Year 13 -2025/26 - Support, discussion and looking after each other - thread 2 - exam time

[SilverBlue4]

Here we go

AQA maths here. Apparently it was ok.

The chat online was that the Edexcel was very hard and seemed to be including stuff that FM students said wasn't even in that exam. I'm hoping that this isn't going to be a trend for the other papers. 😟

Yup, DS not happy with how edexcel maths went! Mad that it seems harder than the FM exams.

I'm praying for 2019 grade boundaries @MiniMidiMaxi (we can live in hope).

DS said Edexcel Maths was really difficult, everyone was complaining how hard it was, even the FM students weren't happy.

AQA Maths here. DD said there were a couple of hard questions where she is hoping for one or two marks and the rest was ok. Good to have a positive first paper out of the way. Sorry to hear about Edexcel. Hopefully it means the grade boundaries will be lower.

RS tomorrow morning so more revision tonight then a bit of a breather until next Tuesday.

Another one doing Edexcel maths and found it really tough and time pressured.

Hopefully, given how hard the Edexcel exam was, the grade boundaries will be low 🤞I do feel for them , what a horrible experience. I hope they pick themselves up for the next exam,

@MiniMidiMaxi @JustHereWithMyPopcorn DD says they should have expected this to be tough as the grade boundaries were going high last few years. She also said it was harder than FM.
A friend who did OCR seems to be happy and was very good!
I hope the next two Maths wouldn’t do the same, DD seems to have news from diff chats, looks like everyone up and down the country had the same experience with Edexcel Maths!

@Newlease I think they expected it to be tough but something's going wrong when FM students are saying it was harder than the FM papers. Someone on TSR has a petition going already to ask them to review it! 😯

Sounds like the Edexcel maths exam was stressful. Hope the grade boundaries are low and that they are not letting it get them down too much. @JustHereWithMyPopcorn it seems unkind to test them this way and make it harder than further maths.

DC has Econ 3 tomorrow and then only one more exam to go (History 3 next week). Can't remember who on this group said they were then going to bed for the whole weekend but that's how I feel too haha!

Sorry to hear Edexcel maths was so tough. DS’s friends have reported similar. As others have said, hopefully this will mean low grade boundaries. Hope the next exams are better.

Penultimate exam for DS tomorrow - economics 3. Despite his best efforts, he is flagging. @Ventress, perhaps they’ll do special chicken-style revision at Nando’s, you never know 😁. DS is online with his mates going through some last-minute content.

@SilverBlue4, CERN is amazing, they are going to have such a great time!

DS is another one with a prom later this month, which reminds me that his DJ needs dry cleaning. Younger DD has her prom in a couple of weeks too but luckily her dress is already sorted.

Cross-post @Fabfabfab, we are similar with econ 3 tomorrow and one last exam next week - geo 3 in our case. Really identify with the going to bed for a week comment but sadly GCSEs are still going for a bit longer!

I like the idea of specialised Nando’s @ComingInByAnsible! DS is flagging too. I’ll be glad when this is over tomorrow.

We have econ 3 tomorrow too.

After that we just have to wait for the grades, sort all the other details like moving in kit, student bank account and useful details like how to clean the bathroom and how an oven and washing machine works!

Exciting that some are very nearly at the finishing line. DS has another 5 to go and so today marks the half way point.

Last exam 19th, prom 25th and then holiday on 30th. Bring it on.

Sorry to hear maths was a hard one - although it sounds universally hard so hoping for your grade boundaries!

DD had sociology 2 today. She was happy with the paper but when she’s told me what she’s written I’m a bit concerned she’s gone off on a tangent… haven’t said anything but I wonder if her confidence is misplaced

three more exams here - all next week. Just one more weekend of nagging to go!

Another here who said Edexcel maths was awful.

Another bad Edexcel experience here. DS is predicted A star for FM so generally finds the Maths papers pretty straightforward, but said the paper today was like nothing he'd seen before and he didn't manage to finish it, which is unheard of for him.

Reading all of the chat online, it sounds like Edexcel maths felt awful because it seemed designed to cause doubt in their minds - so a lot of questions where the answer to the first part was a weird number that made you think you’d got it wrong, and then your ability to do parts b, c, d were reliant on that number. Maths students like being able to leave an exam with a fairly accurate idea of how they did even if it means badly - questions that basically say ‘show how this leads to this’ makes people define the method but you know if you got it right or not. Or questions where the answer broadly seems to make sense. I suspect people may have done better than they feel, but the paper created unnecessary angst along the way.

Anyway, DS has moved on, FM mechanics on Friday. But he plans to ramp up prep for the next Maths papers!

My dd said Edexcel maths was dreadful today. She was really well prepared and was actually looking forward to it. She's enjoyed revising for maths and was thinking that she might change her course to econ and maths rather than just maths. She said it was nothing like any of the past papers from the last 7 years (she's done them all) and that a big part of the problem was that she didn't even know what the question was asking. All her friends came out saying it was awful too and there were lots of tears apparently.

Such a shame. It almost feels like a trick but it's such a disengaging tactic. At least let them feel partially successful.

I saw that on WIWIKAU.
do you know what happens if this get some traction?
IMO examiners would get enough guidance and marking scheme would accommodate the difficulty level! They need to get the grade boundaries down for sure!
I don’t think anyone who’s talking about petition would like to sit for another Maths exam!!

Oh didn’t realise you only have one more to go!! Enjoy the relief, and “what do I do now” emptyness, I get that feeling, even though I am not the one writing exams 🤣

Is hope so - I'm assuming that grade boundaries for the paper will reflect how challenging students found it.

I don't think it will fully address the issue for many students though unfortunately. Obviously all students should be prepared to face papers of varying difficulty, but this sounds so far beyond the norm that many students will have been so badly thrown by it that it will have reduced their ability to perform even in the more accessible parts of the paper.

It's really upsetting reading the young people's accounts if it. At such a stressful time, when some students will already have placed incredible pressure on themselves, I think there is a genuine risk of serious harm.

Edexcel sound like an utter disgrace. Who on earth approved this paper for circulation?!

DS doesn't do maths but most of his friends do and those who sat just the Maths (not FM) said it was easily the worst paper they'd ever come across. Reports of some people coming out of the hall crying. I just don't understand why it had to be this brutal. Student Room is similarly full of shell-shocked students. to all of them, and I really hope they are able to at least draw a line underneath and go on to the next one.

Biology 1 tomorrow. DS's 'best' subject, I think. Really really hoping for a good confidence-boosting paper.