Have C3/C4 papers become increasingly difficult over the years?

I'm asking because I recently did some of the earlier C3 papers (e.g.2005/2006) and just did the June 2013 paper and thought it was much more difficult compared to the previous papers. Now, this could be because I haven't done enough papers so don't have enough experience but just want to know, would you say the Edexcel C3/C4 papers have increased in difficulty or changed in exam style over the years?

(Edexcel)

Raw mark /75 required to get an A

C3:

Jun 07 - 59
Jan 08 - 64
Jun 08 - 64
Jan 09 - 60
Jun 09 - 67
Jan 10 - 59
Jun 10 - 62
Jan 11 - 61
Jun 11 - 65
Jan 12 - 65
Jun 12 - 64
Jun 13 - 50


C4:

Jun 07 - 58
Jan 08 - 55
Jun 08 - 57
Jan 09 - 59
Jun 09 - 58
Jan 10 - 61
Jun 10 - 60
Jan 11 - 69
Jun 11 - 61
Jan 12 - 65
Jun 12 - 63
Jun 13 - 61

So no, papers have not become increasingly difficult.

I'm not entirely sure that alone can be used to answer the OP question..
The only thing that proves is that you now need less marks to get an A; which could be because the papers are more difficult now, and hence it's more difficult to pick up marks.


Posted from TSR Mobile

June 13 C3 was just a killer

No it wasn't

It did not ask anything that is not covered by the syllabus

What you mean is - the questions broke free - they did not look EXACTLY like every paper before had done

Let's hope that is what Edexcel have in mind for the future

For our movk we done a recent international paper and it was a little easier than the last c3, but the questions were not that similar to past papers. I wish I sat the June c3 paper, it was like 59 for 100UMS. You could get away with not being able to do a whole question and make a few mistakes.

Yes, it was a shame that the boundaries were so low - it says a lot about the lack of understanding in current students - as did the uproar after the paper was sat

Comments on here and in national newspapers talking about the paper showed that many students did not understand the material they were being tested on - a sad comment on the quality of A Level teaching IMO

My sympathies are with others though. I can appreciate their panic and anxiety stunted performance

Why - what was on the paper that they had not been taught?

I think thats exactly how questions shoukd be set. Not the same year on year

And when they did set it like that the low grade boundaries just nullified it so it might as well have just been a paper lookik just like the previous ones with no boundaries

My only issue with edexcel doing that is that for the years before they kept on setting similar papers, as with all the other boards, excluding mei which actually do change in style a fair bit, so it is unfair that in prevous years you could get a better mark with as little understanding as someone who sat it that year.

Now that they have set a non standard paper, which really wasnt that hard tbh, hopefully they will continue to change it a little bit and actually test students' knowledge as now the kids might have realised that they actually need to have a good grasp of the material to do well.

The only unfair thing with that paper was that it was unexpected, though they compensated for it with ridiculous boundaries so the whole thing was pointless

No it wasn't

It did not ask anything that is not covered by the syllabus

What you mean is - the questions broke free - they did not look EXACTLY like every paper before had done

Let's hope that is what Edexcel have in mind for the future

Interesting how all the teachers seem to be agreeing on the new, different style of exam..:P
So how would you all suggest in getting a deeper understanding of the different topics in C3/C4, especially if you haven't been taught the theory/ideas behind them and instead just jumped to the methods themselves?

Also, one of the questions in the June 2013 paper required the use of sinx=cos(90-x) which I, along with others in the class, honestly did not know about, and was never taught it at GCSE or A level and isn't in the specification (I don't think)...However, I do understand the formula now and why it's true but are there any other formulae I should be aware of?

Interesting how all the teachers seem to be agreeing on the new, different style of exam..:P
So how would you all suggest in getting a deeper understanding of the different topics in C3/C4, especially if you haven't been taught the theory/ideas behind them and instead just jumped to the methods themselves?

Also, one of the questions in the June 2013 paper required the use of sinx=cos(90-x) which I, along with others in the class, honestly did not know about, and was never taught it at GCSE or A level and isn't in the specification (I don't think)...However, I do understand the formula now and why it's true but are there any other formulae I should be aware of?