GCSE Papers - how are they made?

What programmes do exam boards use to create their exam papers?

https://www.aqa.org.uk/about-us/what-we-do/getting-the-right-result/how-exams-work/making-an-exam-a-guide-to-creating-a-question-paper

This video might help! But they write them themselves :smile:

Reply 2

ArizonaRobbins

14

that's a good question but i'm pretty sure they get a person to think of the questions and type them up, then they print it in bulk

Reply 3

Mintkoala

16

Of all the questions that could be asked about exams, why this one?

Reply 4

ArizonaRobbins

14

Original post by Mintkoala

Of all the questions that could be asked about exams, why this one?

it's a good question though. like not that many people would have thought about that and it might actually be interesting on how exams were actually made and processed before given out to people. like that paper almost decides your future and everything. idk it sounds weird but it's just from my perspective

Reply 5

Emboiled

OP

1

Original post by ArizonaRobbins

that's a good question but i'm pretty sure they get a person to think of the questions and type them up, then they print it in bulk

Thank you!

I was also trying to find out what software exam boards use to actually write up and create the exams. I was thinking Word but when I convert a PDF file of an exam through Acrobat to an editable docx. file, it’s a little funky. Not sure if that means anything at all, but if you find anything on this, please let me know! :smile:

Reply 6

Emboiled

OP

1

Original post by Mintkoala

Of all the questions that could be asked about exams, why this one?

Yeah, it’s a little bit of a weird question I suppose.

At my school, we use past paper questions on our formative & summative exams and the teachers *try* to replicate the design of a paper and it tends to look a bit off to the point where it looks horrid and it quite frankly annoys me. I was just wondering whether anyone knew the exact software/programme used to create exams so that I could pass that on.

Reply 7

Mintkoala

16

Original post by Emboiled

Yeah, it’s a little bit of a weird question I suppose.

At my school, we use past paper questions on our formative & summative exams and the teachers *try* to replicate the design of a paper and it tends to look a bit off to the point where it looks horrid and it quite frankly annoys me. I was just wondering whether anyone knew the exact software/programme used to create exams so that I could pass that on.

That’s what they did at my school as well. Unfortunately, teachers simply do not have the time to make the papers they put together look nice, and spend the time on formatting. They barely have the time to produce what they do now.

Reply 8

Muttley79

20

Edexcel upload their Maths papers in WORD as well as PDF for teachers ...

Original post by Emboiled

Yeah, it’s a little bit of a weird question I suppose.

At my school, we use past paper questions on our formative & summative exams and the teachers *try* to replicate the design of a paper and it tends to look a bit off to the point where it looks horrid and it quite frankly annoys me. I was just wondering whether anyone knew the exact software/programme used to create exams so that I could pass that on.

Reply 9

Emboiled

OP

1

Original post by Mintkoala

That’s what they did at my school as well. Unfortunately, teachers simply do not have the time to make the papers they put together look nice, and spend the time on formatting. They barely have the time to produce what they do now.

Thank you for the answer!

Reply 10

Emboiled

OP

1

Original post by Muttley79

Edexcel upload their Maths papers in WORD as well as PDF for teachers ...

I didn’t know they uploaded their maths papers in the docx. format. The only thing I found was A-Level Edexcel Maths past papers in docx. format on Maths Genie, but even then it was still not formatting the questions properly. This is the closest I’ve gotten to a good looking paper though so thank you for this! :smile:

Reply 11

Muttley79

20

Original post by Emboiled

I didn’t know they uploaded their maths papers in the docx. format. The only thing I found was A-Level Edexcel Maths past papers in docx. format on Maths Genie, but even then it was still not formatting the questions properly. This is the closest I’ve gotten to a good looking paper though so thank you for this! :smile:

Teachers can access them via the Emporium.