The exam board that I work for has been pleasantly surprised by the quality of the scripts and the standard of students’ work. Moving to a linear system has brought challenges for students and teachers alike. Many new topics have been introduced into the specification, with an emphasis on ‘beefing up’ the content and increasing the numerical aspect of the course.
With the removal of modular exams, students are being tested on all aspects of the course at the end of year 13, and as examiners we have had to take this into consideration when marking. While it used to be the case that students might take Unit 1 after just 3 months, when the content was fresh in their minds and the exam would only cover content from these first few weeks, the terminal linear exams can ask for anything from anywhere over the 2-year course, and are therefore a much tougher test. This is in the back of our minds when we are marking, which should be a positive. With less content to cover, expectations of students to be spot on were higher in the previous incarnation of exams. A more sympathetic approach was definitely in evidence this time.
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