All About A Levels

[precioustime96]

GP A Level questions are getting more eccentric by the year…difficult to prepare for.

[CatMoon]

precioustime96:

GP A Level questions are getting more eccentric by the year....difficult to prepare for.

Do GP questions follow a certain type of themes? E.g. community, social?
If so, what type of themes should we look out for?

[D3-n]

CatMoon:

Do GP questions follow a certain type of themes? E.g. community, social?
If so, what type of themes should we look out for?

Yes, there are 12 questions and they cover a wide range of topics.
My advice to my students is to focus well on about 6 major topics, especially topics that interest them.
Some areas you can look into
Environment (natural resources, natural disasters, global warming)
Economy (international trade, income gap)
Education (paper qualification, competition, unemployment, key to success)
Technology (includes New Media)
Social Issues (marriage, immigration, globalisation, acceptance)
Science
Mathematics
Crime
History
Arts/Music/TV/Movies/Literature
And of course there can be some random question about the importance of humour/manners etc

Hope this helps

[CatMoon]

D3@n:

CatMoon:

Do GP questions follow a certain type of themes? E.g. community, social?
If so, what type of themes should we look out for?

Yes, there are 12 questions and they cover a wide range of topics.
My advice to my students is to focus well on about 6 major topics, especially topics that interest them.
Some areas you can look into
Environment (natural resources, natural disasters, global warming)
Economy (international trade, income gap)
Education (paper qualification, competition, unemployment, key to success)
Technology (includes New Media)
Social Issues (marriage, immigration, globalisation, acceptance)
Science
Mathematics
Crime
History
Arts/Music/TV/Movies/Literature
And of course there can be some random question about the importance of humour/manners etc

Hope this helps

:thankyou:

Do the essays follow a particular format? E.g. PEEL like in SS and History?
If so, how many points is the student expected to write?

Thanks, D3@n

[D3-n]

CatMoon:

:thankyou:

Do the essays follow a particular format? E.g. PEEL like in SS and History?
If so, how many points is the student expected to write?

Thanks, D3@n

It does help if your essay is well-structured.
Besides your introduction and conclusion, you need to have a minimum of three points for your essay. For each point, you can adopt the PEEL. You need a topic sentence, elaboration/explanation/evaluation, examples (where relevant) and then the link back to your essay topic.
However, for each point you bring up, you have to bring up a counter-argument that detractors may use against you. Evaluate this counter-argument and counter-argue against it to further strengthen your point. (eg, this counter-argument is an anomaly/exception or this counter-argument can be resolved). The weakness of the counter-arguments will of course vary, so you need to organise them accordingly and indicate your awareness of their different degrees of impact.
This is now the favoured approach in A Levels writing as opposed to the previous advantages vs disadvantages/pros vs cons style.
Markers want to see a more dynamic and fluid approach to your argument/train of thought.

Hope this helps

[CatMoon]

D3@n:

CatMoon:

:thankyou:

Do the essays follow a particular format? E.g. PEEL like in SS and History?
If so, how many points is the student expected to write?

Thanks, D3@n

It does help if your essay is well-structured.
Besides your introduction and conclusion, you need to have a minimum of three points for your essay. For each point, you can adopt the PEEL. You need a topic sentence, elaboration/explanation/evaluation, examples (where relevant) and then the link back to your essay topic.
However, for each point you bring up, you have to bring up a counter-argument that detractors may use against you. Evaluate this counter-argument and counter-argue against it to further strengthen your point. (eg, this counter-argument is an anomaly/exception or this counter-argument can be resolved). The weakness of the counter-arguments will of course vary, so you need to organise them accordingly and indicate your awareness of their different degrees of impact.
This is now the favoured approach in A Levels writing as opposed to the previous advantages vs disadvantages/pros vs cons style.
Markers want to see a more dynamic and fluid approach to your argument/train of thought.

Hope this helps

Wow, this is very insightful! I'm very appreciative, thanks D3@n!
:thankyou:

[D3-n]

CatMoon:

Wow, this is very insightful! I'm very appreciative, thanks D3@n!
:thankyou:

My pleasure!

[pinky]

A level results will be released next Friday 24/2/17. All the best.

[FanFanX]

Raffles Institution


1 A total of 1186 students at Raffles Institution (RI) sat for the 2016 GCE ‘A’ Level Examinations. This number comprises students from the six-year Raffles Programme (RP), as well as students admitted at Year 5 (JC 1) via the Direct School Admission (DSA) and Joint Admissions Exercise (JAE).

