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OCR B (Salters) F332 Tuesday 4th June 2013 Exam Discussion (Now Closed)

I despair for Britain... Our politicians spend more time trying to get and stay in power than actually doing anything constructive. If there's one good thing about going to university, regardless of how good a Uni it's going to be now, it's getting away from the god awful public education system.

Thus has been the case ever since the 1960s tbh, with the abolition of grammar schools. That's the saving grace! University doesn't have all that crappy system of regulation and boards, allowing them more freedom; which so helps the student and event he university.

This government is always banging on about universities taking a lead on A-Levels, so why don't they try and implement some of the ways universities do their stuff? I really think there should be only one exam board that can be held to account and no fiddling constantly.

Reply 1381

King Hotpie

15

Original post by abzy1234

Thus has been the case ever since the 1960s tbh, with the abolition of grammar schools. That's the saving grace! University doesn't have all that crappy system of regulation and boards, allowing them more freedom; which so helps the student and event he university.

This government is always banging on about universities taking a lead on A-Levels, so why don't they try and implement some of the ways universities do their stuff? I really think there should be only one exam board that can be held to account and no fiddling constantly.

The only possible benefit of multiple exam boards i can think of is an increased breadth of available courses. But of course, if we have one big exam board with a similar total amount of resources, it can offer a similar range of courses, with far less overlaps, actually increasing possible breadth, whilst still avoiding exam boards competing with each other at our expense.

Reply 1382

outsider95

I think you guys should all relax. The grade boundaries are really high, but they have to keep the same standards each year, which means a very similar amount of people will get As. Obviously a lot of people got into the 80s and 90s if the grade boundaries are this high. I think a lot of us here will be surprised tomorrow to find out we have got As, considering the grade boundaries, after all, there wasn't a mark scheme for this exam, no one can really be sure how they've done.

Reply 1383

krisshP

14

Original post by CoolRunner

EXACTLY. ****ING ****! :mad:

Original post by abzy1234

Oh **** you salters. Really **** you.

Original post by King Hotpie

Well, I suppose I should start downgrading my university choices now...

Spoiler

Hahaha spoiler
I know how you feel.

Original post by King Hotpie

It's unbelievable, the OCR advancing physics ones are stupidly high as well. OCR really are a horrendous exam board, this paper was of average difficulty at best, I've certainly done easier past papers.

I also didn't find this the easiest paper of all. I guess more people know how the exam tends to be and what typically comes up, so the grade boundaries inflated.

OCR suck anyway :frown:

I'm surprised people realise this now.

Reply 1384

SyedaK

11

Does anyone know their mark for OCR Chemistry coursework for AS?

Reply 1385

NielsBohrsDad

Original post by Login

A B C D E
82 73 65 57 49

82 for an A, highest it ever has been!
Disgusting.

Where did you find that out?

Reply 1386

King Hotpie

15

Original post by SyedaK

Does anyone know their mark for OCR Chemistry coursework for AS?

My teacher told me 48, but of course this is open to moderation. Probably really got 30 or something knowing the way my results are going.

Reply 1387

SyedaK

11

Original post by King Hotpie

My teacher told me 48, but of course this is open to moderation. Probably really got 30 or something knowing the way my results are going.

I got the same. It's a low B. I hope it doesn't change unless it goes higher!

Reply 1388

King Hotpie

15

Original post by SyedaK

I got the same. It's a low B. I hope it doesn't change unless it goes higher!

That would be quite good! Which means of course, OCR will never do it! :rolleyes:

Reply 1389

NielsBohrsDad

a high c. thats 98 ums

ocr well and truly ****ed everyone over.

Reply 1390

King Hotpie

15

Original post by NielsBohrsDad

a high c. thats 98 ums

ocr well and truly ****ed everyone over.

Is that the sort of thing you were expecting, or were you hoping for higher? OCR is easily the worst exam board of the lot, ridiculous syllabuses, ridiculous exams and now ridiculous grade boundaries. Perhaps that's just for my subjects, but that's how it feels.

Reply 1391

abzy1234

14

Original post by King Hotpie

x

Hey, how did you do? I scraped an A (123), and overall, I was one mark off an A in Chemistry :/

Believe me, OCR salters is a real tough nut. I'm not going to lie, A2 was such a challenge and required so much work. But with hard work, you'll be fine. Somehow you just have to block all the stupid boundaries, and focus on the content and questions :smile:

Reply 1392

Davelittle

13

138/150 yay, go me woop. :smile:

Reply 1393

Davelittle

13

Original post by SyedaK

Does anyone know their mark for OCR Chemistry coursework for AS?

