Feedback on GCSE Science Double Award Physics GENERAL

Feedback on GCSE Science (Double Award) Physics

GENERAL COMMENTS FROM PRINCIPAL EXAMINERS • Candidates are generally more successful in completing calculations, especially ones involving a single stage, limited data to select from and given an equation. • They are less successful when required to write a description or explanation of any length. • Recall of knowledge is poor. • Evaluation of data to respond to claims is not completed well. • Candidates do not read carefully the questions. • Some candidates’ responses are difficult to understand because of untidy presentation. • When answering questions on practicals it is apparent that some candidates have not had experience of doing the practical.

GCSE Science (Double Award) Unit 3 – Physics 1 Foundation Tier Maximum mark = 60 Grade boundary Cumulative % at grade Mean mark = 20. 8 Entry = 16 253 C D E F G 26 22 18 14 10 30. 9 48. 7 66. 3 79. 2 88. 3

GCSE Science (Double Award) Unit 3 – Physics 1 Foundation Tier QUESTION 1 (a)(i) A number answered 68 for the volume. (b) Many answers simply repeated the information in the question or stated that bone is denser because it is a solid. QUESTION 2 (a) Poor recall. (b) Trouble selecting which 2 numbers to use. QUESTION 3 (a) Poor recall – osmosis? (c) Trouble selecting which 2 numbers to use – one option was page 2. QUESTION 4 Success in this question was dependent on the ability of candidates to select and use data from the given table of information. (c) First question that to get full marks a conclusion was needed.

GCSE Science (Double Award) Unit 3 – Physics 1 Foundation Tier QUESTION 5 It was anticipated that this QER based on the electromagnetic spectrum would allow all candidates to write something relevant. It was shocking to discover that about 40 % did not even attempt it. Of those that did give an answer, about half could name all regions. QUESTION 6 (a) Thermistor symbol was not well known. (b)(i) Graphs were good. (ii) Decreasing rate was often missing. (a)(ii) 50 was often used instead of 12 for the voltage. QUESTION 7 – common question (b) Ratios needed to be calculated to make a comparison. Variety of methods were acceptable. Lots missed needed to refer to televisions 1 and 2. (c)(i)&(ii) Conversions were often missing. (iii) Candidates struggled with this part.

GCSE Science (Double Award) Unit 3 – Physics 1 Higher Tier Maximum mark = 60 Mean mark = 21. 4 Entry = 7 786 A* A B C D Grade boundary 35 28 21 15 9 Cumulative % at grade 7. 5 22. 1 50. 7 78. 5 95. 2

GCSE Science (Double Award) Unit 3 – Physics 1 Higher Tier QUESTION 2 (a) Diagram was very poor. (b) Most candidates just multiplied 5 and 10 together. QUESTION 3 It was disappointing that so many candidates did not attempt this question, which was a straightforward description of specified practical work. QUESTION 4 (a)(i) Graph plotting was good. Remember to plot the origin. The curve drawing was poor. (ii) Decreasing at a decreasing rate was often missing. (b)(i) Lots missed using the equation for resistors in parallel. (ii) Candidates found this part demanding.

GCSE Science (Double Award) Unit 3 – Physics 1 Higher Tier QUESTION 5 (a) Poor recall. (b) Struggled handling percentages. (c) Many just ignored the MW or if they tried to convert errors were made. QUESTION 6 (a) Again poor recall shown. (b)(i) Not well answered. (ii) This was answered well. (iii) Most answered B but did not show their workings.

GCSE Science (Double Award) Unit 6 (Physics 2) Foundation Tier Maximum mark = 60 Grade boundary Cumulative % at grade Mean mark = 23. 0 Entry = 12 831 C D E F G 27 23 19 16 13 39. 3 56. 0 69. 4 77. 8 84. 3

GCSE Science (Double Award) Unit 6 (Physics 2) Foundation Tier QUESTION 2 (b) This was the QER and it was evident that many candidates had not observed this type of experiment as they were confused, with some thinking that the ruler, tongs and A 4 paper were the radioactive sources. QUESTION 3 (b) Many incorrect units of acceleration were seen in particular m/s was often given. (d) Many correctly identified 9 seconds from the graph but failed to subtract 0. 6 s from it. (e) The application of Newton’s first law to the Segway training session was not done well. Many were unable to identify or link a change in velocity to unbalanced forces. (f) Identifying that the Segway would take a longer time or distance to stop was generally completed well but linking this to an explanation based around friction was not.

GCSE Science (Double Award) Unit 6 (Physics 2) Foundation Tier QUESTION 4 (b)(i) Not reading the question carefully meant some candidates substituted 10 as the distance travelled. (b)(ii)I At a decreasing rate was often missing. II Not thinking about their answer was apparent here - the velocity decreasing was often stated when in the previous part the time was decreasing had been stated. QUESTION 5 (b)(i) Lots of incorrect conversions were seen. (b)(iii) Candidates struggled with this part. Lots of candidates thought the woman was falling a smaller distance.

GCSE Science (Double Award) Unit 6 (Physics 2) Foundation Tier QUESTION 6 – common question (b) Many candidates left this part out. If it was answered the mass number was the most likely number to be correct. (c)(ii) Graphs were usually plotted well it was the drawing of the curves that was not so good. (d)(i) Recall of the definition of half-life was not answered well. (e) Candidates struggled with this part on both tiers.

GCSE Science (Double Award) Unit 6 (Physics 2) Higher Tier Maximum mark = 60 Mean mark = 20. 1 Entry = 6 871 A* A B C D Grade boundary 34 26 18 11 5 Cumulative % at grade 6. 1 24. 1 60. 6 89. 7 95. 5

GCSE Science (Double Award) Unit 6 (Physics 2) Higher Tier QUESTION 2 Candidates struggled with this question. It involved the recall of definitions / book work and the application of ideas to qualitative explanations. In (b)(i) giving your answer to two significant figures was missed by many. QUESTION 3 The 9 marks for this question were all assigned to assessment objective 1. Some very good answers were seen, however it was apparent that the majority of candidates were unable to recall the required knowledge.

GCSE Science (Double Award) Unit 6 (Physics 2) Higher Tier QUESTION 4 This question was written in a pisa style. (a) A number of candidates referred to the dangers of alpha radiation when it was internal. There was some confusion to the different dangers of beta and gamma radiation. (b)(i) A number of candidates referred to the U. S. A. when the question asked for France and the U. K. (ii)&(iii) If candidates understood the questions their answers were usually good. Sometimes they made up their own questions to answer. QUESTION 5 (a)(i) Many candidates answered E. (ii) The required conversion created problems for many. (b) The calculations proved to be difficult in part (i) the force was often found but not the energy. The conversion was often missing in part (ii). (iii) A higher tier maths skill – able candidates were able to find the area and make the comparison.

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