Anyone who is a religious studies teacher help me!!

This might be extremely niche, but basically I really can’t tell if my teacher is a EXTREMELY strict marker or the edexcel exam board is so extreme.
No matter how hard I try I can’t get past a 6 in it and just to put things in perspective I’m at 8-9 student in all other subjects.
Part of the reason I even took RS is because past gcse students have said it’s easy therefore I find it quite contradictory that most people in my class are getting 55% around that range and even the smartest ones cant get past a 7/8 + my average 12 marker answer score is a 5 and my teacher stated that the percentage of students getting a 12/12 is nearly 0 or something like that
Also, I cannot even talk to another RS teacher in my school because my teacher is the only one.

If needed I don’t mind posting my paper. I just really want an answer because I cannot fathom a mark scheme being this strict for an essay/opinion based subject especially at gcse level.
Id say this is a lot worse then what people say the bio mark scheme to be like.

Reply 1

user2243432

Original post by harishni14

This might be extremely niche, but basically I really can’t tell if my teacher is a EXTREMELY strict marker or the edexcel exam board is so extreme.
No matter how hard I try I can’t get past a 6 in it and just to put things in perspective I’m at 8-9 student in all other subjects.
Part of the reason I even took RS is because past gcse students have said it’s easy therefore I find it quite contradictory that most people in my class are getting 55% around that range and even the smartest ones cant get past a 7/8 + my average 12 marker answer score is a 5 and my teacher stated that the percentage of students getting a 12/12 is nearly 0 or something like that
Also, I cannot even talk to another RS teacher in my school because my teacher is the only one.
If needed I don’t mind posting my paper. I just really want an answer because I cannot fathom a mark scheme being this strict for an essay/opinion based subject especially at gcse level.
Id say this is a lot worse then what people say the bio mark scheme to be like.

Not an RS teacher but got a 9 at gcse, which exam board do you do??

Reply 2

fleurlsy

Original post by harishni14

This might be extremely niche, but basically I really can’t tell if my teacher is a EXTREMELY strict marker or the edexcel exam board is so extreme.
No matter how hard I try I can’t get past a 6 in it and just to put things in perspective I’m at 8-9 student in all other subjects.
Part of the reason I even took RS is because past gcse students have said it’s easy therefore I find it quite contradictory that most people in my class are getting 55% around that range and even the smartest ones cant get past a 7/8 + my average 12 marker answer score is a 5 and my teacher stated that the percentage of students getting a 12/12 is nearly 0 or something like that
Also, I cannot even talk to another RS teacher in my school because my teacher is the only one.
If needed I don’t mind posting my paper. I just really want an answer because I cannot fathom a mark scheme being this strict for an essay/opinion based subject especially at gcse level.
Id say this is a lot worse then what people say the bio mark scheme to be like.

i got full marks in my gcse with aqa - which exam board do you do?

Reply 3

harishni14

Original post by user2243432

Not an RS teacher but got a 9 at gcse, which exam board do you do??

Edexcel

Reply 4

harishni14

Original post by fleurlsy

i got full marks in my gcse with aqa - which exam board do you do?

Edexcel

Reply 5

kaosi

Original post by harishni14

This might be extremely niche, but basically I really can’t tell if my teacher is a EXTREMELY strict marker or the edexcel exam board is so extreme.
No matter how hard I try I can’t get past a 6 in it and just to put things in perspective I’m at 8-9 student in all other subjects.
Part of the reason I even took RS is because past gcse students have said it’s easy therefore I find it quite contradictory that most people in my class are getting 55% around that range and even the smartest ones cant get past a 7/8 + my average 12 marker answer score is a 5 and my teacher stated that the percentage of students getting a 12/12 is nearly 0 or something like that
Also, I cannot even talk to another RS teacher in my school because my teacher is the only one.
If needed I don’t mind posting my paper. I just really want an answer because I cannot fathom a mark scheme being this strict for an essay/opinion based subject especially at gcse level.
Id say this is a lot worse then what people say the bio mark scheme to be like.

I'm not an RS teacher, but I did AQA RS for GCSE and now do Edexcel RS for A level.

In general, I think teachers mark harsher in school so that you end up getting a better mark in the real thing. At school, I never got above a 7 in practice papers marked by teachers, but then ended up getting a 9 in my actual GCSE exam.

Make sure you have good essay structure, the correct AO1 and AO2 material and back up all your points with quotes/scholars, keep doing practice questions and give them to your teacher to mark, and if you get a low mark, ask for feedback on what you should do to get full marks!

Keep putting the effort in, and you should be good 🙂

Reply 6

unknown_2269

I do edexcel currently y11 what do u do christianity islam?

Reply 7

harishni14

Original post by unknown_2269

I do edexcel currently y11 what do u do christianity islam?

Yeah

Reply 8

unknown_2269

Same I do it to so happy to give you tips. My main study of religion is islam so I look at the spec and see all the topics it even gives you some source of wisdoms. But you want to find evidence that can be used in many questions eg Surah Fatiha it talks about praising G--. That Muslims worship only him. This can link with Tawhid and characteristics. For Christianity remember short ones like Love thy neighbour - this can link with how you have to look after everyone, stewardship etc. If you do textual studies if you look at the past papers for Islam the amount of times they repeat questions or word them in a different way is insanneee

Reply 9

unknown_2269

can u post your exam so I can have a look at it

Reply 10

ayesha.ax21

Original post by harishni14

This might be extremely niche, but basically I really can’t tell if my teacher is a EXTREMELY strict marker or the edexcel exam board is so extreme.
No matter how hard I try I can’t get past a 6 in it and just to put things in perspective I’m at 8-9 student in all other subjects.
Part of the reason I even took RS is because past gcse students have said it’s easy therefore I find it quite contradictory that most people in my class are getting 55% around that range and even the smartest ones cant get past a 7/8 + my average 12 marker answer score is a 5 and my teacher stated that the percentage of students getting a 12/12 is nearly 0 or something like that
Also, I cannot even talk to another RS teacher in my school because my teacher is the only one.
If needed I don’t mind posting my paper. I just really want an answer because I cannot fathom a mark scheme being this strict for an essay/opinion based subject especially at gcse level.
Id say this is a lot worse then what people say the bio mark scheme to be like.

The edexcel grade boundaries are quite high. I am also doing edexcel gcse RS, studying christanity (beliefs, family life, practices and life and death) and islam (beliefs, crime and justice, practices, peace and conflict). I got an 8 in december mocks, and a 9 in the recent ones.
For RE, the structure of your answers are INCREDIBLY important; even if you know the information, if your arguments aren't strong enough in your 12 markers, you will be capped. For 12 markers, I would recommend using the PEEL MC structure - point (include which type of christians/muslims would agree with this and a basic overview why), evidence (learn a couple quotes from the bible and the quran which link to multiple spec points, check knowunity for this), explanation (prove your point; dont just state it, mention why some christians or muslims would believe this), link (go back to the words of the question, if your explanation relevant?). The MC is then your mini conclusion which is essential for above 6 marks. Conclude if your argument is strong and weak or why. Repeat with another paragraph against the statement. I think you should make flashcards on some possible 12 markers that could come up with this structure so you already know what points to include and aren't limited by time, which is a major issue in RS exams.
Apart from this, also practice past papers. It is likely that the more you do and get checked, the more you will improve by acting on that feedback.
Lmk if you want any more help/advice x

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Articles for you

What A-levels do you need to become a nurse?

Try out the app

Continue on web