Please, as we hit exam season in earnest – take a moment to check…

[clary]

… that your DC are prepped as they should be. I am not talking here about revision but exam rubric and spec.

I conduct speaking assessments for MFL and while some candidates are excellent and well-prepared, I am always surprised by how many have not filled in the form correctly, or have not checked what kind of questions I will be asking, or have not realised that they need to ask me a question or questions. This is at both KS4 and KS5. None of this information is secret – it is all right there on the exam board websites. Candidates are losing marks because they have not checked this out.

Yes, teachers should be flagging this up – but sometimes students do not listen to teachers. And of course many students will be sitting exams via HE, so may not have an exam-expert teacher or tutor to consult.

We are well into the speaking assessment windows for A level, international A level, GCSE and IGCSE now, but it may be that your DC still has their MFL speaking assessment coming up. If it’s AQA GCSE, they do not need to develop answers in the role-play, but they do for the photocard. They do need to ask the examiner a question in the general speaking. If they are taking Edexcel IGCSE MFL, the detail of the kind of questions they will be asked on the photo is online, and worth a look. If they are sitting Edexcel A level MFL, they are supposed to ask the examiner multiple questions during both elements of the conversation. And so on.

The same goes for other papers and other subjects too. In MFL AQA GCSE, there is a choice of two questions on the written paper, so please only write one piece, not both. For the 20th century text in AQA Eng lit, they only need to write answers for one of two questions. For AQA Eng lang, only four short answers are needed for the first task. There are similar details to bear in mind for all subjects – and like I say, the info is on the exam board website, under spec, or under details for specific papers. Please take a look. Better to know twice and be sure than to walk into an exam unprepared.

Do you have any specific roll play advice for IGCSE?

I presume you mean Cambridge board as there is no RP in Edexcel IGCSE.

Tbh it's about answering the questions carefully. No need for a lot of detail as marks are given for communication of a correct answer.

Candidates have 10 mins to prep but only have a scenario and can't write anything - so the best thing imo is to think of all the possible questions and vocab on the topic and some answers - not easy tho!

Amazing, thank you! Do they need to ask a question in Cambridge IGCSE?

I've lost count of the number of GCSE lit papers where candidates have attempted all of the questions, even though there is no way they've studied all of the texts.

Great thread OP.

I'll add, please remind your children to read the timings in the exam paper and to use that as their guide.

AQA English Language has a reading section and a writing section. The writing is one question and worth half the marks for the paper. Spending 10 minutes extra on the reading leaves them 35 minutes to plan, write, and check half their paper. The teachers will have said this countless times, but please check the timings for questions.

READ THE BASTARD POEMS AGAIN!!!!

It's been an eye opening couple of days.
"We've not done this poem"

Yes, we have. We really have.

"Well I don't remember it. "

Oh, that's OK. Just write that in the exam. I'm sure the examiner will be more lenient.

4 weeks to go. Just under.

Are you me?

See also:

What do you mean I have to write about Macbeth?
What do you mean I have to write about An Inspector Calls?
What do you mean I have to write about A Christmas Carol?

I never learn. Every year I think at least one of them might have remembered, I dunno, something I've taught them.

See also :
So which one is lit and which one lang?
What, we have to do FOUR exams?
Yeah, but which one do I ACTUALLY need to pass?

"Miss, am I allowed a calculator for this exam that's starting in 8 minutes?"
"yes"
...
....
"Miss, can I borrow a calculator?"

🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

Hey @Jennaveeve sorry was out...
No, no need to ask a question.

Tbh I am not a fan of the Cambridge IGCSE speaking assessment as there is very little room for discretion by the examiner (to support a weaker candidate or challenge a stronger one) and there is no candidate choice (for example of a first topic).

The key thing to remember is that for the two topic conversations, the five questions are scripted by the exam board and intended to last for 3.5 minutes each - so to gain the highest marks, a candidate must develop their answers.

