A level revision questions

tea_lover

Rosemary7391 wrote: »

Just checked at home - they're the books labelled 'Ideal for the 2000 specifications', Pure Mathematics 1-6, published by Heinemann.

I thought these rang a bell so had a look at them on amazon (yes, I am that bored - don't judge me :rotfl:). They're the ones I used for A level maths in 1997. Just the sight of them has brought me out in a cold sweat..... trust me OP, these ones should keep her busy for a while!

MPD

susancs wrote: »

When my DD did her A2 levels last year a friend of hers could not sit A2 exams due to broken bones and his grade was based on his mock result and predicted grades (Luckily he had good mock results) so it is considered a "real" exam test.

Special considerations due to absence are NEVER based on school based tests. They are only ever based on public exams, probably the AS plus any coursework in this case (subject to satisfying the minimum requirements of the specification) and using a standard equation to reach the final mark.

susancs

MPD wrote: »

Special considerations due to absence are NEVER based on school based tests. They are only ever based on public exams, probably the AS plus any coursework in this case (subject to satisfying the minimum requirements of the specification) and using a standard equation to reach the final mark.

That is not in line with the information provided on the Scottish Qualifications Authority site and the Joint Council for Qualification although less clear about the alternative evidence states that "an A level award will not be issued on AS results alone"

Coursework is not part of a number of exam based A levels so could not be used as a consideration in awarding a grade e.g OCR/AQA maths and futher maths, statistics, religious studies, economics OCR psychology, AQA latin can all be done without coursework.
http://www.jcq.org.uk/exams-office/access-arrangements-and-special-consideration/regulations-and-guidance/a-guide-to-the-special-consideration-process-2015-2016esults


What is meant by alternative evidence?
"This evidence needs to demonstrate the ability of the candidate – giving our Examiners a clear picture of how the candidate performed during the Course. The alternative evidence can be mock exams, class assessments and coursework"
http://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/65427.html

splishsplash

Jagraf wrote: »

My daughter is in the first year of her A levels and is working very hard. When she has a test / mock etc at school she completes her revision by looking at as many past papers / specimen papers as possible and marks herself.

However, because of this when she does the tests she recognises lots of the questions (either because teachers use old papers or a mixture of questions from old papers), and ends up with high grades.

She is saying that because of this she has inflated grades and can't get a true representation of her knowledge / revision methods. She's feeling deflated .

I've suggested she tells the teachers to write some questions for her - has anyone got any other ideas?

It sounds like she's quite anxious .

Is she using past questions to test her knowledge base or is she learning the answers to past questions based on how they're marked?

Would it be an idea to get her grinds (tutor) to help her with revision techniques?

arbrighton

1) please don't tell your daughter to TELL her teachers anything, especially to load them with more work for just one student of many. A level teachers, especially in the sciences already have a huge workload, including their lab orders for each week, forms if they have them, running the practical exams etc. As another poster said, these questions aren't actually that easy to write

2) for the majority of students, they do need to become familiar with the style of questioning and what is expected in the answers. Past papers are the best way to do this. Other methods could include using the specification and checking off any gaps in her knowledge. However, most of the exam board websites do have a 'legacy specification' section where even older past papers will lurk. These, and papers from other boards will be a different style and might have some parts she won't know but they would help her check her knowledge
3) it sounds more like confidence is the issue than anything else here. Perhaps some work on her self esteem is in order. I tutor students up to a level in sciences and maths. A lot of what I work on with students is actually their revision techniques and their confidence/ anxiety with exams

catoutthebag

OP don't be upset

Teachers will not write questions.

Oftentimes they will coach people just to pass exams.

Examination writers reuse the same bank of questions.

This is why grades are going up everywhere every year and why more people are going to university.

It's a blair hang over.

They introduced A+ or something into a level? Not sure it helped. If they used original and tough question from bygobe years, this would not have been necessary.

I bet at least 50% of pupils are at university, when 20 years ago they would have been on the chopping block and off to do an apprentice because they would not have made the grades.

Sign o times

catoutthebag

Another thing. Take away modules and bring back the three hour linear exams. No resits. You get one chance and if you fail you fail. Coursework should not comprise more than 20%. None of this 50% lark and more

Kim_13

Revise first by making notes, mindmaps etc. Then, move onto the past papers when she thinks she knows the content. I found that past papers only gave me the feeling of inflated grades when I started them too soon into revision, then used them for prompts of what to revise next. If relied on, they have you expecting the question about x to be phrased in a certain way, and if it isn't, it catches some out as they lose marks because they don't directly address the question.

The starting point should be going over every topic taught in class, spending more time on the things she's not as confident on. Supplement each topic with material from a book that the school/college did not use. I would then condense everything into a Pukka Pad or similar, with a section for each subject. I made revision cards from memory, then checked them and added on any key points I'd missed.

It's worth looking at past papers from the old syllabus. She should be able to judge where questions are similar enough to what she'll be faced with to be worth her attempting. I did my A Levels in 2010 (first year of the now old syllabus) and I did find this valuable as we only otherwise had one specimen paper for each exam.

It's also important to download a copy of the syllabus for each subject and check that she has covered everything. In one of my A2 papers, we had a 12 mark question on something the teacher had forgotten to cover in the detail that the question required. Thankfully, I'd gone the syllabus route and taught myself it.

Used well, past papers (and other exam style questions from books etc) are the best preparation that can be done. Especially for Maths, where theory doesn't get you anywhere. I didn't do any past papers for GCSE beyond the ones the teachers set. I didn't get a single A* at GCSE, but having learned how to revise by the time it came to A Level, I came out with 3A's. It's fair to say that a lot of it is learning how to pass the exam rather than learning the subject per se.

See if the teachers are willing to look through any past questions - their advice can be invaluable at this stage. It also meant that I wasn't even looking at a mark scheme for many questions, so it helped to avoid inflated grades. Some are more accommodating than others, though in my experience many will offer as it gets towards the exams because they know that the majority will not take them up on it. Over the year she'll have learned which teachers are likely to do this (the teacher that took 2 months to mark the work is not a good bet, nor is the teacher who doesn't mark the homework he sets.) We had one teacher willing to mark questions on her co-teachers topic, because she knew that he wouldn't bother.

I did A Level Psychology and the teachers made us their own revision guide, and in it they put a number of exam style questions. Perhaps she could suggest that the teacher making up more questions would benefit the whole class, then they might be more likely to do so. Minimal photocopying and then the ball is in the student's court as to how much they get out of it.

If a subject has a multiple choice element, my advice is to do the past papers and ensure that you can explain why the alternative answers are wrong. This can help to avoid inflated marks when it feels like you've seen the question 10 times before.