

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yep, lets just put it that way

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