Anyone else think that this exam season is quite harsh on us?

This only means one thing...lower grade boundaries :clap2:

As someone who's sat through GCSEs and AS levels this isnt necessarily true in my experience, it looks to me like theyre trying to make the top grades more and more inaccessible

Reply 21

higgs55

3

Yeah it does seem like it's getting tougher. Best thing to do is challenge yourself and make sure that your core understanding is perfect so you can apply to different situations. Expected the unexpected, source out the hardest questions and hope for the best.

Reply 22

Kian Stevens

16

Exams are meant to be challenging. That's the whole point of them, to test you on your knowledge.

I don't understand this notion between students, especially present day GCSE ones, that exams are supposed to be easy. Then, after coming out of an exam shocked by its difficulty, they say 'at least the grade boundaries will be lower!!!'... Well everyone must've done badly across the country for the boundaries to be lower, so why would they help your grade in any way if you've done that badly?

If you know your stuff, then they won't be difficult to the point where you have to say 'that was really difficult'. All exams should be fair but also a challenge, to test whether you actually know what you've learned. Why would the government get exam boards to create easy exams? Anybody could do well in them in that case - that defeats the point of an exam.

Reply 23

RickHendricks

OP

19

Original post by Kian Stevens

Exams are meant to be challenging. That's the whole point of them, to test you on your knowledge.

I don't understand this notion between students, especially present day GCSE ones, that exams are supposed to be easy. Then, after coming out of an exam shocked by its difficulty, they say 'at least the grade boundaries will be lower!!!'... Well everyone must've done badly across the country for the boundaries to be lower, so why would they help your grade in any way if you've done that badly?

If you know your stuff, then they won't be difficult to the point where you have to say 'that was really difficult'. All exams should be fair but also a challenge, to test whether you actually know what you've learned. Why would the government get exam boards to create easy exams? Anybody could do well in them in that case - that defeats the point of an exam.

if they are going to make the exams harder, they might aswell help the students more by releasing more resources?

only 2 sets of specimen sets papers were released for the sciences, and they were more easier than ever.

For maths, don't even get me started.

Reply 24

MR1999

21

Original post by RickHendricks

only 2 sets of specimen sets papers were released for the sciences, and they were more easier than ever.

That's one more set of papers than we had. And that's just how it is when they make new specifications. We also had it hard, and people find exam seasons difficult every year. This is nothing new.

(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 25

Kian Stevens

16

Original post by RickHendricks

if they are going to make the exams harder, they might aswell help the students more by releasing more resources?

only 2 sets of specimen sets papers were released for the sciences, and they were more easier than ever.

For maths, don't even get me started.

They released 2 sets of specimen papers for this year, not altogether. You have to look around on the internet. There are exam papers from every year lying around on websites. Specifications don't change that much, so it gives you no reason to look around. I do Chemistry exams from circa 2005, and as much as there are things in them that aren't on the current specification, most of the stuff is.

The exam boards aren't there to hold your hand - if you want to do well then you have to do it by yourself. I assume you're a GCSE student; you need to have independence to do well in further education.

Reply 26

RickHendricks

OP

19

Original post by Kian Stevens

They released 2 sets of specimen papers for this year, not altogether. You have to look around on the internet. There are exam papers from every year lying around on websites. Specifications don't change that much, so it gives you no reason to look around. I do Chemistry exams from circa 2005, and as much as there are things in them that aren't on the current specification, most of the stuff is.

The exam boards aren't there to hold your hand - if you want to do well then you have to do it by yourself. I assume you're a GCSE student; you need to have independence to do well in further education.

Thats exactly what I've been doing aswell.

And no, I'm AS.

Reply 27

Kian Stevens

16

Original post by RickHendricks

Thats exactly what I've been doing aswell.

And no, I'm AS.

My apologies - you said 'the sciences' and I interpreted it as the GCSE trilogy exams or something.

I'm actually looking forward to the challenge this year. It'll be a good test of what I know, like an exam should be.

Reply 28

Milk Tea

14

Original post by RickHendricks

ah good luck dude/dudette. Probably recommend you to not rely too much on past papers but you never know.

Thanks. My exams are on the new spec so I don't have many past papers to go off anyway haha

Reply 29

ohdearstudying

22

Original post by RickHendricks

if they are going to make the exams harder, they might aswell help the students more by releasing more resources?

only 2 sets of specimen sets papers were released for the sciences, and they were more easier than ever.

For maths, don't even get me started.

What's more, for RS there is a staggering one. yes, one specimen paper.

I revised for GCSE RS A*-G (short course) by doing loads of past papers and the exam was essentially a "Best of Compilation" of questions like, literally word for word.

Now we are screwed.

Anyone else think that this exam season is quite harsh on us?

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