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It really wasn't that hard at all. Every year we get comments, that was the hardest paper ever, in the vast majority of cases it really isn't true, it is about perception and the conditions papers were taken under.

The complaints concerning that the answers were not nice whole numbers are not valid. I understand why this would make students question their answers but they really should not expect that all answers are nice whole numbers.

c1-c4 m1-m2 fp1 d1-d2 s1

When will you be releasing the FP1 paper?

pls do fp1!

When will you upload FP1?

Here are my solutions.

I thought it was a reasonable paper, expect standard boundaries.


Some of the fractions were a little odd. I think 8a will cause a lot of problems.

I would guess at 62-63 for an A and 55-56 for a B.

Dude, I think everyone can agree, the questions themselves weren't the issue. Some may have been more difficult than past papers, or C1 skills being implemented in new ways e.g. the discrimination question (although I've actually seen that question in a past paper, surprised a lot of people were shocked by it). But for the most part the concepts and questions themselves weren't unfair.

The issue is that, on top of using the C1 skills were being tested on, we also have to second guess every single answer or value we get because none of them were whole ****ing numbers, which can really mess with your confidence in an exam when everything you do just looks wrong. It leaves you in a bad mental state.

The point of an exam is to test your knowledge and understanding of mathematical concepts. You're not supposed to just rote learn methods and expect the same sort of questions and pass. The discriminant question was slightly different but it really isn't hard at all if you actually have a good understanding of roots and quadratic equations. A smart student who actually bothered understanding the content would have immediately realised that the curves don't intersect must imply that the quadratic has no roots, hence the determinant is less than 0.

As for the whole numbers, at A level you're expected to be competent and confident enough to carry out calculations using fractions.

Too much FP1



Posted from TSR Mobile

Let's be clear. Previous post made complaints that his/her C1 skills were not tested. My question/response argued directly with that point only.

My previous posts have alluded to the fractions-heavy nature of the paper.
I don't agree it was unfair because of the number of fractions calculations. The questions were very clear, with no ambiguity. It was a fair test of C1 and prior knowledge.

Let's see where the fractions were:
Q1. Integration: we expect to divide by new power, which leaves a fraction. One of the powers was a fraction: -1/2 meaning we need to divide by a half. No big deal.

Q3. Surds: we expect to rationalise a denominator. This was a very easy question to handle since the denominator was a factor of the numerator. No big deal.

Q5. Fractional results. I solved for x originally (I think most will have done same because it was easier) giving -1/3 and -1/7. Multiply each by -4 and then subtract 1. No big deal.

Q7. Fractional algebra in final 2 terms. Very straightforward divisions. Then multiply 3 terms by fractions and subtract one from fractional indices: 1/3 -> -2/3; 5/2 -> 3/2; and, -1/2 -> -3/2 . Not a big deal.

Q10. Line 1 has a gradient of 5/3, so its perpendicular is -3/5. Very simple.
Subst y=0 into line equation for Line 2 giving x intercept as 44/3. SImple.
I then found x-intercept of Line 1 to be -6/5, and found the required area of OPQR by (44/3 + 6/5) x 7/2 - 6/5 x 2 x 1/2. Dealing in 15ths and then simplifying was a couple of lines. Slightly more difficult than some, not as tricky as other previous, similar questions.

Q11. 41/8 x 4 , and then add/subtract a couple of terms. No big deal.


In total, 8 or 9 fractions, plus whatever you did on Q10. Some of the fractions were no more than times by 4. Biggest denominator (other than Q10) was 8. And you think it's reasonable to complain?

I'm really not sure about the fuss over these fractions. I get rather frustrated that students seem to spend more time/effort complaining about questions rather than learning from them. It's even more irritating when the complaints are mostly unfounded,

Do you have to put the y= ??

Posted from TSR Mobile

c1-c4 m1-m2 fp1 d1-d2 s1

@Arsey ,
What about FP2? S2? I thought you make those every year.
I was about to ask you to make one for S3, but then i saw this...
Edit: '(Already asked in page 7), but got no reply'

It would only take 2 hours per paper (i guess), it would help hundreds of people and reduce the pressure. Also, with your help we wont need to get the script of our papers back (which costs a lot in my college and takes lots of time). Especially A2 students who might want their grade urgently for universities and want need to remark straightaway.

@TeeEm do you make any of these by any chance?
S3, FP2, S2? (And maybe FP3)

If any of you got access to any sort of answers after the exam, please share. Thanks!

I haven't touched S2 or FP2 for a year. Stats isn't my thing so it would take time for me to remember how to answer some questions.

I will probably do FP2 if I have time.

2 hours per paper lol.. I would comfortably do C1-C4 in 2 hours.