How do I get a level 8 in Maths?

Original post by jameswhughes

Thanks

You are welcome. Sorry for the wait; my quote alert box thing is slightly broken... :/

Reply 42

Maths_Lover

Original post by bobbricks

Does anyone know where I can download documents from which have just level 6 or level 8 questions?
I've found this website: http://www.purecoder.net/mathsguru/keystage3.htm
But it only has a document on level 7 questions - not level 6/8...

I do not know but you could google it, perhaps?

Reply 43

ttoby

15

Original post by bobbricks

Thanks

Does anyone know which year's SAT exam my school would more likely give me (e.g. which would I more likely get, the newer 2009 one or a 2008 or older exam etc?)

At GCSE/A-level, it's common for schools to set the previous year's exam paper as a mock, since those papers haven't yet been released to the public. But since none of the papers are 'last year's' and they're all publicly available and they're only a few years apart then there's no particular reason why a school would choose one paper over another.

So, as I said before, you can't really guess which paper they'll set hence you should just look at all the papers.

Reply 44

TheLionKing

Haha I was the year where all the SATS exams got lost or never got marked :smile:

sorry...not helpful ...

Reply 45

OP

Should I do the papers between the year 2000 and 2009, or should I do the papers between 1995-2009? In other words, which paper should be the oldest (and newest) I should do and which should I exclude from my "to-do" list? :smile:

ATM, I've done the papers 2000-2002 and 2008-2009 so 5 papers in total. I have 5 left from this decade, and I hope to them all again- unless you suggest I do the 1995-1999 papers as well. The reason why I'm asking is because I'm assuming that exam style has changed quite a lot so doing certain papers would benefit me more than others :biggrin:

Reply 46

Jacktri

what is all this 7a 7b crap? when i did sats i got a lv7 but that was because the paper was only lv5-7 or something like that i was in top set maths and some people in the group did the lv6-8 paper or something idk why they didn't just put us all on the lv8 paper i got a lv7 by copying the work of the guy next to me in class all year so if i got a lv7 without doing any work throughout all of year 9 i'm sure you can get a lv8 easily

Original post by bobbricks

Should I do the papers between the year 2000 and 2009, or should I do the papers between 1995-2009? In other words, which paper should be the oldest (and newest) I should do and which should I exclude from my "to-do" list? :smile:

ATM, I've done the papers 2000-2002 and 2008-2009 so 5 papers in total. I have 5 left from this decade, and I hope to them all again- unless you suggest I do the 1995-1999 papers as well. The reason why I'm asking is because I'm assuming that exam style has changed quite a lot so doing certain papers would benefit me more than others :biggrin:

The exam style didn't change. You will find the grade boundaries moved a lot so it became much easier to attain level 8 in the later papers. This is as blatant an example of dumbing down as you are ever likely to see (although the Government will insist children got smarter and smarter).

Here are the percentages of Year 9 students attaining each level:

1995 9% (Level 7) 1% (Level 8)
1996 10% (7) 1% (8)
1997 11% (7) 1% (8)
1998 11% (7) 2% (8)
1999 12% (7) 2% (8)
2000 16%(7) 3% (8)
2001 17% (7) 3% (8)
2002 17% (7) 4% (8)
2003 19% (7) 5% (8)
2004 19% (7) 4% (8)
2005 20% (7) 5% (8)
2006 22% (7) 8% (8)
2007 21% (7) 8% (8)
2008 22% (7) 9% (8)

I'm as cynical as they come but even I find these figures shocking.

Reply 48

Maths_Lover

Original post by Mr M

The exam style didn't change. You will find the grade boundaries moved a lot so it became much easier to attain level 8 in the later papers. This is as blatant an example of dumbing down as you are ever likely to see (although the Government will insist children got smarter and smarter).

Here are the percentages of Year 9 students attaining each level:

1995 9% (Level 7) 1% (Level 8)
1996 10% (7) 1% (8)
1997 11% (7) 1% (8)
1998 11% (7) 2% (8)
1999 12% (7) 2% (8)
2000 16%(7) 3% (8)
2001 17% (7) 3% (8)
2002 17% (7) 4% (8)
2003 19% (7) 5% (8)
2004 19% (7) 4% (8)
2005 20% (7) 5% (8)
2006 22% (7) 8% (8)
2007 21% (7) 8% (8)
2008 22% (7) 9% (8)

I'm as cynical as they come but even I find these figures shocking.

My goodness.

Reply 49

OP

If you don't ask me asking, where did you get this data from? :smile:

It does seem quite surprising though- 1% got level 8s in 1995 :eek:

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 50

OP

So should I do the 1995-1999 papers or just those from this decade? :smile:

Reply 51

OP

BTW, by exam style, I meant the type of questions asked, the number of word problems there are etc...Has this changed? :wink:

Reply 52

OP

If I do get a level 8 and am in top set, I'll be asked if I want to do the FSMQ. So do you think I should do it, is it worth it or does it put on too much stress and pressure on you- so much that you won't be able to revise as much for other subjects?

Reply 53

ttoby

15

Original post by bobbricks

If you don't ask me asking, where did you get this data from? :smile:

It does seem quite surprising though- 1% got level 8s in 1995 :eek:

Mr M is (if I remember correctly) involved in setting these sorts of exams. I'm not sure of his exact role but he ceratainly knows what he's talking about.

Original post by bobbricks

So should I do the 1995-1999 papers or just those from this decade? :smile:

You should have plenty to be getting on with from this decade. Have a look at older papers if you like, but bear in mind that if there are any questions that look unusual or really difficult then they might be on stuff that's been taken out of the syllabus, hence you shouldn't worry about them.

Original post by bobbricks

BTW, by exam style, I meant the type of questions asked, the number of word problems there are etc...Has this changed? :wink:

No idea, but see above for how to deal with this.

Original post by bobbricks

If I do get a level 8 and am in top set, I'll be asked if I want to do the FSMQ. So do you think I should do it, is it worth it or does it put on too much stress and pressure on you- so much that you won't be able to revise as much for other subjects?

I never did that, so I can't comment sorry.

Reply 54

OP

Cool, I didn't know that :smile:

Thanks for the help guys, I appreciate it :biggrin:

Reply 55

OP