Article: Can you predict exam questions?

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Reply 20

SecretDuck

Original post by mobbsy91

Haha yeh, the Solomon papers are really great for revision!

Yeah, they really made the past paper questions seem really easy with their handholding. :tongue:

Reply 21

emiloujess

Brilliant

I clicked on this thinking I was going to have to go on a mini-rant about the dangers of predicting questions... I've always been against using predictions. It may help to reduce stress in the run-up to exams but it will be your own fault if you rely on predictions when revising and then something else comes up in the exam (which will cause even more stress than if you had just not been as lazy and revised the whole spec in the first place)

Reply 22

am99

Original post by mobbsy91

Haha yeh, the Solomon papers are really great for revision!

Do you know, if there are any Solomon maths paper for aqa? Can only find ocr and edexcel

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 23

flyingpanda

Eh. In GCSE I tried to predict what would come up in my English Literature, Physics and History exams and ended up being right. But apart from History, I wasn't only sticking to just knowing those predicted topics. It was more of a on-the-way-to-the-exam prediction, where I couldn't really do anything with the epiphany. For History it was just the only thing I could write a lot about.

No way am I going to predict my AS exams, especially with how the specimen papers have gone for us so far. :s-smilie:

Reply 24

evalilyXOX

I have been able to correctly predict in the past, but after one exam where my predictions were fatally wrong, I abstain from doing so as I prefer to focus on everything equally

Reply 25

SecretDuck

Original post by am99

Do you know, if there are any Solomon maths paper for aqa? Can only find ocr and edexcel

Posted from TSR Mobile

No, they don't exist, but I did the Edexcel ones while I was with AQA. I just crossed out the questions which weren't in the syllabus and marked myself out of the new total. :smile:

Reply 26

Asolare

Tfw you're on a brand new spec for something and so cannot even guess :frown:

Though saying that, all of the questions that came up last year (when it was introduced) will probably not come up again this year so that does make it easier to decide what to prepare for the 2 big questions.

In German you can like predict the 'style' of questions I'd say... but not the actual content.

Reply 27

Joy R

anybody have any predictions for what poems will come up in the edexcel igcse english literature exam. also any predictions for english lang paper a paper one anthology prediction and paper 2 anthology predictions any help would be grateful

Reply 28

amelia0006

You can't always predict a question but if you look at all of the past papers, especially in essay based subjects like politics and english, you can see a lot of repetition or rewording of questions that have come up previously. I say do all the past papers, even if they are the only revision you do because it'll really help in the exam :smile:

Reply 29

princess770

Any prediction what could come on May/June 2017 old spec gcse maths exam could the examiners repeat some questions as it's the last chance

Reply 30

tahira naveed

How is it easy to predict what is going to come up in GCSE EDEXCEL ENGLISH LANGUAGE EXAM, which passage of mice and men will come, what type of question on article, letter or pod cast will come?
Can someone suggest me some website for these things?
I am really behind in ENGLISH.
THANKS GUYS <3

Reply 31

04MR17

Volunteer Section Leader

Teachers don't have much of a viewpoint considering it's new a levels, and so new specifications and topics. Past Papers don't exist in some subjects now, so questions can't be repeated. This is particularly true for English.

For History, there are plenty of previous questions, but teachers are refusing to use them. I however, am putting them to good use. I want to make sure that I've covered all angles, but stay as focused narrowly as possible to what is likely to come up.

For Maths we're still under the old regime, meaning 20 past papers for each unit, meaning formulaic questions which can't really be inventive anymore.

Reply 32

transient life

Original post by ScarletXxXRose

For sociology, english and mostly other essay-based subjects, it's most definitely easier to predict.
For last year's sociology AS exams, TSR was nearly spot-on with what would come.
Predicting the questions is sometimes the only thing you can do if you've realised that you've run out of revision time as you've been procrastinating the whole year.

Original post by SecretDuck

In A Level Maths, the questions can either be familiar and easy or different and frustrating.

My C4 AQA Maths exam actually copied some Solomon Paper questions and changed the numbers! Good for me who did Solomon Papers, not good for my classmates who didn't do them.

Hi so I am struggling to choose either math or sociology as my 3rd a level. Basically I am home-schooled and self-taught and due to personal reasons I wouldnt be able to start my 3rd a level subject until November 2017 to do the exam in May 2018. So basically I have 6 months to do both AS and A2 math/sociology depending on what I choose. Problem is I have never done sociology before so I honestly don't know how tough it is to get an A in it and if it's even possible to study it in 6 months and get an A. (I will be studying just the one subject and can divert my entire focus on it). My reservation with taking math is that I dont enjoy it and also I hear A2 math is much harder than AS and I have already done some self-teaching for C1 and C2 and I understand some concepts for C1 easy but C2 is tougher so that scares me from A2 and therefore taking the subject altogether. Since one of you have done Sociology and one of you have done Math if you could give me advice or opinion on whether it is doable in my situation I would be so grateful as I need to pick a subject soon. Many thanks in advance! :smile:

Reply 33

SecretDuck

Original post by transient life

Maths is very much "practice makes perfect". If you're not comfortable with that, I wouldn't recommend to take Maths.

Reply 34

CCauston113

Some things are OK to predict - for example, GCSE OCR 21st century A P5 this year probably won't have a long question about resistance of a wire because that's what the coursework was on...
....but revise it anyway, just in case, because it could still be used as a short answer question

Reply 35

CCauston113

Where do you access Solomon papers?

Reply 36

transient life

Original post by SecretDuck

Maths is very much "practice makes perfect". If you're not comfortable with that, I wouldn't recommend to take Maths.

I am okay with practicing everyday for the next 6 months but what I am scared about is getting a question I have never seen while doing past papers in the exam and then freezing in the middle. I find that I understand concepts fairly quickly and if its the same pattern of question I can answer the questions but if it's a total new type of question I don't understand what I need to do and get really scared.

What scares me as well is that I don't enjoy math neither do I think im one of those people that are good at it. So if people who consider themselves good at math and actually enjoy it yet get stuck especially on paper C34 how could I ever even do it?

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 37

_Fergo

There's a difference between learning everything well and predicting a few questions to make plans/more elaborate preparation, and actually predicting a few questions and focusing solely on them.

The latter is plain wrong and very likely to result in disappointment.

Reply 38

SecretDuck

Original post by transient life

In that case, I'd suggest the Solomon Papers in addition to past papers, no matter what board you do the Maths exams under. They will teach you how to answer maths questions if you're left on your own, with an unfamiliar question. If you get Bs or Cs in those, you're very likely to get an A* in the real exam.

Heck, AQA copied Solomon Paper questions and put them in my C4 exam with the numbers changed.

Reply 39

transient life

Original post by SecretDuck

Is this despite the fact that I consider math my weakest subject and don't really think I'm good at it at all? So as long as I learn to do the past papers I won't be stuck in the exam? Are the questions in the exam always similar style as of those in previous papers? I will be doing the international edexcel math btw