General exam questions
Last updated on: 11/03/2008
My daughter found her first A level examination difficult and thinks she has done badly. She is worrying about this and can’t get on with preparation for her next exam. What can she do?
Not a lot on the examination she has just taken, but a great deal on the ones she still has to sit. I faced a similar situation myself many years ago and perhaps your daughter can learn from my mistake. I passed the exam that I had just taken, thought I had failed, and failed the next one because of worrying about the one I had just taken. Not a very bright thing to do. I never made that mistake again and thereafter forgot about exams I had taken, concentrating on the ones I still had to take, where I could make a difference and influence the results.
I ran out of time and didn’t finish the paper. Does this matter, if I have done well on the questions I have tackled?
Well yes it does, depending on how many questions you did do well, and how well you did them. The best general advice is that you should do all the questions required. If you get full marks for half the questions on the paper and that is all you have done, then the maximum marks you can get is 50 per cent. But if you do all the questions then the possible number of marks you could achieve now becomes 100 per cent. You should use the marks beside the questions as a guide to how long you should spend on each one. And move on to the next question when that time is up. You can always go back to a question if you find you have time at the end. But if you do run out of time on your last question on a paper, you could get more marks for doing the question in outline only. If it's an essay, write down the important details and outline your argument – without writing it in the form of an essay – or in science, write down the formulae required with an explanation as to how you would use it – without doing the calculations. Tell the examiner what you have done.
I always get nervous at the start of the examination when people start writing straight away and I’m still reading the questions. What’s the best approach to take in these circumstances?
Not to copy them, that’s for sure. Research has shown that there are ‘rushers’ and ‘planners’. The ‘rushers’ don’t read the paper properly and just start doing questions – often at random – and do the wrong ones, in the sense that if they had taken their time to read the paper, then they would have chosen different questions. Be a planner and get better marks. There is time allowed to read the paper; take that time and map out the questions that you intend to do. Jot notes down on the paper as you read the questions to remind you later on. Start with questions you feel comfortable with to build up your confidence before tackling ones which don’t seem quite so straightforward. But when you enter the exam room in the first instance, take six deep breaths to help you settle, ignore all others and have a glucose sweet, if your school will allow this, to send energy to your brain. That way you’ll be best placed to tackle these exams. But no crunching or noisy paper which would disturb others.
Can mobile phones be taken into the exam room, as long as they are switched off?
Only if you want to be disqualified. The only things allowed in the room are the things you need for the exam. All books and personal belongings, such as mp3 players and the like, or pieces of paper with notes on them, must not be taken into the room. Be sure you stick to the rules and don’t be tempted to break any of them. If you're unsure what they are, then check with your teacher.
I recently sat my English literature AS level in three modules. I revised fairly hard but found the wording of the questions difficult. Why do we have to understand 50 chapters of a novel, and only two of these will come up? I find this unfair. Why are AS/A level questions so vague?
The exam boards spend a great deal of time and effort to ensure that the questions are clear and unambiguous. I therefore wonder if the difficulty you experienced was down to your own lack of preparation. You say that you revised 'fairly hard', but any revision programme would involve doing past papers. Had you done this then the question format would not have come as a shock to you. It’s not a matter of understanding 50 chapters at AS/A level, it’s a matter of understanding the subject. That’s what the examining boards are testing rather than isolated pieces of information.
My 15 year-old grandson was asked during his mock GCSE exam to give an opinion about certain religious concepts. His opinion was at variance with that which the teaching staff considered the examiners would wish to see, and he was gently advised accordingly. If the examiner wished to read what a student's summaries are concerning the received wisdom and the conventional views on any given religious issue then that is the way the question should be phrased. But to ask for opinions and then to disallow those opinions as being at odds with the received wisdom and conventional views is another matter altogether. Why are questions phrased in such a way as to seek opinions and then disallow them if they do not meet with the accepted norms?
They are not. Students can only answer the questions they are asked. They have no idea what the examiner meant to say, but only what he or she did say in the question appearing on the examination paper. So, for example, if an examiner does make a mistake in the way the question is asked, and a student is able to give a simple five-minute answer to a complex 30-minute question – which wasn't anticipated by the examiner – then the examiner has no option but to give the student full marks, as that student has answered the question asked, albeit not in the way anticipated. Marking schemes are always amended to accept valid alternative answers to those initially anticipated. So there is a simple rule here which is applied as a matter of principle: if the question is answered, then the marks are awarded, and if it is not, then the marks are not awarded. And therefore as long as your grandson's answers are given within the context of the question and he substantiates his answers as required – depending on the wording of the question – then he should be marked accordingly on the basis of how well his answers address the question asked. It is as simple as that.
I'm dyslexic and I'm worried that this will affect my performance in the examinations. Are there any special arrangements I can apply for?
Yes there are, but I would be surprised if your school has not already done this on your behalf and informed the exam boards involved. Check with your school to ensure that this has been done and ask what provision has been made for you. Special arrangements (now often referred to as 'access arrangements') are usually given in the form of extra time allowed on papers where your condition would put you at a disadvantage, compared to other candidates.
There are many conditions that qualify for special arrangements to be made, for example blind students can have their exam papers in Braille, and sometimes people are appointed to write down a student's answers when, for example, someone has broken their arm before the exams and is unable to write normally. In all cases, arrangements must be made through the school and appropriate documentation authenticating the condition submitted to the examining boards.
It is worth mentioning that any special arrangements agreed should not give that candidate an unfair advantage over others. The intention is, as far as possible, that all students should have an equal opportunity when sitting their exams, and not be placed at a disadvantage over others because of the means used to examine them.
I want to do a GCSE double award in engineering, but I'm worried that this won't be viewed as being as valued as a GCSE in business studies.
It depends on what you want to do. Any qualification will be judged by the user – that is an employer, university or college – as to how relevant it might be to their industry or their courses. It is therefore important to look at your options and interests to see which direction you would like to take, and if it is engineering as your question implies, then you should enquire as to how acceptable this GCSE would be to an employer or a further course of study. To help you do this, it would be worth looking at the Connexions website which can give you some very useful help in terms of careers, courses and qualifications. And ask your teachers too, they should be able to help.
Can you tell me more about Advanced Extension Awards? What subjects are they offered in?
Advanced Extension Awards were introduced in 2002 to challenge the most able A level students. They replace the old ‘S’ or Special Papers used previously and are designed for the top 10 per cent of A level students, at a standard which matches the most demanding in the world. They are based on existing A level specifications and are entirely externally marked. The subjects covered are: biology, business, chemistry, critical thinking, economics, English, French, geography, German, history, Irish, Latin, mathematics, psychology, physics, religious studies, Spanish, Welsh and Welsh as a second language.