Maths and RS GCSE today

@noblegiraffe A lot of questions require the working out to be produced as part of the final answer. Examples of this are:

• Questions that ask how x becomes y can't be answered without showing the working out.
• Questions that ask you to prove something are basically asking to show the working out like the above.
• Questions that require the population of data tables in order to identify the final answer.

If it is clear from the working that the "correct" answer has been obtained from incorrect working, award 0 marks.

In short, it's the working out that allows the the higher grade marks to be awarded.

You're right about most of the questions technically not requiring the working out by the exam board, but I think that's mainly because other questions are either simple calculations or it's a requirement of the answer to produce working out The end result would still limit the student to achieving around the modern equivalent to grade C if they submitted a paper without any working out.

Another one here who found RE hard today. Has been horizontally laid back about everything else. Solidarity to those with chem and geog tomorrow - mine too. It's been a tough week with history and some other biggies (I can't even remember what now!) earlier in the week. Roll on the weekend.

DD took AQA Higher today and was happy with it. My sister is a maths teacher, said the most able were happy, middle ability not so much.

My son did RE today and said it was hard!

DD also needs a minimum 7 , these replies are making me stressed

Yes mine didn't feel either exam went well either. He felt better about his first RE paper and thinks he'll do OK on the last one, but it's the maths he's most worried about, as he needs to pass it.

I saw the Edexcel ones today, we chased down the exams officer and got the spares as soon as we could.

@noblegiraffe when can the teachers see the exams question papers? Im keen to see what teachers made of it. DS said it was the hardest exam paper he's ever sat

And here's the bit from the AQA markscheme that you linked to that says the same.

Here you go, here's the bit from the Edexcel mark scheme guidance that says exactly what I just said.

That's not true at all. If you take a look at the marking schemes, they show exactly what the marks are awarded for in the working out. At GCSE level, they aren't interested too much in whether you get the right answer; it's your understanding of how to apply maths that they are more interested in.

They also recognise that people providing the final answers have the ability to do maths, which is why the exams are designed for the final answers to make up a standard pass - that being whatever the old C grade is now worth.

Here's an example marking scheme:

https://filestore.aqa.org.uk/sample-papers-and-mark-schemes/2022/november/AQA-83003H-MS-NOV22.PDF

Take note of how the marks are awarded as M1 or B1 and the final answers are awarded as A1.

You only get a grade 4 with all of the final answers being correct if the working out is absent or incorrect.

This isn't true. If a student provides the correct answer with zero working out then it will score full marks, unless the question says 'you must show your working' or 'give reasons for your answer'. Most questions don't require any working to be shown. Obviously students should show it in case they get the final answer wrong so that they can pick up method marks.

If a student has incorrect working but a correct final answer coincidentally comes out of the incorrect working, then they don't get the marks, but that's pretty rare.

Technically, you can still get one of the top grades (7 or 8) without providing any of the final answers because most of the marks are in the working out. You only get a grade 4 with all of the final answers being correct if the working out is absent or incorrect.

This opens a lot of scope for exam strategy - e.g. getting started on the harder questions is still worth it even if you can't figure out how to provide the final answer. It's important to start the answers and not so important to complete theme - especially if they are taking too much time.

My son said RE wasn't great and maths was ok (in a voice that sounds like not the worst but definitely not the best) but he knows he definitely got the last question wrong and is annoyed about that. He needs a 7 for maths though.

GCSE not IGCSE

Dd2 said maths was hard but everyone thought it was. She’s fairly chilled about it, she thinks she can pick things up in the other papers.

My son did the higher maths paper today, said it was easy and he answered all the questions right except for 3... sounds like he's in the minority though, he's probably fucked it all up!

Oh no! DD said maths was fine? She’s doing the higher paper.

Chemistry and geography in one day tomorrow will definitely be tough but they can only do what they can do. It’s not just about this week, it’s about their work and engagement over the last 4/5 years, and as I keep telling her everything is fixable.

My daughter did the AQA higher maths today. She was very anxious last night but said she thinks she did enough to pass even though she got the last question wrong. She's desperate to pass, maths is not her strong subject.

Dd1 has maths and RS too. She said that everyone came out saying maths was hard. No one had an opinion on RS - it’s compulsory and dd felt she did badly but she doesn’t care enough to properly revise for it. I’d imagine lots of kids feel the same. I think it’s chemistry tomorrow so maths and chemistry are obviously more important than RS.

My DD said maths was good until the last three questions and the RS paper on Christianity was all of the fundamentals she had revised. She is not so confident for tomorrow’s Chemistry paper.

Was that the gcse or igcse? Mine did Pearson igcse maths a and isn't talking much...

I've seen the Edexcel maths papers and I think there were some tricky and quite wordy questions on Foundation.

Higher was nice for the first half, so grade 4/5/6 students will probably have had a good time. The last few questions were tough and a bit weird so grade 8/9 students won't have enjoyed it so much.

My DS looks exhausted today and didn’t feel either exam went well.

He’s got Chemistry and Geography tomorrow. It’s a lot of pressure and this is only the first week.

DS found maths hard and that's his favourite easiest subject 😔
Computer science yesterday wasn't great either so he's not looking forward to chemistry and geography tomorrow. I do really feel for him.
He's got a good day out planned for Saturday so hopefully it's a good reset for it all to start again next week.