AQA finally agreed to adjust the grade boundaries for our exams after acknowledging the unfairness of those papers. I am incredibly relieved that our hard work and frustration were recognized by those in charge. Thank you for sticking by me when the situation looked hopeless.
June 27, 2015
Final supporters
For the past few years, AQA exam questions/past papers for sociology have been fairly consistent on what they ask for. However this year, Year 11 students sitting the AQA Unit 1 and Unit 2 Sociology exam on the 11th and 14th May 2015 were faced with several A level terms which weren't even mentioned in the GCSE specification that they were taught. As a result, many students missed out on vital marks.
Many students struggled with this exam and this petition is a way to highlight our frustration and disappointment towards the whole situation.
We feel that we were unfairly disadvantaged due to this, and we would like the grade boundaries lowered.
Updates
Reached 2,500 supporters
May 18, 2015
May 16, 2015
I have been reading through the messages from students who felt blindsided by those A level terms and your frustration is completely valid. I am currently compiling your accounts to send directly to the board because we deserve an explanation for why this happened.
Reached 1,000 supporters
May 15, 2015
Reached 100 supporters
May 14, 2015
May 14, 2015
Seeing the numbers climb reminds me of how many students were left confused and discouraged by these unfair questions. We need to hit that one thousand mark to force them to acknowledge the impact on our grades. Please get this link in front of anyone else who sat these exams so they see how many of us were affected.
1,246 Comments
This was unfair and unjust, students were not prepared for this, as some questions were based around A level standards, specifically a question referencing 'Anomie'. How can the exam board expect to be treated when students are thrown curve balls ?
Ridiculous question from AQA. Went and found my sociology teacher straight after who was fuming at the fact that 'anomie' was used as a four mark question. We then tried to find it in my new AQA sociology textbook and couldn't - it wasn't even in there.
My sister sat her gcse for socialogy and had missed a huge number of marks because half the questions that were in the paper, she wasn't taught . This could affect her future as she may not be able to get into the college she wants.
The exam this year was much harder that any past papers our school has ever practiced and I agree that we were placed in a disadvantaged position. Clearly, others also felt this way so grade boundaries for the 2015 sociology AQA exam should be lowered.
I am an A grade student and was hoping to take sociology for A Level next year, which I need a B minimum for Sociology at GCSE, however, I now am not sure if I will even scrape a C. Both tests were unfair. Grade boundaries should be lowered significantly.
Banter
I revised tirelessly through day and night, waking up at 3:00 in the morning and what happens? I get slapped in the face with questions on rats and feet! I was lulled into a false sense of security after getting A*'s consistently in past papers, how was I supposed to guess that the paper was going to be a complete polar opposite to all the other layouts??? If AQA had notified us of the nature of this exam beforehand, perhaps you wouldn't have so many enraged "drunk 15 year olds" at your throats. I'm sorry but, this is my first GCSE, I hold AQA responsible for the most part.
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AQA finally agreed to adjust the grade boundaries for our exams after acknowledging the unfairness of those papers. I am incredibly relieved that our hard work and frustration were recognized by those in charge. Thank you for sticking by me when the situation looked hopeless.
June 27, 2015
Final supporters
For the past few years, AQA exam questions/past papers for sociology have been fairly consistent on what they ask for. However this year, Year 11 students sitting the AQA Unit 1 and Unit 2 Sociology exam on the 11th and 14th May 2015 were faced with several A level terms which weren't even mentioned in the GCSE specification that they were taught. As a result, many students missed out on vital marks.
Many students struggled with this exam and this petition is a way to highlight our frustration and disappointment towards the whole situation.
We feel that we were unfairly disadvantaged due to this, and we would like the grade boundaries lowered.
Updates
Reached 2,500 supporters
May 18, 2015
May 16, 2015
I have been reading through the messages from students who felt blindsided by those A level terms and your frustration is completely valid. I am currently compiling your accounts to send directly to the board because we deserve an explanation for why this happened.
Reached 1,000 supporters
May 15, 2015
Reached 100 supporters
May 14, 2015
May 14, 2015
Seeing the numbers climb reminds me of how many students were left confused and discouraged by these unfair questions. We need to hit that one thousand mark to force them to acknowledge the impact on our grades. Please get this link in front of anyone else who sat these exams so they see how many of us were affected.
1,246 Comments
During the unit two exam I recieved a panic attack as I felt incredibly unprepaired, despite studying since Christmas for those exams. After recieveing all A*/A grades in my mock, I was graced with a B on results day. I feel completely robbed of a grade.
This was unfair and unjust, students were not prepared for this, as some questions were based around A level standards, specifically a question referencing 'Anomie'. How can the exam board expect to be treated when students are thrown curve balls ?
Ridiculous question from AQA. Went and found my sociology teacher straight after who was fuming at the fact that 'anomie' was used as a four mark question. We then tried to find it in my new AQA sociology textbook and couldn't - it wasn't even in there.
My sister sat her gcse for socialogy and had missed a huge number of marks because half the questions that were in the paper, she wasn't taught . This could affect her future as she may not be able to get into the college she wants.
The exam this year was much harder that any past papers our school has ever practiced and I agree that we were placed in a disadvantaged position. Clearly, others also felt this way so grade boundaries for the 2015 sociology AQA exam should be lowered.
I am an A grade student and was hoping to take sociology for A Level next year, which I need a B minimum for Sociology at GCSE, however, I now am not sure if I will even scrape a C. Both tests were unfair. Grade boundaries should be lowered significantly.
Banter
I revised tirelessly through day and night, waking up at 3:00 in the morning and what happens? I get slapped in the face with questions on rats and feet! I was lulled into a false sense of security after getting A*'s consistently in past papers, how was I supposed to guess that the paper was going to be a complete polar opposite to all the other layouts??? If AQA had notified us of the nature of this exam beforehand, perhaps you wouldn't have so many enraged "drunk 15 year olds" at your throats. I'm sorry but, this is my first GCSE, I hold AQA responsible for the most part.
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During the unit two exam I recieved a panic attack as I felt incredibly unprepaired, despite studying since Christmas for those exams. After recieveing all A*/A grades in my mock, I was graced with a B on results day. I feel completely robbed of a grade.