I agree. But, I think the content in the syllabus is more straight forward than other exam boards. Although, when it comes to marking, they are extremely harsh, Not to mention the horrific revision guides available for WJEC Biology.
The CGP revision guides are unbelievably good but they are only AQA/OCR/Edexel specific for AS Level.
We're really caught in the middle tbh.
I did Edexcel science for GCSE and it was a lot nicer, the revision guides were great too.
Btw does anyone know what the grade boundaries are like for unit 1 or 2?
Great thanks! Is that for unit 1? I should be able to get an A with those boundaries (I hope anyway).
Yeah I think so... Essays in unit 1 are usually quite easy. My favourite would be one on DNA/RNA or mitosis/meiosis!
Yeah, BY2/HB2 are always similar to BY1, some years the HB2 boundaries a slightly higher than BY1.
The highest the boundaries have ever been for BY1 is 54/70. But to be on the real safe side for an A, you're looking at getting 56/70. Especially now that winter exams have been removed, you have much more students taking the BY1 exam. So odds are from this year on, grade boundaries will be getting higher.
Yeah, BY2/HB2 are always similar to BY1, some years the HB2 boundaries a slightly higher than BY1.
The highest the boundaries have ever been for BY1 is 54/70. But to be on the real safe side for an A, you're looking at getting 56/70. Especially now that winter exams have been removed, you have much more students taking the BY1 exam. So odds are from this year on, grade boundaries will be getting higher.
Your point is very invalid; last year there were summer only exams, and loads of people took the BY1. Yet most of the AS being it their first exams, and it was different from past papers flopped the exam (I flopped too, got a mid B, still got a high A overall for biology AS as I scored 90% in BY2 and coursework) , but carrying on it was 64% raw marks for an A. No doubt if the paper is hard this year the boundaries will be the same.
I am resitting and I know the boundaries even if its an easy paper will be lower than average, pretty much a fact.
Your point is very invalid; last year there were summer only exams, and loads of people took the BY1. Yet most of the AS being it their first exams, and it was different from past papers flopped the exam (I flopped too, got a mid B, still got a high A overall for biology AS as I scored 90% in BY2 and coursework) , but carrying on it was 64% raw marks for an A. No doubt if the paper is hard this year the boundaries will be the same.
I am resitting and I know the boundaries even if its an easy paper will be lower than average, pretty much a fact.
Them winter exams were only in wales, as last year WALES curriculum still had January exams
England had no January a-level exams last year.
So majority of people sitting that paper were first timers , such as me
and now from this year the wales January exams have gone aswell ; it means the boundaries should be lower because now everyone is first-timers unless your an A2 resitting but there were loads of A2 resitting last years paper and boundaries went so low.. so this sitting should theoretically have low boundaries is what im trying to say.
Them winter exams were only in wales, as last year WALES curriculum still had January exams
England had no January a-level exams last year.
So majority of people sitting that paper were first timers , such as me
and now from this year the wales January exams have gone aswell ; it means the boundaries should be lower because now everyone is first-timers unless your an A2 resitting but there were loads of A2 resitting last years paper and boundaries went so low.. so this sitting should theoretically have low boundaries is what im trying to say.
Yeah I say that because I live in Wales.
Well I really hope you're right because that's good news if the boundaries are getting lower, fingers crossed.
Not to mention the horrific revision guides available for WJEC Biology.
The CGP revision guides are unbelievably good but they are only AQA/OCR/Edexel specific for AS Level.
We're really caught in the middle tbh.
Have you tried the wjec biology textbooks? Though naturally a lot of people aren't happy with them,they are better than the revision guides and for by2 last year I got a high A and only revised from the text book
I have the Illuminate Publishing revision guide for AS Human Biology by Gareth Rowlands. It's good as a an outline. There are mistakes in it and some of the definitions in there that we need to learn are not accepted by the WJEC as they are too simple. I haven't tried any WJEC text books, apparently they have mistakes in them also?