Continuing Year 13: January 2016

[Needmoresleep]

Only two more terms at school. Let's support each other support our DC in getting through to the end.

I think for the M2 paper last year you needed almost 95% to get 90 ums.

Dunlurking glad that C1 resit went well. I think that having a year more maths makes C1 seem easier when they do the resit, I seem to recall you saying that his school told him that would be the case. Anyway fingers crossed that a few extra marks on C1 will boost the overall A level grade.
DS is doing Maths but not FM so not in the same league as those aiming for Maths degrees. It's still his best subject though ironically.

One good thing about Maths exams is that most people come away with a reasonably accurate idea of how many they got wrong. Must be harder for those doing essay type subjects to gauge how well they did.

DS not doing resits or extra modules so his first exam is not until June which is a good job as he's come down with a bug.

hayita, that is reassuring. I wonder why the grade boundaries are always so high on the FM modules, though?

Secret, what does your DS want to do next year?

I wonder why the grade boundaries are always so high on the FM modules, though?

Because the papers are (relatively speaking) quite easy for the cohort taking them. And I don't think anyone working in maths education would argue that too few students are getting As and A stars in FM - there has been considerable grade inflation over the last twenty years, as the stats I linked above indicate. The revised FM A level will almost certainly have significantly fewer students getting top grades.

It seems like a circular argument, then. If the high grade boundaries are because the papers are relatively easy for the cohort taking them, they are penalising that cohort for being 'bright.'

Anyway, DS needs either an A* in FM or a grade 1 in STEP to get a place at Warwick, here's hoping.

There was a policy a few years ago to make maths A level easier so that more people would do it. FM therefore had to be made easier because stuff from the normal A level had to be shifted into the FM syllabus and some other stuff had to kids taking these exams aren't being penalised for being bright per se they are the victims of a government policy that wasn't well thought through - or at least, that gave rise to unintended consequences. It's much harder to differentiate between people who are solid at maths and people who are shit hot at maths now through the A levels - hence STEP.

DS is finding that doing STEP is making the A level seem easy in comparison!

I guess the new syllabuses (syllabi?) coming out will go some way to reverse that policy. My poor old DS3 (Y9) will never be able to compare/compete with DS1.

If the high grade boundaries are because the papers are relatively easy for the cohort taking them, they are penalising that cohort for being 'bright.'

I don't see how this is circular. The FM papers were made easier so that more people would do FM - as the tables linked above show, numbers have doubled in the last ten years. Meanwhile the percentage of students getting top grades has remained roughly the same. This means that the absolute numbers of As/A stars at FM is much higher than the number of As 15 or 20 years ago. It is unquestionably easier to get top grades at FM now than it was 15 or 20 years ago. (And harder to differentiate top maths students, hence far more universities using MAT and STEP.)

There is no evidence that FM candidates are being penalised relative to other subjects. Compare for example the percentages getting A stars at FM and at physics - the former is three times higher. In my opinion it is easier to get an A star at FM than in physics, despite relatively high grade boundaries. More top students holding Oxbridge etc offers miss A stars in physics than in FM.

FM students are obviously not being penalised. The subjects where it is super hard to get an A are English, HIstory and Music (and probably art and drama too) - there's a degree of subjectivity there that makes it extremely difficult to predict if even the most gifted students will actually walk away with an A.

Just had a text from DD2 to say the FP1 paper went quite well

hellsbells just had exactly the same text! Phew.

The nice thing about doing double maths was the way in which you could order your marks to ensure a good mark in single maths. DS has decent AS results so was confident about the A (though a lot less confident about getting the same grade in FM, whether doing well in the dreaded FP2 was very important.) DD is only taking single so a lot more seems to hang on C3 and C4 and looking at school stats almost all double mathematicians get the A in the single, whereas only about 50% of the single mathematicians do.

We have also seen very strong students miss the A in physics. (And plenty more have the same problem in humanities.) Tough when Cambidge is handing out a load of offers involving 2 As, sometimes more.

DS's offer for Warwick is 3 A or 2A and grade 1 in any STEP. He's on track for A* in maths and physics, if his ASs are a good indication, but FM is less certain. Anyway, we'll see in August. He's quite happy with his insurance.

I'd agree that getting an A* is more likely in maths, but I don't think that's because it's easier. It's just easier to mark, black and white rather than all the shades of grey in more subjective subjects. I'm glad DS's talents lie in maths and physics rather than history etc. Much more predictable.

That should read, or 2 A*, an A and Grade 1 in STEP.

Still need to average 90% over C3 and C4 papers to get an A* in maths - eek!

hellsbells But surely that's the case for everyone in every subject - you only get an A if you get an A on your A2. Even if your total marks are in the 90+ range, if you didn't get 90+ in the A2 you get an A. DD1 got 100 UMS for her geo AS but she had no qualms dropping it for A2 because she knew, with her issues and specific weaknesses, that she could never replicate that on the A2, well, unless she put all the effort all the time into Geog and even then probs not.

Hi Uhtred - sorry my post was in response to Needmoresleep about ordering the marks to get an A* in single maths.

I think for the M2 paper last year you needed almost 95% to get 90 ums

In OCR (non mei) M2 you needed to get 66/72 or 88.8% . This year I think it will be way lower!

DS needs A in FM and A in either physics or chemistry, plus grade 1 in step 2&3, so he really can't afford to drop a ball anywhere. YIKES!

Hi Kitkat - the pressure on them is awful isn't it? I was quoting Edexcel for the M2 grade boundary last year. Hopefully this year will be lower! DD needs 1 A* and we are hoping that she will get this in maths. She is only taking the AS in further maths as her school didn't offer it so she is self studying it alongside her A2s. I presume your DS has applied for a maths degree if he needs Step? Good luck!

Final week of school here. One AS resit on Wednesday.

An AS resit for my ds tomorrow as well. Good luck to yours LIZS.

Last day of school ever (well, apart from exams!) for DD today. Feeling quite emotional!

DS1 has been on study leave for nearly two weeks now. I need to give him a wake up call mid-morning or he'd sleep through most of the day. I'm sure he's becoming nocturnal!

Second exam tomorrow, M3, then nothing until after half term. His friend is doing 3 A levels, all essay type subjects and only has 3 exams, two of which are on the same day. Very different from DS's 9 exams and some on this thread with even more.