So "what's your favourite subject?" "maths" - not going to score highly. "I like maths because it is interesting" - better. Best of all "I like maths because it is interesting, but I also like chemistry because it is very useful, as I hope to become a doctor. Last week we learned all about algebra in maths, it was great."

OMG I can imagine. What a nightmare.

Oh @TheMoth @LolaSmiles and @MrsHamlet I feel for you with English. At least in MFL the candidate has (perhaps) actually chosen to take the exam!

I do feel sorry for candidates who don't seem to have had any guidance at all. And I think parents can genuinely play a role here - maybe the night before the exam, check that the student has all they need and is clear about what the exam involves :)

Ah, Yr10 DS1, 10pm, night before some Maths exam top set had been put in for, can't remember what, now, but apparently required the calculator that he now couldn't find.

And yes, cruel hard Mum, who was going to have to be out of the house for the train before 7 the next morning, did make him go with her to the at the time Open All Hours Tesco Extra to get a new one.

Check the night before the exam? I think that’s a bit late!

Many thanks for this.

Does the "develop your answer" advice for extra marks also apply to AQA? I ask because I have a clever, but sarky DC who would think it amusing to reply with 1 word or 1 line answers and also tends to shut down his answers by saying "I don't like x or y - it's boring (aburrido)". He thinks this is funny. He also scored a 4 on his last spoken mock!

He also thinks it was funny, when asked for his name and age, to give the wrong name and the wrong age, though grammatically correct. Do they get marked down for giving the wrong information there?

Also, with the little speech they prepare for AQA, I have listened to him going through it. DC is hesitant, stumbles, swallows his words and it is hard to make out what he is saying. I have suggested that he tries to speak clearly (he does find that difficult anyway), tries to focus on communicating the words and the sense to the listener, works out where the phrases are in his speech and prepares in advance where he is going to breathe or pause and where the emphases should be. Some of the things you would do to put over your point if you were speaking in English.

Apparently, none of that matters, mum.

But- does it?

He also thinks that "putting on" an accent is silly eg pronouncing Spanish words with a "th" sound for the c and z and so on. We were taught to do that at school. He thinks it sounds affected and that they won't get marks for that stuff.

But- do they?

This is really helpful, thank you.

Another reminder about calculators! Not just for maths but sciences at well (at a level this does include things like psychology). Yes, the school will have calculators to borrow in the exam hall, but not all calculators are the same and you may find different buttons in different places etc - this is likely to slow students down in the exam and maybe confuse them or cause mistakes. If they are used to some of the very fancy ones they use for a level maths now, the school ones won't have all the same functions.

It's so much better if they can practice with a calculator that they know and that they remember to bring it on the day!

For maths:

Black pen x 2, pencil, ruler, rubber, protractor, pair of compasses, scientific calculator.

The non calculator paper is the first one, the other two they need a calculator for. If they have to borrow one in the exam they might get a shit one that isn't natural display and doesn't do fractions the way they've been taught and the invigilator will not tell them how to do it.

I teach Business Studies and gave my 11s a formula quiz yesterday. Some were convinced they'd never been taught these in Y10 even though we've done them countless times in Y11 as revision 🤦🏾‍♀️

I'm an exam invigilator and yes please to the correct equipment for the exam! It should be in a clear pencil case with a see through water bottle and no prohibited items in the exam room ie. phones, watches, headphones.
It delays the start of the exam if students are handing in items and asking for stationery.
Yes, the school calculators are crap and may not be what the students are used to.

Yes the calculators too! The number of students that still don't remember to bring them to lessons/mocks or don't even have them is ridiculous. Also please make sure your child has spare pens and pencils. We keep an 'exam pencil case' in the house for the kids, a clear one with the necessary equipment

Just here to say I hate the bastarding speaking exams for mfl. Every single night dd is practicing with me , she is doing 2 languages so I still have another ten days of this. (Obvs I don’t really mind and I’m glad she’s working but jeez I’d like my evenings back!). Sooo many answers to practice. It’s reminded me why I hated mfl!!

Sorry that was not in response to pp’s post about poems !