Gcse 2018 (10) The one with half term

[Stickerrocks]

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/secondary/3256691-GCSEs-2018-9-Will-we-get-to-half-term-for-never-was-a-story-of-more-woe-than-this-of-Juliet-and-who-is-Banquo

Oops. Can't remember how to link nicely, so this will have to do.

Found you all!

My DD still asleep! According to her, all exams taken so far have been “ok” or “alright”. Only clue I have about content/difficultly is reading here, student room or Twitter. She has attended some revision sessions that school have laid on in between exams. She has used some of the brightly coloured flash cards now which I had flashcard envy over.

It’s all a bit weird actually, it’s like exams aren’t happening for my DD apart from the odd day when she has gone into school later/come home earlier than usual, nothing has really changed.

Sandybayley - she’s mainly doing igcse which are on the old grading system. English, maths and art are on the new 9-1 system. Sciences and maths are Edexcel and everything else is Cambridge - doesn’t make a lot of sense to me having different boards and different grading structures but hey ho who am I to judge!! Also confused about the papers being way harder but the grade boundaries being low (compared with old fashioned O Levels). Dd doesn’t like talking about it 🤨

Am I the only one thinking it's a dangerous game to rely on youtube predictions for what topics will come up? That said, I haven't looked at the link but I do remember someone at uni being certain that three topics would come up in a particular finals paper, she only revised those three - but in massive detail - and screamed (literally screamed) when she saw the paper, fell to the ground then had to be helped out sobbing. No exaggeration.

It would be a mistake to rely on them goodbye but I shouldn't think anyone here will do that. The Biology link I reposted (not from YouTube, it's a Biology teacher's blog) makes it clear that there are no guarantees that certain topic areas won't come up twice. However, given some areas didn't come up at all in Paper 1, there is a good chance that some of them will feature in P2 and as such it's worth making sure that they are covered in revision.

goodbyestranger that must have been pretty disturbing!
I don’t believe in trying to predict science topics after my disastrous attempt to do just that in my O level biology paper. I passed but I definitely didn’t do as well as I hoped!

Same sort of difference Cherryburn but yes I sort of see the point of that although I'd add a note of caution that over the years I've had DC taking literally hundreds of papers (three hundred at a guess) and honestly the examiners have all sorts of double bluff tricks up their sleeves. So I think that makes me cautious and go for the ignorance is bliss approach!

Well it was quite a spectacle Loose but I'm with you on trying to do best guesses on the these things, based on experience.

By which I mean I'm with you on not trying to do best guesses.

In very recent years across A levels and GCSEs I've known the DC come home to report the same topic being asked about in different questions and some huge topics being left out altogether (their verdict to the latter is always grrrr how could they even do that).

Yes, it's not my first DC doing GCSEs either. At DD's school the teachers routinely produced lists of topics not examined on Paper 1s, with the important caveat that anything could still come up. But given that there's a vanishingly small possibility that the topic areas on Paper 2 will be exactly the same as those on the first paper, I still think it's information worth having if it's used judiciously.

No I wasn't implying that I have a monopoly on experience Cherryburn, nevertheless it is striking how things have shifted recently. They do seem even less predictable and more double bluffy in the past few years - it was noticeable even before the reforms - so worth saying it here, since we're supposed to chip in with our own anecdotal experience. The first DC took her GCSEs in 2006 and I've had a steady stream of DCs doing GCSEs and ASs and A2s since then, and there are some trends which are noticeable. But everyone approaches things in different ways, which is fine. Just a comment.

A question as I am a bit confused.
DD is AQA for Triple Science. As I understood it Paper 1 and Paper 2 are different topics examined and you cannot get paper 1 topics on paper 2 exams. Am I wrong? Can there be an overlap?

Here's the biology link I posted for anyone who missed it:
pmgbiology.com/2018/05/17/edexcel-igse-biology-paper-2b-2018-predictions/

I agree it's a dangerous game to try to predict questions. For us, however, we know that DS won't be able to revise everything so I guess you have to make some choices about where to start!

I was interested to know how accurate this Biology predicted list might be, so I did a quick check of the 2016 & 2017 list against the actual paper.
In 2016 four of those topics came up (out of 14) and in 2017 three out of 11 did. I'm not sure what that tells us!
The other thing about the Biology igcse is that they tend to mix up topics together in some of the longer questions, so you do need a basic understanding of all of it really.

DD is also AQA triple and the answer is that I've no idea! But if so any scrutiny of what has come up on the first paper would be irrelevant! I have to say my comments were general across all subjects where there can be overlap, not merely science.

Oratory DD is adopting the same approach for maths. She is taking the OCR FSMQ Add Maths paper and doesn't intend to think about it until the Sunday & Monday before.

