GCSE Physics AQA - Today

[Glitterbiscuits]

Did anyone else's DC come home and say topics such as nuclear were on the exam today even they were on the official AQA 'not assessed' list?

Ds has just texted something about AQA mixing up the advanced information?

Just asked my DS and he said there were a couple of low mark questions. He said he's realised that the non assessed topics just don't appear as 6 mark questions.

He realised after his first RE exam when questions appeared on topics he had expected not to be tested on. He stopped relying on the advance info after that and revised all topics anyway.

Yes, my son is fuming! It's all over Twitter. Surely they will have do something, one of the questions was an 11 marker, another was a 5 marker... That's a huge percentage of the entire paper.

And where does that leave them knowing what to revise for paper 2?

My son has emailed his teacher.

Same here, it said no circuits but there was a circuits question.

Dd has said nothing…🤔she hates physics though, so maybe didn’t notice.

Where does that leave Paper. 2?

We got a tutor for physics
Our DC is dyslexic but they cam on in leaps and bounds and it was their best predicted grade.
When your other grades are a 4s a 6 would have been very welcome. Poor thing,

But they were listed as topics that would be a ‘major focus’ of the exam.

it said so on their website?

I don’t know where you got the idea that it was not going to be assessed. I think your child didn’t read the information properly

My son had been taught about Circuits and knew the question about nuclear. He said it had been covered by his teacher .

@12Thorns

That’s the higher paper , which doesn’t mention nuclear radiation as a focus, or an area not assessed.

in other words, Likely to be assessed.

in the foundation paper it is listed as a focus

They sat the higher paper.

Some of the topics in my photo cam up in the exam.

My son has emailed his teacher.

Your son's teacher won't have even seen the paper yet. We don't get them until tomorrow at the earliest.

But they were listed as topics that would be a ‘major focus’ of the exam.

There were 4 AQA physics GCSE papers sat concurrently this afternoon. Each of those had different advanced information. I think the OP is talking about the Higher Tier Physics qualification (rather than the foundation tier, or either tier for the Combined Science qualification). Higher Tier Physics advanced information said most of nuclear physics wouldn't be assessed either as a major focus, nor via low tariff or as 'linked' content.

The only part of the nuclear topic which should have been assessed at all is section 4.4.2:
-Radioactive decay and nuclear radiation (eg properties of alpha, beta and gamma)
-Nuclear equations
-Half life
-Radioactive contamination

The issue was with the Higher paper, triple science. Rumour has it they mixed up the Advanced Info for the Higher/Foundation. It's all over Twitter.

Then they should have read the prerelease information a lot more carefully. Nowhere does it say 4.4.2 will not be assessed. Quite the opposite. It doesn’t list it as a focus, but the information quite clearly states that the questions will not be limited to the ‘focus’ list. The question you are complaining about comes from 4.4.2

@12 Thorns Do you work for AQA? You seem defensive

I am not complaining about any questions in particular. I haven't seen the paper.
It seems I am not the only parent of a child who sat higher physics today and was surprised.

My interpretation is that if AQA say something is not assessed then it won't be in the exam.

My daughter said that circuits came up (big 11 marker) and it wasn’t supposed to.

Yes. My daughter has come home very upset about it. I've told her to speak to her teacher.

It's one thing to put questions in that may be assessed, but on AQA Physics triple higher there was a whole section of the paper that was listed under the will not be assessed part of the advanced information.

This is really not OK and not fair. Why give advaned information saying what not to revise and then put it in the exam.

AQA do need to answer this as it will impact revision going forward. I think they must have made a major mistake or it makes the advanced inforamtion a nonsense.

Mine says it was a 1 mark question on circuits? And they had covered it in lessons.

No I don’t work for aqa. And aqa did not say 4.4.2 would not be assessed. They just said it wasn’t a focus, but it might be assessed

My ds is annoyed said there were things on the higher paper they were told wouldn't be but luckily after RE he had had a quick read through of all topics just in case. So wasn't as annoyed as he might have been!

No - that one is fair enough. It is neither in nor out. What we are talking about is questions on circuits, so 4.2.1, 4.2.2 and 4.2.3 which are under the will not be assessed section of the advanced information.

@newgirls what exam was he taking? Combined or triple? Foundation or higher?

This is a worry then if different people (including schools / teachers) have interpreted that language and direction differently.

If there is a large cohort who “misunderstood” it then it seems it was poor communication.

AQA advanced information has been shocking this year. My ds sat an A Level sociology paper with a question on that hadn't actually been taught. His teacher was fuming. I've also heard of a couple of other GCSE papers not being as expected.