Worst maths GCSE paper ever

[Mr Jack]

I just hate all Maths papers anyway. Example.

"John decided to count and measure all the earthworms in his back Garden, calculate the..."

I'm sorry, "John" needs to get a fucking girlfriend.

The best I've seen was "Peter was playing in his yard when he fell into a vat of radioactive waste. How long will it take Peter to die, knowing the rate of deterioration of the molecule and the fatal dose of radioactivity in humans."

I think "Peter" could also have benefited from a girlfriend

Even better than mine from a Higher Physics paper:

A boy runs and kicks a football at the edge of a cliff. Unfortunately, at the exact moment he kicks the ball he slips and falls straight down the cliff. If ...

 

[Tharwen]

Just a thought, why does it REALLY matter if you get an A* at GCSE?
GCSE's are worth shit-all in the real world.
So all you 16 year old that are taking them don't fret because in 2 years you'll have A levels and no one will look at your GCSE's ever again. And then the same will happen if you do anything further than that. Such is the way of life.

If you have no gap year you apply to uni before the a level results return

 

[damselgaming]

Just a thought, why does it REALLY matter if you get an A* at GCSE?
GCSE's are worth shit-all in the real world.
So all you 16 year old that are taking them don't fret because in 2 years you'll have A levels and no one will look at your GCSE's ever again. And then the same will happen if you do anything further than that. Such is the way of life.

If you have no gap year you apply to uni before the a level results return

They look more at your predicted grades and AS results.

 

[-Orgasmatron-]

Did foundation, was easy as pie, only hard question was a rectangle which has 2 sides as x then another the two longer sides where some weird equations with y, didn't get that one.

 

[Zersy]

You weren't doing the IGCSE paper then. That had the evil question:
Make W the subject: A = 2(LW+WH+HL)
and i was doing it a year early. Reckon I scraped 80% though...

EDIT: I just saw the bit about multiple-choice response boxes. Having done past papers, they seem to have crept in over the past two years and yes, they are a bit pathetic.

I'm going to try and work out that question, risking general ignorance.

A = 2LW + 2WH + 2HL
A/2 = LW + WH + HL
LW + WH = A/2 - HL
W (L + H) = A/2 - HL

Is that anywhere near correct?

Looks correct

the best way to check is by replacing the letters with numbers

 

[chomp.]

I'm from Northern Ireland and we did the CCEA paper (I don't think you get that in England, apart from the schools insistent on teaching Add. Maths)

I'm doing add. maths this year, but according to some of my friends the maths wasn't too bad this year
I like our exam board because it's all about the maths, there's barely any application to real life.

 

[Merteg]

That made me think of my psychology exam. The question was something along the lines of:
"Jamlynson gets beaten up at school. Using the formula 'Anger over friends multiplied by time', how long will it take John to bring a gun to school if he get's 100 anger a day and has four friends and it will take him 5000 anger to bring a gun to school."

I found that question to be quite odd.

 

[Agayek]

I'm sorry that I'm only 16 years old; I'm sorry that this is a games forum, albeit also being in the off topic section, but I just have to unleash my anger somewhere on the Internet to talk about just how crap this "thing" - Edexcel - is.

First of all, I am not bad at maths, I get nearly full marks and A*s on every mock that I've done this year, and I've never got anything below an A*, ever (yeah, because I'm Chinese). The problem I'm talking about here is that Edexcel thinks that there is "more" to maths than maths, so they thought of the absolutely "brilliant" idea of adding in questions such as: "Why is the Internet unreliable?" into the maths exam.

And this year, they have questions that simply cannot be answered with human language. It was basically: "Here are two equal halves of an equilateral triangles. They are the same. Why are they the same?" Another question was basically asking you to write out a questionnaire... no numbers involved, simply write out a question and some response boxes. It is just horrible. And it is because these questions that makes people like me, who are good and confident about maths, very very anxious about my otherwise perfect score.

