ANSWERS: OCR Physics B(Advancing Physics) G491~ 20th May 2014~ AS Physics

I put 1 too but no the answer was 10^3.

Oh was it in kg then?


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Bet that QR code leads to the Ostrich Appreciation Society webpage.

Oh was it in kg then?


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I was just looking on twitter, and this lady is trying to get the Daily Mail to do an investigation into our paper as so many people are complaining!!!!!

I was just looking on twitter, and this lady is trying to get the Daily Mail to do an investigation into our paper as so many people are complaining!!!!!

Good. The more publicity and pressure that OCR receive, the better. I'm not saying we should make a petition or go and protest or anything as exteme as that - but if any of you feel that the paper was unfair, then please email OCR with a POLITE email, just so they know that there are many students (and also teachers, it seems, judging by some of the comments) that feel OCR have made a misjudgment about this paper.

And for those of you who did well - fine. Great. What we are saying shouldn't affect you. No need to be smug about it (although I'm sure many of these people are just trolls). The questions may seem simple and easy when discussing it on a forum, but in an exam hall with (in my opinion) idiotic time limits, it becomes a lot more challenging. And if anything, lower grade boundaries will increase your chances of getting 100% UMS.

And also, I would like to wish everyone the best of luck in their G492 exams - and if you were resiting that G491, then also in your G494 and G495 exams.

I wrote a letter to OCR and received this letter back:

Thank you for your comments about the recent examination paper for OCR Unit G491, Physics in Action. We are sorry you feel that this paper provided a negative experience, either in terms of its difficulty, or the perception that questions were not clearly linked to the content of the specification. We are also particularly concerned that many of you struggled to complete the paper in the time allowed.

We place a very high value on feedback received from students or their parents and schools or colleges about OCR examinations. Any comments received about particular assessments are always brought to the attention of the Principal and Chief Examiner responsible for the paper, the Chair of Examiners and the Subject Specialists that support the specification. They ensure that all this information is considered carefully when the mark scheme for the paper is finalised, during the awarding process when grade thresholds are agreed, and in the setting of examinations for future years.

We hope you can appreciate that it is not possible for us to respond to all the individual points that you have raised but we can assure you that your comments have been passed on to those responsible for Unit G491. We would however like to respond to some of the common issues raised.

Question 1: there is a clear reference to charge carrier density in the specification in Module 2.2(ii) of the Physics in Action unit.

The ‘making estimates’ aspect of Question 4 is an assessable learning outcome (no. 3) which is mentioned in all units of the of the AS and A level course.

In question 9 candidates were not expected to recall applications of graphene from prior knowledge, but to use the mechanical and electrical properties of graphene given in the question to suggest possible applications.

Likewise question 10(a), ‘Suggest an advantage of QR codes…’ is based on the information given in the diagrams of the codes rather than being reliant on candidates prior knowledge.

These ‘suggest’ questions in 9 and 10 are testing Assessment Objective 2 (section 4.7 of the specification) ie application of scientific knowledge and process to unfamiliar situations.

To help us to address any further issues you have raised, we recommend that you discuss them with your teacher or lecturer who may wish make a more formal submission to us.

Thank you very much indeed for taking the time to provide us with your feedback.

Yours sincerely

Karen Mottram
Senior Manager Assessment Standards (Chair of Examiners)

Can anyone remember the questions?
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I think that's fair enough. My issue was not with the questions themselves but just with the amount they wanted you to do in one hour. I just think it was unreasonable, and the amount of people who are saying that they had difficult with finishing/did not finish the paper seem to support my opinion.

Guys, just to clarify, the QR code in the paper doesn't go anywhere, it only comes up with text that says it's a Version 4 QR code up to 50 characters - sad face