Anyone else's kid not expecting a Lady Macbeth question in todays English lit exam

[Jennywren8]

He revised kingship mainly as thought that would come up, arrrghh

@65skelmersdalelane
What's the problem with my comment?

This has always happened though. Kids and teachers used to try and predict what would come up from the previous years papers. It's just easier to do now because of social media. Even though yes, it's stupid to rely on what Tik Tok tells you to the exclusion of everything else.

Oh wasn't it? I assumed DS had been given the locked paper on AQA as a mock. Their mock was Lady Macbeth so maybe it was just good luck and they chose a random question ( or guessed correctly that it would be Lady Macbeth)

Dd and her friends were happy it was lady Macbeth and said the paper was easier than they expected

Maybe it has always happened. If so, it has always been a terrible way to approach a text. I certainly wasn't taught like that back in the day.

I had Lady Macbeth questions in 1999 Im pretty sure theres always one or two on her 🙈🙈

There's an extremely limited number of characters in Macbeth. I was pretty certain in my prediction that it wouldn't be a character question on the son on Macduff, but we still discussed him in revision last week.

My only predictions are always the same: there will be a question on each of the texts we have studied.

I used to be a teacher and I'd get very frustrated by colleagues who would predict questions and tell their students. It can really mess things up if you're wrong. Students should prepare for all eventualities.

Now it's one 30 mark essay, so you dont have a choice. If you only prep ' kingship' and suddenly you see Lady Macbeth it would throw you. So yes, it's best not to gamble on what you think it will be.

I teach English. I think the important thing for anyone speculating about what might come up is to think ‘Is the weakest kid in the class going to be able to give this a decent go?’ (there is no tiered paper system in English, unlike maths) and, for that reason, Kingship would have been a very challenging question unless the extract itself included Macbeth speaking.

So far, all questions have allowed students to talk about Macbeth or Lady Macbeth. I don’t think that will change.

I was thrilled with the question!

I agree it is a terrible way to approach a text. I'm just saying that kids these days arent that different to any other kids. They aren't uniquely lazy/dumb. It's always happened.

Any tips on the poetry? 😂

Your comment was 'I'll advise ds2 to study all possible topics for Macbeth next year. I fear it won't be Lady Macbeth next year then, shame as it's easy to bring in/ relate back loads of stuff to her.'

I didn't say this in itself was a problem. I actually think it's stating what should be obvious. Which I think is a a problem, if it's only just occurring to parents of GCSE pupils.

They are required to study full texts in depth to achieve a literature qualification. Knowing all the themes is essential, not something that should be changing in relation to kids believing they know what they'll be asked. A guess is just a guess. And those with limited knowledge of a text are unlikely to be very accurate.

Equally (based on your last comment) next year could focus on Lady Macbeth, because nobody knows. However, it won't be worded as how she is presented as powerful as a female character. Which is more nuanced than thinking you can bring in loads of random stuff you happen to remember.

Can I ask a question? I saw a TikTok video yesterday with this years biology paper on it. The person who posted it said it was a leaked paper. He reckoned he’d snatched it from the school, not sat the exam and run off with it. Does that sound feasible?

Hundreds of comments confirming it was the correct paper which they’d just sat that day, kids asking what did you put for this question and that question.

do all kids sit the paper at the same time? If so hopefully him posting the paper just as the exam was starting won’t matter.

They all sit the paper within a specific window. So, if the published exam start time is at 9am then they cannot start later than 9.30. Entrance to an exam hall after this time is at the examiner’s discretion (eg road closure and many stuck in traffic - paperwork would need to be filled in etc) I think they are allowed to start them early too (so, if everyone is in the room and ready to go)

I don’t work in a school so I don’t know how stringent their security is. It shouldn’t happen but if the school is lacking then who knows. We have in place strict security guidelines schools should adhere to but unfortunately can’t police this.

All kids sit the exam at the exact same times (other than those with extra time, special arrangements but they should be supervised).

So in theory if this is true then no it shouldn’t matter if posting after the exam start time.

I just can’t imagine prioritising making a TikTok video over sitting the actual exam 🙈

It was Macbeth last year. This question was basically the opposite.

I seriously doubt it would be in kingship because that’s a really hard question for all grades to do justice to.

any kids saying they thought it was kingship please please please get them off TikTok and listening to what their qualified experienced teachers are telling them. Every year I get asked to do a kingship lesson because of some influencer trying to make money out of their fear

I’d always use something different to last years and usually a different theme or character on the basis that exact question isn’t going to come up. But then AQA will do two years running of Juliet so 🤷🏻‍♀️

What an idiot that kid is if true. Biology was the first exam, so he's got himself disqualified from all exams just so he could post the paper on tiktok?

My dd thought Kingship as was told it hadn't come up for a while, however she has revised all Macbeth topics, so felt she did ok.

Both questions were very open and a gift really. Loads of material to work with for each

Yes, they all sit at the same time (more or less - very little chance anyone sitting the exam would be able to access TikTok to cheat before their exam starts). What an idiot!

I used to work for an exam board. They will be keeping a close eye on social media for actual leaks, but they wouldn't pull a paper just because of rumours. There are back-ups but not loads, and it's a huge hassle to arrange a new paper being sent out.

Surely they should prepare all the set texts?

... and possible themes within them?