GCSE Supporting - first week nearly over

[overthehillswegoo]

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Glad to have found you guys. GCSE mum here.

Ds took iGCSE Edexcel Higher Tier Maths this morning. Went 'Ok' with an edge in his voice. Said the last 3 questions were 4 markers and did not think he got the answers but hoping to get marks for workings. On a scale of 1-10 in terms of difficulty, he rated it 7. He is normally grade 8-9 for maths. Good but not stellar.

Ds took AQA CompSc in the afternoon. Said it went 'very well' but he likes coding. At least that is what he said today. Other days, he does not like coding or CompSc. I never know what to believe.

The Jury is Out.

My DD did WJEC intermediate Numeracy today, she said it was tough but is confident she'll get a C. In Wales they have 4 maths papers, so another 3 to go!

All our students always finish paper 1 with time to spare. Complete ability range, includes those who diligently check all answers.

DS said that is what his friend's teacher at another school said but he found himself working on his CompSc paper (AQA) right up the final minute. Not sure what that means but ds felt confident. His is an academic school.

Should have said this is OCR.

DD AQA Comp Sci - hated it, writing out coding doesn’t feel right apparently.

My son was looking at a video of an English teacher on YouTube who apparently is pretty good at predictions. Don't think the inspector calls prediction was up when he looked a couple of days ago but I'll find out.

There have often been someone putting maths answers and suspected mark schemes up very quickly after each paper.
Dd1 used to go through very carefully and tell me what mark she thought she'd got-she was always within a couple of marks on each paper.
I would have hated that, but she liked it.

I could be wrong but I thought the GCSE papers can not leave the exam room and need to be sent back so not sure how he is going to do that?

Maybe teachers get a copy, or get one they can take notes on during the course of the exam?

Writing out coding is bloody insane - dd is doing comp sci independently so we picked Edexcel where the paper 2 is on a computer!

Morning hope everyone's teens have a nice sunny rest as part of their weekend plans.
It's lovely here and I will try and get DD out for a walk or coffee and cake later.
Higher Maths went ok she tells me but she said it was a bit of a rush at the end.
She had a fairly kind first week with only 1 exam each day but next week is into the doubles.
She is tired already so I think it will be a slog to keep momentum up but thank goodness for half term.

DS doesn't think he got the tomato and carrot question right and couldn't answer the last couple of questions (higher edexcel) but otherwise he said it was fine.

Teachers not allowed in exam room. Invigilators not allowed to look at paper. Papers are usually embargoed until January so they can be used for mocks!

I’m just proud of DS stepping over the school threshold to take (much reduced) GCSES.

He’s had such a rollercoaster time during his secondary education. From serious MH issues, surgery and bullying, he’s spent the last months working on maths and English online (school provided). He still decided he’d give the sciences a try.

The journey wasn’t the one we expected but he’ll get there. He will be going to college regardless of his results, where hopefully the environment will be less toxic!

No pressure from us, we’re just happy he’s still here.

Oh and he found some questions in the foundation calculator paper tricky, no wonder as he’s had none of the usual run up revision lessons from school, he’s been left to get on with it, with us trying to support.

Not every journey is the same.

good on him, @HannahWaddinghamLove

He’s been super brave tackling everything

May I join in too?
my daughter also found iGCSE biology tricky( it’s her least favourite subject) also the Othello question others commented on.
It’s really reassuring to see that the things she worried about are universally disliked.
she had iGCSE maths yesterday and didn’t attempt 1 question followed by Greek in the afternoon ( anyone else?!) so was shattered by the evening.
Busy week next week too…

So glad the first week is over. My son said majority of exams have been ok. Only another 17 exams to go!!

Does anyone know what happens if you use a gel pen in an exam? Thanks

@SheilaFentiman thank you! 🩵

Gel pen to write answers or to highlight the qu paper? Latter is ok I guess but former is a no-no - has to be black ink to scan.

They not supposed to be used in UK exams I think because exam papers are scanned and not all have ink that allow this.

https://www.reddit.com/r/IBO/comments/bofa2m/i_accidentally_used_a_gel_pen_for_the_exams/
Scanning this and other sites if a gel pen has been used - it's probably okay as school should have stopped it and many do scan and they can mark the original paper.

Best to avoid using in exams to avoid whole concern.

My Dd managed to use a gel pen for first 3 days !! I reckon they can't be the only ones, and that it will be sorted out (its to do with photocopying) - or should I say I hope it will be okay!