And don't even get me started on science.

(BTW, did i mention that the tagline of Edexcel is: "Changing lives through learning"?)

Here's a joke someone sent me, it seems to be perfectly applicable to your situation here.

Fifty Years of Math (in the USA)

Last week I purchased a burger for $1.58. The counter girl took my $2 and I was digging for my change when I pulled 8 cents from my pocket and gave it to her. She stood there, holding the nickel and 3 pennies, while looking at the screen on her register. I sensed her discomfort and tried to tell her to just give me two quarters, but she hailed the manager for help. While he tried to explain the transaction to her, she stood there and cried.

Why do I tell you this? Because of the evolution in teaching math since the 1950s:
1. Teaching Math In 1950s: A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price. What is his profit?

2. Teaching Math In 1960s: A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price, or $80. What is his profit?

3. Teaching Math In 1970s: A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80. Did he make a profit?

4. Teaching Math In 1980s: A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80 and his profit is $20. Your assignment: Underline the number 20.

5. Teaching Math In 1990s: A logger cuts down a beautiful forest because he is selfish and inconsiderate and cares nothing for the habitat of animals or the preservation of our woodlands. He does this so he can make a profit of $20. What do you think of this way of making a living? Topic for class participation after answering the question: How did the birds and squirrels feel as the logger cut down their homes? (There are no wrong answers, and if you feel like crying, it's ok.)

6. Teaching Math In 2009: Un hachero vende una carretada de maderapara $100. El costo de la producciones es $80. Cuanto dinero ha hecho?

 

[ThreeWords]

You're telling me! This week, I'm doing mock exams, and they are so badly designed!

I'd rant, but I really don't want to have to think about them any more =P (I've still got 3 days left)

 

[MCGT]

Hey, in my RS exam (Religous Studies) the second question was to outline a non-religous, scientific explanation for the beginning of the universe. What the hell.

 

[master m99]

i had my maths gcse last monday it wasnt bad at all but im with wjec (i think)

 

[Lightnr]

Are you guys kidding me with the Equilateral triangle question? HAHAHA wow schools really have gone down in curriculum... Proven with Euclid's 11 Axioms. In this case side angle side.... wow

 

[Osiris_sam]

i dont even remember my maths GCSE, but somewhere in those 2 years i decided i liked maths, i went on to do an A2 in it (and an AS in further maths) and im now im doing a degree, although granted, i didnt do as well as i would have liked, i still dont know why...

@lightnr i doubt many at GCSE level know who Euclid was, i agree with your point tho

also, once you have A levels ,you wont look at what you got for GCSE much

 

[Vanguard_Ex]

I'm sorry that I'm only 16 years old; I'm sorry that this is a games forum, albeit also being in the off topic section, but I just have to unleash my anger somewhere on the Internet to talk about just how crap this "thing" - Edexcel - is.

First of all, I am not bad at maths, I get nearly full marks and A*s on every mock that I've done this year, and I've never got anything below an A*, ever (yeah, because I'm Chinese). The problem I'm talking about here is that Edexcel thinks that there is "more" to maths than maths, so they thought of the absolutely "brilliant" idea of adding in questions such as: "Why is the Internet unreliable?" into the maths exam.

And this year, they have questions that simply cannot be answered with human language. It was basically: "Here are two equal halves of an equilateral triangles. They are the same. Why are they the same?" Another question was basically asking you to write out a questionnaire... no numbers involved, simply write out a question and some response boxes. It is just horrible. And it is because these questions that makes people like me, who are good and confident about maths, very very anxious about my otherwise perfect score.

And don't even get me started on science.

(BTW, did i mention that the tagline of Edexcel is: "Changing lives through learning"?)

Ahh good old GCSE maths. Don't worry, I struggled with mine and hated it despite being pretty good at maths. We got one of those 'draw the construction of a rhombus' questions so my mate drew a construction site complete with little builder stickmen and cranes putting together a giant rhombus ^^