I got 57/60 but my teacher told me I had 58/60. :smile:

Reply 1394

King Hotpie

15

Original post by abzy1234

Hey, how did you do? I scraped an A (123), and overall, I was one mark off an A in Chemistry :/

Believe me, OCR salters is a real tough nut. I'm not going to lie, A2 was such a challenge and required so much work. But with hard work, you'll be fine. Somehow you just have to block all the stupid boundaries, and focus on the content and questions :smile:

I don't get my results until tomorrow :s-smilie:

That sucks, I hope it didn't make any major difference to your plans for the future? I have the option to drop chemistry next year, but it's so much more relevant to my degree choice (physics) than economics. The one thing I'm really worried about is the coursework- everyone says its a nightmare, but from what I gather that's mostly because its huge, rather than especially difficult to get good marks. Would you say that if you're willing to put the effort in, it's definitely doable to score highly, or is it still far more difficult than the average coursework? Also, would you say that a low A was roughly what you were expecting, or were you hoping for higher? I'm trying to gauge whether I could have any nasty shocks coming my way...

Reply 1395

SyedaK

11

Original post by Davelittle

I got 57/60 but my teacher told me I had 58/60. :smile:

So sad, My teacher said i got 48/60 got marked down to 45/60.. It kills

Reply 1396

SherlockHolmes

13

Need 2 more UMS for an A overall in AS Chemistry and have applied for a remark in F332 :frown:

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 1397

abzy1234

14

Original post by King Hotpie

I don't get my results until tomorrow :s-smilie:

That sucks, I hope it didn't make any major difference to your plans for the future? I have the option to drop chemistry next year, but it's so much more relevant to my degree choice (physics) than economics. The one thing I'm really worried about is the coursework- everyone says its a nightmare, but from what I gather that's mostly because its huge, rather than especially difficult to get good marks. Would you say that if you're willing to put the effort in, it's definitely doable to score highly, or is it still far more difficult than the average coursework? Also, would you say that a low A was roughly what you were expecting, or were you hoping for higher? I'm trying to gauge whether I could have any nasty shocks coming my way...

Oh yeah, my bad, I forgot about that! Best of luck :smile:

Nah it didn't luckily, I still got into my firm university as I got A's in the other subjects, thankfully! I would defiantly say that the coursework is doable so long as you're willing to put the effort in- I spent two solid weeks doing lab work and writing everything up. I got 68/90 officially (B), but my teachers told me I got around a high A. That leads me to my next point; never trust what your teacher gives you for your coursework. It varies so much and moderation can really knock your grade. So to be really honest, the coursework is a minefield- you just have to put your head down and hope for the best.

I was hoping for a good, solid A, but I got 78/90 for F334 and then 92/120 for F335, if the grade boundaries were lower, these would be at least 5 marks higher I would guess; making me get a solid A. I'm happy though; I found salters a really challenging course, and just grateful that I got a decent grade!

So yeah, whilst Salters may seem like the course of hell, if you knuckle down and really work with the concepts and applying your knowledge, you should get the grade you want. Somehow you just have to ignore these furors over boundaries and moderation, and trust me, it'll work out!

Best of luck for you tomorrow :biggrin:

Reply 1398

MintCrepz

5

Original post by King Hotpie

Is that the sort of thing you were expecting, or were you hoping for higher? OCR is easily the worst exam board of the lot, ridiculous syllabuses, ridiculous exams and now ridiculous grade boundaries. Perhaps that's just for my subjects, but that's how it feels.

I wouldn't necessarily say OCR is the worst exam board, well for chemistry anyway. This year has been far easier than others for Salters AS exams. I'm sorry but anyone who thought that F331 (Jan 2013) and this exam were 'solid' clearly didn't prepare thoroughly enough. F331 was virtually a paper composed of past papers and F332 was nearly the same, with a few minor additions to test the most able candidates. Both had a lot of recall involved. I mean come on, OCR even repeated a question from June 09' with the only difference being one of the figures doubled. I am hardly surprised that the grade boundaries shot up.

P.S negative reppers, I'm sorry that you couldn't handle recall in an A level exam :/.