English Language A level help please

Basically
around a week ago I handed in my AQA Enlgish Language B a2 coursework (the investigation+media piece one)
but I have a bit of a problem
the word count is supposed to be 3500 together
but mine comes to around 4500 I know its a lot over but I was wondering If anyone could take a shot at aqa penalties?
I was looking at the website and it never said anything about penalities for this particular unit - they said it should be 3500, and also on the examiners reports it said people who stuck to the word count tended to do well .. and that not many people exceeded it, does that mean they dont mind too much about the word limit im not sure
I know theres nothing I can do .. but in the middle of exam period I will worry about anything that isnt revision :P
Like im not TOOO worried about penalities.. aslong as theyre not majory severe because I got an a high enough A in Jan exams to only have to get around 54/55 out of 80 to secure an A which is exactly what I need for uni, so say my coursework is a B like 60/61, then they knock lets 5/6 marks off, according to last years ums conversion thing ill still get an A overall as it would equal 55 overal? Or does it not work like that, because ive heard rumours about examiners that stop reading after the word limit
My teachers said that theyve no ones ever been penalised for going over the word limit, and that we're allowed 10% and also when I told my teacher my investigation word count she was like 'how much does it look' and i just shrugged and they she was like just leave it, your only a little bit over :/
any words of reassurance/Past experiences/ horror stories
bare in mind there is absolutely nothing I can doo
but just thought id post this anyway

Reply 1

merkatron

2

Original post by alleta95

I was looking at the website and it never said anything about penalities for this particular unit - they said it should be 3500, and also on the examiners reports it said people who stuck to the word count tended to do well .. and that not many people exceeded it, does that mean they dont mind too much about the word limit im not sure

There are no direct penalties from AQA for exceeding the word count i.e. they can't take a fixed amount of marks off if you go over 3500. What might be an issue is how well you've written and structured the investigation, and whether you ramble and waffle. If you've exceeded the word count, because you've not written as concisely and clearly as you could have, then you might get a slightly lower AO1 mark, but it's marginal.

I know theres nothing I can do ..

No, so don't stress.

Reply 2

DeceitfulDove

19

Hey

my lecturer tells her classes the word limit but tells them it's not strict, every year students go over and nothing has ever been penalised, BUT if its over, it's got to be worth it. It can't be irrelevant rambling. My investigation is 6000! She didn't bat an eyelid, she said it was well written and necessary so it's fine. I analyse the differences between rhetorical techniques for men and women in print ads, had to include 5 ads for each gender to allow sufficient coverage, any less wouldn't have given decent results so she's happy with it :/

UPDATE - had a lesson today and she said it was too long, so literally all we did was remove the analysis of two of my adverts and stuck them in the appendix so they don't come into word count :tongue:

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 3

alleta95

OP

Original post by merkatron

There are no direct penalties from AQA for exceeding the word count i.e. they can't take a fixed amount of marks off if you go over 3500. What might be an issue is how well you've written and structured the investigation, and whether you ramble and waffle. If you've exceeded the word count, because you've not written as concisely and clearly as you could have, then you might get a slightly lower AO1 mark, but it's marginal.

No, so don't stress.

Ahhh thank you so much this reassured me so much haha! But can I be cheeky and ask how you know, have you spoken to the exam board or at you an english teacher or something ?
So all that about the examiners being told to stop reading after 3500 is rubbish?
Ohh and also by examiners do you mean the teachers marking it, or the small sample that gets moderated? Or does everyone's get moderated?
Thanks btw

This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

Reply 4

merkatron

2

Original post by alleta95

Ahhh thank you so much this reassured me so much haha! But can I be cheeky and ask how you know, have you spoken to the exam board or at you an english teacher or something ?
So all that about the examiners being told to stop reading after 3500 is rubbish?
Ohh and also by examiners do you mean the teachers marking it, or the small sample that gets moderated? Or does everyone's get moderated?
Thanks btw

This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

Hi, I'm a teacher and moderator (and examiner #SadCase).

Yes, basically, the thing about not reading past 3500 words isn't true. The exam boards don't penalise students for going over the wordcount at A level with a fixed mark reduction, but like I said you might lose marks (or rather, not gain them) if you're not writing concisely, analytically and accurately.

The Ofqual and exam board guidance to teachers is pretty unclear about all of this and has changed a lot over time, so it's no wonder that teachers give out different messages. Sometimes, it seems like a good idea to warn students that wordcounts can be a big deal, but I play it be ear with my own students. If they're waffling and going way over I tell them to make cuts, but if they're writing well and the analysis takes it over the wordcount (within reason), I let it stand.

Reply 5

when she was 22

7

My school are incredibly strict about word counts! You've either got to be there, or extremely close to it and then lie and say you are there. Otherwise they don't let you submit it. I'm pretty sure they've told us if exam boards find out you're over the word limit then you get a U! This is starting to seem like scare tactics though haha after reading here that it's gone fine for other people.

Sounds like it's different elsewhere which is a bit annoying after cutting loads out of my investigation and media text to get it to 3500... :sigh:

Reply 6

DeceitfulDove

19

Original post by when she was 22

My school are incredibly strict about word counts! You've either got to be there, or extremely close to it and then lie and say you are there. Otherwise they don't let you submit it. I'm pretty sure they've told us if exam boards find out you're over the word limit then you get a U! This is starting to seem like scare tactics though haha after reading here that it's gone fine for other people.

Sounds like it's different elsewhere which is a bit annoying after cutting loads out of my investigation and media text to get it to 3500... :sigh:

That is ridiculous :0 I'd have freaked if I had to cut mine off by that much! Mine's at 5500 now and she's happy with it. We were talking about this yesterday and she said from her experience the longer ones are the better ones and none of her students have ever lost marks for word count.

I do think it depends on your type of project though. There is a girl in my class who struggled to get it over 1500. I couldn't fathom that. :/ What with mine being on advertising rhetoric and gender, I don't think I could cut it down any more from 5500 no matter how long I tried.

Also, my media text is not included in that word count.

Reply 7

when she was 22

7

Original post by JennaEmBee

That is ridiculous :0 I'd have freaked if I had to cut mine off by that much! Mine's at 5500 now and she's happy with it. We were talking about this yesterday and she said from her experience the longer ones are the better ones and none of her students have ever lost marks for word count.

I do think it depends on your type of project though. There is a girl in my class who struggled to get it over 1500. I couldn't fathom that. :/ What with mine being on advertising rhetoric and gender, I don't think I could cut it down any more from 5500 no matter how long I tried.

Also, my media text is not included in that word count.

I know, it really is! I didn't want to risk it though, every time I'd mention that I'd gone over (my investigation was at 4000 and media text was at 1500) they'd get really panicky and give me the 'instant fail' speech and tell me to sort it out! That's crazy. I bet I could have risked it in that case then. Got them down to 2500 and 1000.

That's true, a few people in my class struggled to get theirs over the minimum which is just a bit unfathomable! Mine is on language and humour so it wasn't ever excessively long to begin with... but still, picking what to get rid of is like picking which organs you need the least. A bit annoying now tbh if I get less marks than I would've done if it was longer! I got 77/80 which isn't a bad effort at all, but it's hovering pretty close to the A/A* borderline, so I don't want to go into the exam thinking an A* is possible when it's not after all.

English Language A level help please

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