Medicine 2018 part 3

[SomersetS]

Hope you all find this - didn't realise I took 999! Whoops.

Swing yes DD also found mechanics tough today. Hope they stay strong for bio tomorrow! Good luck everyone!

Biology was 43 pages long for a 2 hr exam. DD's hand is falling off. Said some of the questions were weirdly worded so not sure exactly what they wanted. But it's trending on Twitter and lots don't seem to have finished it - she did the last 4 questions in 4 minutes. She went straight on the medic chat for reassurance and everyone said it was looooooong. Onto tomorrow and Eng Lang & History for other DD, who said maths today was good.

Mumsneedwine, which board did your dd do? Mine moans about weird wording in biology sometimes too. She does OCR - seemed relieved her least favourite topic didn’t come up but also surprised nothing on kidneys! Still to come I suspect....

My DS did AQA Biology today and said it was 'insane'. He came home looking exhausted, so I guess they're making them work hard. Over 40 pages long, really long-winded wordy questions and some very bizarre questions.

mumsneedwine could you tell me please, is that a specific medic chat your daughter was looking at? It sounds interesting.

Yup was AQA - she said the booklet was as thick as a text book. And she's on the Nottingham Medic group chat - that's her firm offer. She was heartened that everyone found it ridiculously long ! But at least she finished even if she said her writing was appealing at the end. Who knows how she's done but on to the next one.
Youngest stressing about history GCSE tomorrow now.

DD said Aqa bio was nothing like she was expecting. She managed to finish but only just. DS gcse maths on the other hand..

I don’t really understand why exam boards differ so much but hand out same qualification, equally how schools choose which board and why. I don’t think OCR Biology was 40 pages long - but Geography was AQA and very long too.

thanks mumsneedwine. DS reassured by all the soc media chat about how bizarre it was. He finished but likewise, says he pities the examiner who has to read it :)

DD was Edexcel and had the opposite experience, she said it felt very short and she had finished much before the end. I too don't understand why the government would support different exam boards with clearly very different exams.

Grade boundaries will sort it all out. AQA will probably be low based on that exam and OCR and Edexcell be high (from what I've heard they were ok). So it all evens out in the end. Hopefully 😁

DD did AQA Biology. She thought it would be easier this year to bring grade boundaries down. She said she spent ages trying to work out what the question wanted of her but again just managed to finish it. She says the last 3 Qs were the easiest but that many people didn't get there. Also loads of empty answer space on Qs so she felt they wanted more but didn't feel it wanted more. No tears yet.
That's it for this week. Biol & Chem again next week then same again week 3 plus 2 French papers. Roll on 22nd.

I am not sure how many of your DCs did the AS level as I know many schools decided not to bother, but I believe grade boundaries were very low. I think it is mean to ask so much of them in an exam that they feel shattered and maybe a loss of confidence, although this could very well be an A result or even A*. DD says there is just so much content - is it only the third year of this new spec? Perhaps they will make some sensible changes in time for the next cohort. .

My DD did AS's and feels it has helped with A2's as it bridged the gap from GCSE to A2.

It's interesting seeing my DSs do AS levels that counted towards the A level grade and comparing them with the new method. How the grades and the boundaries are affected time will tell. DD got a very high mark in her AS geography (her third subject) which under the old system would have mean a B in this years papers would suffice - but not anymore. Having said that todays final Geography seemed to go well - so fingers crossed. When she did her AS she did a revision course over a weekend and was told hardly any schools were putting students forward for the AS, so of course the grade boundaries may be skewed by people doing the course just for one year - so who knows. But it certainly was useful practice. Onwards and upward all...

I too don't understand why the government would support different exam boards with clearly very different exams.

The government is committed to creating markets and competition where there is no need for them. This leaves Ofqual with a difficult task of aligning standards, while unable to do much to align the standards of the three English boards with those of the Welsh and Northern Irish ones (which still run modular A-levels).

Edexcel Bio B was also horrendously long and many didn't finish it at our school
Just found out from DD that there was an Edexcel Bio B and A... and DD did A.

Competition in exams? What's to gain from it that when the aim is to assess pupils knowledge for the purpose of further studies and to some extent and arguably, employability?

Aqa Biology in this house too, DS texted me after the exam saying
"Look on Twitter", we've spent the rest of the day following all the comments. Still loving the question how to ethically catch a bee

DS now focusing on Monday Tuesday next week for second papers for both biology and chemistry.

DS does OCR bio and he thought it was okay (high praise from him). The twitter comments are hilarious especially the ones about a baby holding their arms out and how it protects their head - apparently loads of kids trying to do it in exam to work out answer 😂
I write an A level paper and the twitter comments are always so funny!
On the not so good side both OCR physics papers had an erratum notice and one had a mistake 😬

Watfordmummy we too had a long debate about how to ethically catch a bee. Oddly i then randomly got a FB article from David Attenborough about how bees are tired at this time of year & we should leave out sugar water as an energy drink. Coincidence??

@SomersetS yes I got that too!!

Didn't mention to DS though

Placemarking

DS has just expressed interest in medicine degree

Welcome WheelyCote - what year is DS? Lots of knowledge here now!

I've read quite a bit about that bee experiment! Oddly, last weekend, I found a bee half dead inside the house or so I thought! I assumed it was dying, but OH said to give it sugar water. I did outside, the bee seemed to tired to even suck it, but it suddenly did, went mad with it and within 30 seconds was flying off!

Good luck to everyone today for Biology Part 2.