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How much do prelims really matter?
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ladymarshmallow
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As is the case with many of you, I have my first prelim coming up on Tuesday (Higher English 
). I am reasonably confident that I can get A/Bs in my other subjects (German, French, History, Modern Studies), but I feel so unprepared for English. I can barely remember any of my quotes, and struggle massively with timing for the CR paper. My best mark has been a 21 (Romeo and Juliet), but I recently got my marked poetry essay back and only got a 17. We did a timed essay in class, and I didn't even get halfway done. I feel like I'm regressing, not progressing. I was even vaguely considering doing AH English, but now I'm not so sure. Getting a C/D in English would be so humiliating; I'm not even a maths/sciences person (I'm more of an arts/humanities person) as well, so I'd only feel extra stupid.
). I am reasonably confident that I can get A/Bs in my other subjects (German, French, History, Modern Studies), but I feel so unprepared for English. I can barely remember any of my quotes, and struggle massively with timing for the CR paper. My best mark has been a 21 (Romeo and Juliet), but I recently got my marked poetry essay back and only got a 17. We did a timed essay in class, and I didn't even get halfway done. I feel like I'm regressing, not progressing. I was even vaguely considering doing AH English, but now I'm not so sure. Getting a C/D in English would be so humiliating; I'm not even a maths/sciences person (I'm more of an arts/humanities person) as well, so I'd only feel extra stupid.
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TheFOMaster
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#2
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#2
(Original post by ladymarshmallow)
As is the case with many of you, I have my first prelim coming up on Tuesday (Higher English). I am reasonably confident that I can get A/Bs in my other subjects (German, French, History, Modern Studies), but I feel so unprepared for English. I can barely remember any of my quotes, and struggle massively with timing for the CR paper. My best mark has been a 21 (Romeo and Juliet), but I recently got my marked poetry essay back and only got a 17. We did a timed essay in class, and I didn't even get halfway done. I feel like I'm regressing, not progressing. I was even vaguely considering doing AH English, but now I'm not so sure. Getting a C/D in English would be so humiliating; I'm not even a maths/sciences person (I'm more of an arts/humanities person) as well, so I'd only feel extra stupid.
As is the case with many of you, I have my first prelim coming up on Tuesday (Higher English
). I am reasonably confident that I can get A/Bs in my other subjects (German, French, History, Modern Studies), but I feel so unprepared for English. I can barely remember any of my quotes, and struggle massively with timing for the CR paper. My best mark has been a 21 (Romeo and Juliet), but I recently got my marked poetry essay back and only got a 17. We did a timed essay in class, and I didn't even get halfway done. I feel like I'm regressing, not progressing. I was even vaguely considering doing AH English, but now I'm not so sure. Getting a C/D in English would be so humiliating; I'm not even a maths/sciences person (I'm more of an arts/humanities person) as well, so I'd only feel extra stupid.
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CSM1996
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#3
I wouldn't say they didn't matter, but it is hardly the end of the world if you fail. If you do fail, you may be asked to drop down a level and do it over 2 years, it really depends on how badly you do. English is one of the subjects you don't feel prepared, I went into the prelim thinking I knew nothing and when I wrote my essays I was remembering a lot more than I thought.
I would hardly say getting a C/D in English would be humiliating, I would be happy if I got that in the prelim...
I would hardly say getting a C/D in English would be humiliating, I would be happy if I got that in the prelim...
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rawragee
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#4
honestly, in most cases prelims don't reflect how you'll do in May at all. In Higher English prelims at my school, in the year I sat it only 1/60ish got an A in their prelim and most people got C-N/A and this year not one person got an A 
I got a C in my prelim and came out with an A, so I wouldn't worry as the majority improve much more between prelims to exams than from the start of the year to prelim time 
I got a C in my prelim and came out with an A, so I wouldn't worry as the majority improve much more between prelims to exams than from the start of the year to prelim time 
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#5
(Original post by nerd434)
No offence but that's pretty bad. I go to a public school (by that I mean very public) and we had around ten A's out of forty people. How did the prelim results compare to the final exam results at your school?
No offence but that's pretty bad. I go to a public school (by that I mean very public) and we had around ten A's out of forty people. How did the prelim results compare to the final exam results at your school?
I think you mean state schools. In any case, when I sat my Higher prelims I think that there was at most 1 or 2 As per class. So, I guess the stats could be (for something English) 1:10. My school was, however, quite bad academic-wise.
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rawragee
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#6
(Original post by nerd434)
No offence but that's pretty bad. I go to a public school (by that I mean very public) and we had around ten A's out of forty people. How did the prelim results compare to the final exam results at your school?
No offence but that's pretty bad. I go to a public school (by that I mean very public) and we had around ten A's out of forty people. How did the prelim results compare to the final exam results at your school?
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ladymarshmallow
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#7
(Original post by nerd434)
I was actually thinking that while I wrote 'public'... anyway, I'll save the embarrassment and make a quick adjustment!
What did your school set the A boundary at? Most schools will probably see an improvement in the real exam results because the grade boundaries are substantially lower than those set for the prelims. I guess there wouldn't be much of a basis in the way of appeals if you claimed to have an A with 60-odd %.
I was actually thinking that while I wrote 'public'... anyway, I'll save the embarrassment and make a quick adjustment!
What did your school set the A boundary at? Most schools will probably see an improvement in the real exam results because the grade boundaries are substantially lower than those set for the prelims. I guess there wouldn't be much of a basis in the way of appeals if you claimed to have an A with 60-odd %.
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#8
(Original post by nerd434)
I was actually thinking that while I wrote 'public'... anyway, I'll save the embarrassment and make a quick adjustment!
What did your school set the A boundary at? Most schools will probably see an improvement in the real exam results because the grade boundaries are substantially lower than those set for the prelims. I guess there wouldn't be much of a basis in the way of appeals if you claimed to have an A with 60-odd %.
I was actually thinking that while I wrote 'public'... anyway, I'll save the embarrassment and make a quick adjustment!
What did your school set the A boundary at? Most schools will probably see an improvement in the real exam results because the grade boundaries are substantially lower than those set for the prelims. I guess there wouldn't be much of a basis in the way of appeals if you claimed to have an A with 60-odd %.
Having said that, my school really isn't great academic-wise and it's largely due to the students. In my Higher Spanish prelim, only 1 person got an A with the boundary not budging (1:5) but then in the exam, 100% of the class got As. My class of 5 had very keen students though.
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deedee123
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#9
they don't matter hugely, but they are a good indicator of where you are at the moment and how much you need to start working. I'd say they're important for subjects that commonly accept appeals (modern studies, history etc) but i've never heard of anyone receiving an appeal for a science no matter how well they did. I wouldn't say they're completely useless but i wouldn't get upset over them, there's still a lot of time left until the exam and if you do well in may it won't matter at all. To be honest they're really just like class tests that seem more important because they're done under exam conditions.
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