Y11 2023-24 thread 4

[Techno56]

New thread for GCSE survival 🙂

my Ds found linking the two texts tough and didn’t feel it all went as well as paper 1. He needs a 6 for his a level choices so a bit of a worry really.

For aqa dd said that the extracts would be really unfair to those who 1) have not read the book as lots of people have. 2) did not study power/conflict or history of medicine. In particular source b as its not obvious that its a war and the actual significance of seacole in the situation

DS nervous about the forthcoming paper 2's for sciences as the consensus was that they were fairly ok so he's worried that paper 2's are going to be difficult.

Did he find paper 1's hard?

from what I understand it is different topics.

@dinomirror my DD said the same, and that she found having studied an Inspector Calls was helpful for question 5. Overall she felt that it went ok but actually found q1 much harder than usual. She found herself overthinking it.

was this combined or triple? AQA or EDexcel? DS found Papers 1 pretty hard and that worries me. And despite having plenty of time to revise for papers 2, his motivation is low and he hasn't used the time super well... Currently busy revision Inside Out 2 trailers :(

DS very low after that. Sounds like a very philosophical q5 topic?

Bless him - I’m sure it’s better than he thinks. He will be fine I’m sure. It’s so sad when they feel like this

AQA triple... he found the first papers easier than expected and thinks everyone else did too so he is worried that the paper 2's will be difficult to make up for it.

Yes I think motivation is a problem here as well. Ìts just such a long slog! Ds just texted to say his English was really good! He went to lunch with his mates, and is still out ( I doubt any of them are revising for biology or RE tomorrow!)

I think DS is worried about the second science papers, as apart from physics, he was a bit worried about how easy he found the biology and chemistry. He's doing aqa double award. He was really revising hard before and now it's 'I watched a video on mitochondria' levels of revision!

Eek, DS is AQA Triple too. But science is really not his forte (he understands the concepts but finds hard to apply/answer questions in exams...even after hours of tutoring...he has had rubbish teaching in school in his defense.

Lets hope Papers 2 are ok!

I know dd has done a lot for biology tomorrow, (she crahsed on paper one so hoping to pull up on paper 2) but after English I think she is going to be hard to motivate, Chem and maths are good ones for her, so it feels a bit like it is downhill now!

Ds found the AQA English tough today. Says he could have done with a little more time too.
I can tell when he's had a good exam, he comes home with a huge grin on his face but not today.
Yesterday's business studies was really good today he just said not good and that's it.

Thank you for all the lovely responses. He really was very upset and his girlfriend tells me he cried... I'm thankful she was there to support him when I was at work. He had such high expectations and was so crushed. Poor love.

Anyway, we have had a chat about it and I pointed out last year the grade boundary for a 4 was 44% so less than half marks. It seems it was q4 he found really hard and that may have then affected q5 although he did write what sounds like an OK amount and remembered to put a title and subheading. He also thinks spag in q5 was alright and he is dyslexic so always hard. He now feels better and is saying he might be ok for a 4.... he had hopes of more and did so in his mock which he did very well in but a 4 is all he needs! Thank goodness for his extra time as he used all of it, something he doesn't always do.

He's gone to biology revision quite happily and was laughing in the car with the others I was taking so hopefully he can move on from it now, particularly with the last maths exam on Monday.

Hope everyone else's DCs who have found today tricky are ok and can move on from it.

DD has just been reading on the sofa this afternoon recharging. She’s planning to do 2 hours of revision this evening (this is her best time for working ) then work all morning tomorrow.

Is anyone else's DD vague about how the exams went? Mine comes home and says "good", "very good", "great", "well" and says "I answered all questions". She didn't say about any exam that it was hard.

On a more positive note, 18 exams done, 6 left: Bio 2, Maths 3, Chem 2, History 3, and Add Maths. Double exam day next Tuesday.

@steppemum aaah chemistry and maths are DS's least favourites. Its a relief when they move onto A Levels and are able to concentrate on things they enjoy!

Another one here who found AQA paper two harder than expected. Liked qu 5 and 3. Wasn’t keen overall with the source and as a slower reader found the Mary Seacole one hard to decipher than others she had practiced.

she didn’t like qu 2 and ran out of time a little on question 4.

she also found qu 1 tricky and overthought it

she isn’t devastated but she is def downhearted compared to paper 1 and Lit papers

Ds found it ok, spent too much time on q4 but thought he wrote enough.

During the exam, one of the students fainted at what they were reading! He was a typist and flopped onto the person sitting in the next workstation - invigilator picked him up then he fainted to the floor. Ds said he seemed alright at the end though.

Ds stayed at school to revise biology, he doesn’t seem too fussed.

The England team news has just come out, so.it is a struggle to shoo DS back in to study. Arghh!

Has nobody else done Economics today?

my son said Q2 felt harder then normal too.

Oh my goodness the poor boy!

DS found the English paper fine - was relived that qu5 wasn't on football! He seems to have gone off on a bit of a rant about influencers and unpleasant politicians, so let's hope it was at least beautifully phrased and argued.

Poor kid, fainting! Was it the 'drenched in bodily fluids' bit that students have been hyperventilating over on Student Room??

DS has gone up to consolidate Biology but will come back down to run it past us, so I think my evening is mostly going to consist of mispronouncing 'homeostasis' and being corrected...

Dts both happy with today’s English Language. 6 left to go. DTS has two consecutive days with two exams 😱 I must say I am finding it all very gruelling - can’t imagine how they feel!