You could only take a second MFL if you studied it yourself at DD's school, so anyone taking German would be a native speaker. Graphics is the only other GCSE still running that week, on the Tuesday morning.

For AQA sciences, paper 1 covers the first half the stllanus and paper 2 covers the second half.

Thank you - that is what I thought but the talk of 'if it didn't come up on Paper 1' upthread made me wonder.
This is such a great thread for reassurance.

Sorry if we gave you a fright Juggling, the link we were discussing is specifically for Edexcel igcse where anything can come up on Paper 2.

A levels and GCSEs next year in this house, but I doubt that either DC would dare mention it if someone had told them that there was no need to revise x, because it definitely won't come up - they and their sibling must have heard me say a hundred times that if it's on the syllabus, it could be on the exam paper. Make a grown up decision not to bother with a topic, fine, but it's no-one's fault but your own if you find yourself short of questions you can answer.

Of course, they might just decide to follow 'someone's' advice and not tell us...

Absolutely MarchingFrogs. But that's not what the link says. No one's talking about taking risks on trying to guess which questions will come up!

bishop each language paper is 25% I think, so the 75% is over the three papers, listening & reading are done on the same day, then writing.

Yup AQA definitely separate papers with separate topics in each. Someone posted the list in the last thread - the biology paper two content is huge. Just been testing DS starting from the beginning and we only covered a fraction of it but he switches off after half an hour of so.

I did remind him how unfair it is that I gave up biology before O level as I found it so boring but I’m still having to do it now.

If anyone is interested, I have the list of CGP guide topic names for Edexcel GSCE Triple Chemistry, Biology and Physics .

Here is Chemistry:-
Alkali Metals
Halogens
Halogen Displacement Reactions
Noble Gases
Reaction rates
Rate experiments involving Gases
Rate experiments involving Precipitation
Calculating Rates
Collision Theory
Catalysts
Endothermic and Exothermic Reactions
Measuring temperature changes
Bond Energies
Fractional distillation
Hydrocarbons
Pollutants
Cracking
The Atmosphere
Greenhouse Effect
Climate Change
Test for Cations
Test for Anions
Flame Photometry
Alkanes and Alkenes
Addition Polymers
Condensation Polymers
Disposing of Polymers
Alcohols and Carboxylic Acids
Production of Ethanol
Combustion of Alcohols
Nanoparticles
Types of Materials
Materials and their Uses

Here is Biology (sorry, my mistake Biology and Physics aren't the names CGP uses):-
Photosynthesis
Limiting Factors of Photosynthesis
Transport in plants
Stomata and Transpiration
Adaptation of leaves and plants
Plant hormones
Commercial uses of plant hormones
Hormones
Adrenaline and Thyroxine
Menstrual Cycle
Controlling fertility
Homeostasis - Control of Blood Glucose
Diabetes
Thermoregulation
Osmoregulation and the Kidneys
More on Kidneys
Exchange of materials
Diffusion and the Alveoli
Circulatory System - Blood
Circulatory System - Blood Vessels
Circulatory System - The Heart
Respiration
Ecosystems and Organism Interaction
Investigating Ecosystems
Ecosystems and Energy Transfers
Human Impacts on Biodiversity
Conservation and Biodiversity
Food Security
Carbon Cycle
Water Cycle
Nitrogen Cycle
Indicator Species
Decomposition

Here is Physics Edexcel paper 2:

1. Energy - Forces doing work

Energy Transfers and Systems Work Done and Power

1. Forces and their effects

Forces Forces and Vector Diagrams Moments 10. Electricity and circuits Currents and Circuits P.D. and resistance Investigating Components Circuit Devices Series and Parallel Circuits Energy in Circuits Power in Circuits Electricity in the Home Fuses and Earthing 11. Static electricity Static electricity Uses & dangers of static electricity Electric Fields 12. Magnetism and the motor effect Magnets and Magnetic Fields Permanent and Induced Magnets 13. Electromagnetic induction Electromagnetism and the Motor Effect Motors and Solenoids Electromagnetic Induction in Transformers Generators, Microphones and Loudspeakers Generating and Distributing Electricity 14. Particle model Density Kinetic Theory & States of Matter Specific Heat Capacity Specific Latent Heat Particle Motion in Gases Pressure, Temp and Vol 15. Forces and matter Forces and Elasticity Investigating Elasticity Fluid Pressure Upthrust & Atmospheric Pressure

DD is just over half way through her papers and half term is a welcome break. She took yesterday and today off, just some music practice and then is getting back to revision tomorrow.

We had a lovely trip down to see my sister today. We got several dresses for sixth form in the Next sale a few weeks back and my sister is making some alterations for DD to those and a couple of summer dresses. My sister also made us a lovely lunch and the motorway was quiet too.

Nice to have time together today. We are looking forward to the 15th!