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Original poster

GCSEs 2018 (8) Dozens of DCs, 1 DH and Flashcards in the fridge

999 replies

mmzz · 16/05/2018 21:35

Previous thread

OP posts:
Sostenueto · 17/05/2018 14:26

alexanderGrin

goodbyestranger · 17/05/2018 14:32

dogzdinner Chadwick is in the spec apparently and DD says it's also in the AQA revision guide (DD did AQA this morning too). DD liked the paper but then she likes Chemistry, so it doesn't say that much that she found it fine. She says definitely her best exam so far.

CatherineCawood · 17/05/2018 14:35

Tawny DD doesn't finish until the 15th, (her 16th bday) Physics is her last exam.

goodbyestranger · 17/05/2018 14:36

Double dutch to me too Alexander but apparently everything on the paper was in the spec and you didn't need to know the proof (whatever the proof is) for Chadwick.

AlexanderHamilton · 17/05/2018 14:38

Its in the spec in that you have to know the difference between his model and the other but the spec clearly states that you do not need to know details of his experiemntal work, only that of Rutherford.

AlexanderHamilton · 17/05/2018 14:40

Dd said she knew whatever it was they wanted anyway.

TheSecondOfHerName · 17/05/2018 14:51

DS2 will still be in the exam hall for another couple of hours (three exams today), so I've been amusing myself by reading the #AQAChemistry hashtag on twitter.

goodbyestranger · 17/05/2018 14:54

Oh well all I know is that DD says it was all in the spec and you didn't need to know any details at all, just that he discovered neutrons - that's her point. It was all good. I think it's fair to get cross if something's not on the spec and the exam board go off on a frolic, but not if it's legit, which all the exams seem to have been so far. I've had DC in exams before where there have been howlers with unanswerable questions/ missing formulae etc but this one was fine actually.

AlexanderHamilton · 17/05/2018 14:56

Unlucky him.

Tuesday was the only day dd had 2 exams on one day. All the rest are 1 per day

sandybayley · 17/05/2018 14:56

@TheSecondOfHerName that's tough! DS1 has had two today and I'm tracking him to see when he leaves school so I can phone to see how Latin and Chemistry have gone.

I know it's a big Big Brother but I don't mind the rest of the family tracking me!

cubscout · 17/05/2018 14:57

Yes, ds says Chadwick is on the spec but as goodbye says they didn't need to know detail.
Ds doesn't finish until 21st Shock with 2 x Further Maths that week. He has 6 exams in both he weeks after half term.

sandybayley · 17/05/2018 15:00

@goodbyestranger - DS1 said the same after Biology and was a bit bemused at all the social media groaning about unfair questions.

He felt it was all pretty fair I even if some parts were hard. The tweets do make me laugh though - anyone would think these were the first teenagers to take exams Wink

AlexanderHamilton · 17/05/2018 15:01

Ha Ha Sandy - tracking - that was a whole different thread (I'm guessing you saw that one). Dd doesn't have an iphone so I can't track that but dh teaches at her school and I can track hom!

goodbyestranger · 17/05/2018 15:07

Yes sandy it's become a bit of a thing I think and sometimes the stuff is very imaginative and funny. In some well publicized cases in previous years the exam boards have committed shockers. DD was a bit fed up at losing marks because of school bells ringing over French questions the other day and poor quality IT, and she knows generally where her answers aren't great, but so far no blame has been directed at the exam boards!

hmcAsWas · 17/05/2018 15:17

Thanks for sharing your ds' experience in further and higher education Eve - lovely to hear

Hopefully your ds can turn his mindset around Pickwick and start to believe in himself more. Dd has definitely been there with the self esteem / self confidence thing.

hmcAsWas · 17/05/2018 15:30

"anyone would think these were the first teenagers to take exams"
to be fair though the exams seem to be considerably harder now than they when I was taking my O levels . From what I remember Chemistry was falling off a log stuff like 'what is the hottest part of a Bunsen burner flame?'

Original poster
mmzz · 17/05/2018 15:37

In contrast, I thought that what DS is doing is a lot like my O grades (Scotland 1983). The curriculum is very similar, but DS is doing 2 more subjects than I did and that makes a big difference.
I'm beginning to see why so many 6th forms will only consider GCSEs taken at the same sitting. The really difficult bit is having to do so much at once.

OP posts:
Original poster
mmzz · 17/05/2018 15:41

218 posts in under 24 hours. It is hard to keep up!

OP posts:
LooseAtTheSeams · 17/05/2018 15:47

I did 8 O levels in 1983. They were mostly two papers. Some paper 1s were entirely multiple choice. I've got a feeling there was just one paper for English language and one each for French and German after the listening/speaking skills.
The difference, I think was that paper 2s on science were essay-based.
Overall, I think I had it easier than DS with 11 GCSEs and 21 exams, and I'm now wondering why I didn't do better!Smile

TawnyPippit · 17/05/2018 15:57

Loose, DH and I were discussing this yesterday. He did 8 O levels in 1979 and I did 9 in 1980. We were both pretty sure that they were largely only one paper per subject, although languages all had more because they had several components. I did Latin and there was definitely a language paper and a literature paper; and History had an essay paper and a multiple choice paper (which I had assumed would be a doddle and definitely wasn't), but I think otherwise it was just one paper per subject. And we thought everything was compressed together into about a week and a half, and then you were done. It certainly wasn't 20+ exams over 3+ weeks.

As you, its a mystery as to why we didn't do better Smile

Cherryburn · 17/05/2018 16:03

I did 9 in 1980 too! There were definitely 3 maths papers, although papers 1 & 2 may have been sat back to back. But I distinctly remember paper 3, the long, wordy difficult stuff! I think the sciences were just 1 paper each on our board. Latin definitely 2 and very similar to the papers DD did a few years ago. English Lang and Lit were 2 papers I think. History was 2 papers but I don't remember any multiple choice questions...

Cherryburn · 17/05/2018 16:07

Very few people got anything approaching straight A's (at least in my school). One girl who was very clever and a swot studious got 8 As and a B and she got the highest grades in the year by a distance.

Eve · 17/05/2018 16:16

Pickwick - took DS a couple of years as well to get over being in low sets, moving to college helped pick him up. Even now he still smarts over it!! His despondency made me rethink my attitude towards grammars - as a product of a grammar school system I did support them, but seeing the imapct of being in a low set on DS made me change my mind.

IT this afternoon was easy according to DS2.

Oratory1 · 17/05/2018 16:40

wow tough to keep up. Not heard from DS yet as had CS this afternoon then staying for activities and to chill as he has a welcome 4 days off now. But I've never heard Chadwick mentioned so that doesn't bode well !!

He will probably work over half term as has history, English Language and second sciences afterwards. I wondered if the Guardian article is a bit out of date. DDs a couple of year s ago doing old spec not only did more subjects bit also had more but shorter papers. eg they had three papers for each science, DS has two longer ones. Sam for other subjects too.

Glad those dealing with illnesses are getting through - hang in there.

snozzlemaid · 17/05/2018 16:51

Dd said Chemistry went well this morning. She thought it was better than Biology.
French writing tomorrow.