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I heard some exam boards like Edexcel are easier than OCR/MEI

if so then why do schools do ocr/mei dont they all want their students to get as high a mark as possible
Probably because I highly doubt that's true.

Especially in Maths, OCR MEI and Edexcel are required to put the same content in C1-4 as are all exam boards. The only difference will lie in your applied modules.

One exam board may cover slightly different topics which one may find easier to learn, but ultimately there is no "easy" exam board. They all have to adhere to a set standard
Reply 2
Original post by loperdoper
Probably because I highly doubt that's true.

Especially in Maths, OCR MEI and Edexcel are required to put the same content in C1-4 as are all exam boards. The only difference will lie in your applied modules.

One exam board may cover slightly different topics which one may find easier to learn, but ultimately there is no "easy" exam board. They all have to adhere to a set standard


While this is mostly true that they cover the same *content* the wording of the MEI questions is very weird sometimes. I do OCR but we occasionally have MEI questions in our textbook and they are weird/hard most of the time. Like my exam board for physics (OCR B) is the worst because it asks weird questions not because the content is difficult to learn.
Original post by TVIO
While this is mostly true that they cover the same *content* the wording of the MEI questions is very weird sometimes. I do OCR but we occasionally have MEI questions in our textbook and they are weird/hard most of the time. Like my exam board for physics (OCR B) is the worst because it asks weird questions not because the content is difficult to learn.


It might just be because I'm used to it, but I don't really see much difference in MEI questions to OCR. The big thing with MEI is it tries to relate the maths to "real life", which might be why they seem odd.
Reply 4
Original post by loperdoper
It might just be because I'm used to it, but I don't really see much difference in MEI questions to OCR. The big thing with MEI is it tries to relate the maths to "real life", which might be why they seem odd.

Perhaps we're all just used to our own exam board and all the others look a bit unfamiliar and therefore hard/easy.
Original post by TVIO
Perhaps we're all just used to our own exam board and all the others look a bit unfamiliar and therefore hard/easy.


That sounds most likely. I really don't buy into the idea that one exam board would have a different level of difficulty to another.
Reply 6
Original post by loperdoper
That sounds most likely. I really don't buy into the idea that one exam board would have a different level of difficulty to another.

Maybe not for maths. But I am certain that OCR B is the worst exam board for physics. We did papers from all the boards, most of them with slightly different content to what we'd been covering to see which one was the best (school were thinking of changing boards) and we ALL found our one the worst and did better on the other boards because our board is just idiotic.
Reply 7
OCR MEI is actually seen as the hardest exam board for maths in the uk. As it is supposed to make maths relatable to modern life. That's also why schools do it as it bridges the gap between uni and sixth form in my class of 15 at least 3 people want to do something maths related in uni which is why it makes sense to do ut
How about OCR B for Chemistry. It is massively different to Edexcel, for example.


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Reply 9
Original post by HLN_Radium
if so then why do schools do ocr/mei dont they all want their students to get as high a mark as possible

My teacher said to us that the reason why we do OCR is because it is the hardest and that the skills you earn from it are more long-lasting than the other boards.
The questions are the same level of difficulty because they have to assess at the same level.
EdExcel is the easiest exam board for maths just because there are so many people taking it. This means that there are lots of resources readily available. I do AQA and D2, M3, M4, M5, S3, S4 don't have textbooks. FP2, FP3 and FP4 do have textbooks produced by AQA, but they are sometimes very difficult to follow and learn from.
(edited 9 years ago)
certain modules are easier depending on the board.

MEI D1 is much easier than EDEXCEL ... no Simplex Algorithm or Chinese Postman ...
Reply 12
Original post by the bear
certain modules are easier depending on the board.

MEI D1 is much easier than EDEXCEL ... no Simplex Algorithm or Chinese Postman ...

Lol who even does Decision maths... do some real modules like mechanics or statistics
Original post by HLN_Radium
Lol who even does Decision maths... do some real modules like mechanics or statistics

Most schools do because it is easier than statistics or mechanics.
Reply 14
Even if the actual questions may seem harder in one exam board than the other, grade boundaries level everything out (ie on a hard paper from a supposedly hard exam board you need a lower mark to get higher UMS and on an easy paper you need to score high to get high UMS)

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If an exam boards content is difficult, it's grade boundaries are usually quite low so it all evens out in the end.
Edexcel is easier at GCSE for most subjects than OCR but in A-levels I don't think there is any exam board easier/harder at it varies subject to subject.
Original post by morgan8002
The questions are the same level of difficulty because they have to assess at the same level.
EdExcel is the easiest exam board for maths just because there are so many people taking it. This means that there are lots of resources readily available. I do AQA and D2, M3, M4, M5, S3, S4 don't have textbooks. FP2, FP3 and FP4 do have textbooks produced by AQA, but they are sometimes very difficult to follow and learn from.


Very true.

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