The Student Room Group
Competition - post a photo you've taken of nature >>
Competition - post a photo you've taken of nature >>
Competition - post a photo you've taken of nature >>

New maths and further maths A Levels

Scroll to see replies

Original post by Mr M
You can resit modules in May/June 2015 or later.


ok thanks
Original post by Mr M
Indeed it is subjective. I've heard the same thing every year for the last decade.


Apart from the C3 exam last year, i think that's doubtful
It's exactly the same every year..."that paper was so hard, much harder than all the ones from previous years...it was the most difficult it's ever been"
Original post by Mutleybm1996
Apart from the C3 exam last year, i think that's doubtful


The 2013 edexcel C3 was well within the spec and there was nothing difficult about the questions

As Mr M suggests - year on year students think there exam was harder than ever before
Original post by TenOfThem
The 2013 edexcel C3 was well within the spec and there was nothing difficult about the questions

As Mr M suggests - year on year students think there exam was harder than ever before


The questions were more challenging though. With all due respect, you're a teacher so think all of it is easy now you've done a degree/been teaching for years. Like GCSE seems easy to me now


Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by Mutleybm1996
The questions were more challenging though. With all due respect, you're a teacher so think all of it is easy now you've done a degree/been teaching for years. Like GCSE seems easy to me now



LoL

I am not saying it was easy for me - obviously they are

I am saying that the questions were well within the spec - some students found some of them challenging because they had been taught to answer past papers rather than being taught the material
Original post by TenOfThem
The 2013 edexcel C3 was well within the spec and there was nothing difficult about the questions

As Mr M suggests - year on year students think there exam was harder than ever before


Most questions weren't difficult, but that last question was incredibly misleading. The question artificially increased difficulty by confusing the majority of students with a silly scenario and giving extraneous irrelevant information. That wasn't fair, even if it was within the spec.

The grade boundaries for that paper speak for itself. The students weren't to blame there; Edexcel royally screwed up.
Original post by TenOfThem
The 2013 edexcel C3 was well within the spec and there was nothing difficult about the questions

As Mr M suggests - year on year students think there exam was harder than ever before


I thought C3 June 2013 was harder than usual, but not as hard as some people had suggested. However, I didn't do it under the stress of exam conditions.

The grade boundaries proved that generally the exam was much harder than previous years (and probably this year). I would like it if the papers were like that consistently because it means a minor mistake wouldn't cost you as much, but I doubt the questions will be in that same style for the duration of this specification.
Original post by shamika
Most questions weren't difficult, but that last question was incredibly misleading. The question artificially increased difficulty by confusing the majority of students with a silly scenario and giving extraneous irrelevant information. That wasn't fair, even if it was within the spec.

The grade boundaries for that paper speak for itself. The students weren't to blame there; Edexcel royally screwed up.



I am not blaming students

I think it is shameful that the students had not been expose to an adequate variety of questions - that they were not taught to read a question and recognise the relevant material

Sure the question looked different - the standard previously was to ask about the harmonic form, then state a scenario rather than the other way around
Original post by ThatPerson
I thought C3 June 2013 was harder than usual, but not as hard as some people had suggested. However, I didn't do it under the stress of exam conditions.



When I used it as a mock I told my group beforehand that it was the "hard paper" and that people had struggled because they had not recognised the topics - they did not find the paper difficult

I think you are right that exam stress with some unusual looking questions was enough to cause the panic that was demonstrated during (based on the need for low boundaries) and after the exam
Original post by TenOfThem
The 2013 edexcel C3 was well within the spec and there was nothing difficult about the questions

As Mr M suggests - year on year students think there exam was harder than ever before

What about this years C4? One mistake and 9 marks straight down the drain.
this spec is on point. There is no distinction between A and A* just method recall. I wish i was doing this new spec. It shows who have the 'flair' for mathematics.


Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by Dilzo999
What about this years C4? One mistake and 9 marks straight down the drain.


Are you thinking of the volume of revolution?

I like the movement towards un-structured questions
Original post by TenOfThem
I am not blaming students

I think it is shameful that the students had not been expose to an adequate variety of questions - that they were not taught to read a question and recognise the relevant material

Sure the question looked different - the standard previously was to ask about the harmonic form, then state a scenario rather than the other way around


I'm on a phone so can't link to the post I made on the C3 thread where I analysed that last question. But what I will repeat is the question was very badly worded and there was information in the question which was just not needed (unless you wanted to use a M4 relative motion approach).

That question was unfair. The difficulty of the rest of the paper has been overblown, but there was enough on the paper to cause panic in exam conditions. There was no way a student could've reasonably prepared for such a stupid question.

(I still think that people could've reasonably scored 100 UMS on that paper given the grade boundaries, my gripe with that paper is mostly the last question, which should never have been set.)
TenofThem has me on ignore but here goes. Tricky Maths questions which invert the traditional question format do more than test fundamental understanding of core concepts. Many of our students (often in STEM subjects) do not have English as their mother tongue. It does not take much to confuse them. Add to that the fact that maths definitions, terminology, nomenclature and notation are in general taught extremely poorly in our schools a relatively simple question can easily morph into an undoable loss of multiple marks. IMHO if the set text book does not contain at least one instance of every question as an example or in the exercises it should not be in the exam. Maths exams are not guessing games or quasi STEP type tests. They are what they are - computational mathematics.
Original post by shamika
...



We will have to agree to disagree
Incidentally the presentation of the Dept of Ed documents referred to is really poor. The first paragraphs give no clue if these are a statement of fact, a proposal, a policy, a review, or whether it is in fact signalling wholesale and imminent change to the exam system.
Original post by TenOfThem
Are you thinking of the volume of revolution?

I like the movement towards un-structured questions

Yup, I don't really mind it however I think it's a bit harsh that you lose a lot of marks for one silly mistake. Also Old_Simon said hi a few posts back :smile:.
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by Dilzo999
Yup, I don't really mind it however I think it's a bit harsh that you lose a lot of marks for one silly mistake. Also Old_Simon said hi a few posts back :smile:.


I think the mark scheme for that one was poorly constructed ... I think there was scope for more method marks

If questions are to be less structured the boards will need to think about the marking of incorrect answers
I make no comment about whether less structured questions are a good thing or not, but they do test a fundamentally different skill set and need to be taught as such and prepared for. They also run contrary to the current trend of maintaining a high degree of consistency and hence predictability which gives students a fair and proper chance to prepare and it ensures that the approved text books do actually cover the material and that the same texts can be used in consecutive years.

Edexcel of course who make millions selling books want exactly the reverse. They like enough change every year so that pupils need to buy new books. That alone is a national disgrace. In France there is a huge market in second hand school books at very cheap prices every year available in at least one shop in every town.

The only thing I oppose is ad hoc changes where the board suddenly inserts a completely novel and confusing question in what is normally a straight forward paper and does so without warning. In those circumstances it is disingenuous to simply state that the knowledge required was in fact somewhere in the specification.

I might add in my experience that considering Maths is a monumentally precise subject some of the English used in word questions is often ambiguous and confusing. Some of the sub para numbering also sometimes leaves a doubt as to if the question continues from the first part or starts again.

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you