What's in the GCSE & A Level exams 2022

[nathanmcgurl]

In case you hadn't heard, today the exam boards are publishing their Advance Information on what topics will be the major focus of the Summer exams. It's definitely worth checking out the information on their websites. But also worth noting that it doesn't mean other topics won't come up in the lower mark questions.

Our teens would do well to cover everything if they can. Not only to pick up marks but can you imagine turning over a paper to find the first question is on something you were told not to revise?! That could knock their confidence from the start.

@noblegiraffe

Will the teachers adapt their teaching now to focus on these subjects

Yes! E.g. now I know that exact trig values are on the gcse, they’ll be hammered into them. Large dataset isn’t mentioned at A-level so we probably won’t bother with it at all.

My DC's teachers have told them to look on the exam board's website to find the information themselves . Which is the worst outcome - other schools doing revised revision checklists and giving written information to pupils, other schools just telling the pupils to find it out for themselves.

So that's one school at a massive disadvantage compared to all the other schools in the country...

Tbf they've not even been out a week yet. I can't imagine that an exam board would publish a list of what's going to be on an exam and then the teachers completely ignore it.

@nathanmogurl But also worth noting that it doesn't mean other topics won't come up in the lower mark questions.

That is what I thought before I saw what eg AQA had published. But AQA at least keeps saying things like:

"Topics not assessed in this paper. Eg for biology Paper 1H:

Topics not assessed in this paper:
4.2.2.3 Blood
4.2.2.7 Cancer
4.3.1.8 Antibiotics and pain killers
4.3.1.9 Discovery and development of drugs
4.4.2.2 Responses to exercise

Now does this mean, as the simple English would seem to suggest, that these topics are not in fact assessed in this paper, or does it mean, as I thought the guidance was, that topics such as blood and antibiotics will only come up, at most, in the lower tariff questions?

Anybody know?

That's not great @popularscience. Our school are working on revision lists based on the new guidance, which they will give them this week but have also been advised to revise everything (maybe because of what @nathanmcgurl and @Naem are saying). The school have said they're going to be doing a full set of mocks for English, Maths and Science in a few weeks time, to give them personalised revision advice.

Just read this which seems to make perfect sense -

"Topics not explicitly given in any list may appear in low tariff questions or via ‘linked’ questions. Linked questions are those that bring together knowledge, skills and understanding from across the specification."

So if the topic is not in the 'will be assessed' or 'not assessed' basically expect that it might come up. It also says to study the whole subject content, which seems sensible - especially if carrying on to A Level.

The guidance is different for different subjects and different exam boards - the low tariff mark thing isn’t true across the board so check with what the specific exam board has said for each subject.

It’s a mess tbh, v inconsistent.

@noblegiraffe

The guidance is different for different subjects and different exam boards - the low tariff mark thing isn’t true across the board so check with what the specific exam board has said for each subject.

It’s a mess tbh, v inconsistent.

Yeah, that's AQA which is our exam board for science and maths.

Yeah total mess.

@Naem in this case it would seem safe to expect that they're not going to come up. There are topics in Biology, for example, that aren't in the will appear, and also not in the won't appear.

It's certainly not especially helpful when all the boards are different - and in most cases, the subjects within one board are approaching it differently too. as @noblegiraffe says, best check with the info for each course.

The best advice seems to be to use these AI lists to make absolutely sure there are no gaps. If there are then go to the teacher with it, etc. But still plan to revise the whole course (with maybe the exception of the explicitly excluded content).

I am totally lost with this exam system. I didn’t do my schooling in the UK. But I find it weird that
a) for the same year (GCSE), there are 5 or 6 examination systems (AQA, EDEXCEL etc) in England. WHY?
b) in GCSE, a student may have to take more than one system of exams for example AQA for Maths, EDEXCEL for science, which is decided by the school and not students or parents
c) I am in support of Christianity being a mandatory topic in RS but don’t understand why the second religion is not something that pupil or parents prefer?? For an example, my son is forced to learn Judaism because he goes to a school run by governors from that minority religion. No ifs no buts.

@OssomMummy1

I am totally lost with this exam system. I didn’t do my schooling in the UK. But I find it weird that a) for the same year (GCSE), there are 5 or 6 examination systems (AQA, EDEXCEL etc) in England. WHY? b) in GCSE, a student may have to take more than one system of exams for example AQA for Maths, EDEXCEL for science, which is decided by the school and not students or parents c) I am in support of Christianity being a mandatory topic in RS but don’t understand why the second religion is not something that pupil or parents prefer?? For an example, my son is forced to learn Judaism because he goes to a school run by governors from that minority religion. No ifs no buts.

@OssomMummy1 there are different boards, not as such exam systems. Schools choose different boards for the separate subjects for several reasons. For example, in my subject (MFL) AQA was initially the only board offering the new (1-9) spec, so few schools have picked to switch to EdExcel.

In other subjects, it may be to do with modules/texts offered, or simply a perception that a specific board is easier or more suitable. For example in Eng Lit, AQA does not offer a choice of questions for some texts but I believe OCR does.

Overall it doesn't make that much difference to the students. Obviously students or parents cannot make the decision which board to take as the school needs to teach to the syllabus and the requirements will vary. Equally wrt RS, the school or the teacher has to decide what to teach; they cannot cater to the choices of individual students. You surely must see this. I doubt if the course content is mandated by the governors of any school tbh, not IME anyway. Some schools choose topics or texts across the year; in others individual teachers choose them - as DD's school many different texts were studied for Eng lit but at other schools I know, everyone does the same three.

Of course a student can answer questions on any topic they choose in the exam (or a different text in english for example) - I don't think it's a good idea tho.

@OssomMummy1

I am totally lost with this exam system. I didn’t do my schooling in the UK. But I find it weird that a) for the same year (GCSE), there are 5 or 6 examination systems (AQA, EDEXCEL etc) in England. WHY? b) in GCSE, a student may have to take more than one system of exams for example AQA for Maths, EDEXCEL for science, which is decided by the school and not students or parents c) I am in support of Christianity being a mandatory topic in RS but don’t understand why the second religion is not something that pupil or parents prefer?? For an example, my son is forced to learn Judaism because he goes to a school run by governors from that minority religion. No ifs no buts.

OssomMummy1 I hope this helps:

a) The different exam boards offer choice. They follow the curriculum requirements set out by government, but the approach might be a little different. Besides GCSEs, there are iGCSEs and also various BTEC or Level 1 & 2 qualifications. Not all exam boards offer all subjects.
b) the schools decide which exam board. They may prefer the combined science specification of AQA, but the Geography options is OCR. It comes down to school preference in the main. I guess if as a parent you had strong views on which exam board you wanted (although I'm not sure why) you could either home-educate or look at it as part of the options process in year 9.
c) The exam board specification will determine which is mandatory and what the options are. In REP not all have Christianity as a compulsory topic (e.g. AQA) again showing choice and reflecting the modern world we live in. But very much like the different options in History or many texts English Literature, this comes down to the school and perhaps even the teacher. In a class of 30 (or however many), it is entirely unrealistic and unreasonable to think that pupils would get to choose from 7 religions and have all taught to the depth required for the exam.

(And if I may, Judaism is a valid, world religion - scarcely something to dismiss as "minority". Perhaps it was chosen by your school because of the not inconsiderable overlap with Christianity (eg The Old Testament))