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Are Jan papers harder than June?

This is something i have noticed i think, anyone else noticed it? i wonder why

Reply 1

yea i've heard the same thing i think its cos in jan people can retake whereas in june for A2 people it determines whether they get into uni or not

Reply 2

Eau

Don't think so.

Reply 3

no1topman

Many papers in january are hard, but i dont think its a set trend...Just whatever the exam board wants the paper to be like i guess. Doesnt matter though as evreyone will do not as well as they expecting therefore grades boundaries lower! I just looked at an ICT paper were the boundary was 35/60 for an A :smile:

Regards

Reply 4

Hev456

My psych teacher said that on the AQA psych A syllabus they tend to 'try out' questions in January because students have the opportunity to retake in June. Apparently June exams tend to have more straightforward questions.

Reply 5

tNa

Having just done the Jan 07 FP1 paper and even though I should know better than making generalisations having done stats, I'm going to say it's true : p
The rest of my friends and I definately felt that the paper was much more difficult than previous ones, especially the format of the questions :rolleyes:

Reply 6

kellywood_5

The only January exams I ever sat were all for history. 2 were resits where I went up from BD to AA and the other was an A2 exam where I got a B, compared to the other 2 A2 exams in June where I got UU. So going by my grades, January exams are easier, but with the resits it could simply be because I'd already had experience of those exams, and even though I got a B in the A2 exam, I found it much harder than the other A2 exams in June that I failed. History is just a very strange subject at A-level in terms of marking, at least in my experience and that of my class :confused:

Reply 7

Karvel

I think for MFLs the January papers are easier, because those are usually mostly resits and a few native speakers - not first-takes as in the summer.

Reply 8

eugenius 8

I thought it was the other way round? :s-smilie:

Reply 9

Karvel

8 eugenius

I thought it was the other way round? :s-smilie:

Well I can DEFINITELY say that my January Edexcel AS German resit was waaaaay easier than the Summer paper.

Reply 10

silent ninja

tNa

Having just done the Jan 07 FP1 paper and even though I should know better than making generalisations having done stats, I'm going to say it's true : p
The rest of my friends and I definitely felt that the paper was much more difficult than previous ones, especially the format of the questions :rolleyes:

That paper was a nightmare, it had so many unecessary hurdles in it.
Generally though, I find January papers easier than June ones.

Reply 11

adrenaline1989

my january psychology exam was VERy easy!

Reply 12

decky1989

its a hit and miss generally becaue I've sat an MED1 test on jan and got a D and then sat it on June and got an E last year but i did it again on jan of this
year and got a C!lol

Reply 13

Malik24

I find Chemistry foundation harder than the other two sections.

Maths Core 1 is really easier than Core 2 but then Core 2 is halfway a continuation of Core 1

Psychology the exam never changes - it's just if you've learnt the stuff

Critical thinking second unit was easier than first.

And Computing unit 2 is hard, Unit 1 is easy, Unit 3 (coursework based) is easy/

So I don't really have a particular trend

Reply 14

keshy

It comes down to who is doing the exams in January. For example :

Physics Unit 1 for edexcel will mostly likely be taken by resits from June the previous year. So they would obviously have more experience and more knowledge of how to answer the questions. Like the June 2005 paper was relatively the same as the January 2006 paper but to get an A in June was 38/60 whereas to get an A in January was 45/60 (i think).

Its like that for most papers, the grade boundaries are usually higher in January then June cos you have resits or students who are geniuses :smile:

Reply 15

decky1989

hi hate computing who ever created the A-Level should be hung if he/she aint already dead!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i got a B at AS but now i'm ********d at a2!!!!!

Reply 16

alsonic

I think it depends on different people really......maybe you're stronger in one area of the paper that comes up in june but not in january...and vice versa...get wat i mean?

Reply 17

studyboy

If this is true then I'm dead....I will be taking Phy 5 and phy 6 on Jan 2008... :s-smilie:

Reply 18

Schott

There isn't a difference in the paper or how they're marking it, only your perception of how hard it is I guess.

For ASers their first Jan mods may be the hardest due to lack of practice. But in other respects they're easier in that you generally have fewer than you do in the summer.

Most modules are available in January and June and there is not supposed to be any difference - you just might feel more overloaded in June, or maybe under prepaired in January. Then again, January ones can be a god-send when you need to resit, did it with one of my History papers this year and helped loads.

Reply 19

sol89

In June 2006 I got a D in Applied Business Unit 3 and a C in History Unit 3.

In January 2007 the D went up to a B and the C went up 2 marks so I think Jan exams are easier.

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