2 The class of 2016 continues to embody the Rafflesian spirit of excellence, achieving a stellar set of results at the 2016 A-Level examinations. We congratulate the Class of 2016 on their outstanding all-round achievements!


Overall Performance of the Class of 2016


3 98% of students achieved 3 H2 passes, with a pass in General Paper or Knowledge & Inquiry.

4 53% of students offering four H2 subjects scored distinctions in all four subjects. 61% of students scored three H2 distinctions in their content-based subjects. Rafflesians continue to excel at the General Paper, with 52% of students scoring distinctions in the subject.

5 325 students (27%) achieved a perfect University Admissions Score (UAS) of 90. The median UAS was 87.8.

6 In addition, 166 students achieved distinctions in all subjects offered, including H3 subjects. Seven students who offered 13 units of study scored distinctions in all their 9 subjects.

7 The class of 2016 also achieved exceptional performances across the various subjects:

• 8 in 10 students scored Distinctions for Literature in English
• 7 in 10 students scored Distinctions for Biology, Chemistry, Economics, Mathematics and Physics
• 6 in 10 students scored Distinctions for History and Geography

8 The following is the breakdown of the number of distinctions obtained by our students:

• 9 Distinctions: 7 students
• At least 8 Distinctions: 71 students
• At least 7 Distinctions: 265 students
• At least 6 Distinctions: 490 students

9 We would like to thank our teachers, staff, parents, alumni and the RI Board of Governors. It is only with their dedication and unwavering support that RI can continue its tradition of excellence and service to the nation.

http://www.ri.edu.sg/

[FanFanX]

Hwa Chong Institution


The class of 2016 has achieved excellent results again and we are very proud of our students.

Dr Hon Chiew Weng, Principal, Hwa Chong Institution says, “Congratulations to the Class of 2016 on their excellence! We are proud that they have performed well not just academically, but holistically too. For example, they have actively served society, serving an average of 106 hours in community service. We are very grateful for the strong guidance and unwavering support of our teachers and parents.”

6 out of 10 scored 3 H2 Distinctions and above.

60% of H2 subjects recorded significant improvements.

10 subjects have recorded the best performance in the last five years. These include H1 General Paper, H2 Economics, H2 Chemistry, H2 Biology, H2 Literature in English, H2 Geography and H2 Computing.

The following subjects have achieved record outstanding results:
Close to 5 out of 10 scored distinctions for H1 General Paper
More than 6 out of 10 scored distinctions for H2 Economics
More than 9 out of 10 achieved distinctions for H2 Literature



Sciences
Close to 8 out of 10 scored distinctions for H2 Mathematics
Close to 7 out of 10 scored distinctions for H2 Chemistry and H2 Physics
Close to 8 out of 10 scored distinctions for H2 Biology
100% scored distinctions in H2 Computing



Humanities
9 out of 10 students scored distinctions in H2 Translation (Chinese)
More than 4 out of 10 scored distinctions in H2 English Language and Linguistics
Close to 7 out of 10 scored distinctions in H2 Geography
100% scored distinctions for H2 French and H2 Japanese
80% scored distinctions for H2 German

Besides their sterling academic results, the Class of 2016 has also excelled holistically.
306 students have been conferred the Hwa Chong Diploma with Distinction
This cohort tirelessly and selflessly contributed back to the community, serving an average of 106 hours in community service;
They have continued Hwa Chong's tradition of excellence with 49 World Championship Titles (2006-2017);
They also took home 55 Top 3 titles at the Interschool Sports Championships in 2016 and;
14 Certificates of Distinction for Performing Arts at the 2015 Singapore Youth Festival.



To date, 11 Hwa Chong students have been awarded provisional Public Service Commission Scholarships. Loh Jia Yi has also been conferred the provisional Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Scholarship. She is the second female student from Hwa Chong to be conferred this scholarship.

Even before the release of the GCE A-Level results, 12 students have been admitted to Peking and Tsinghua Universities for bicultural excellence. Three students have also received conditional offers from Fudan University.

This year, a record number of 52 Hwa Chong students have received offers to Cambridge and Oxford University. Over 600 offers have also been made to Hwa Chong students from top US and UK universities such as Harvard, Brown, NYU, Imperial, LSE, and Columbia.

http://www.hci.edu.sg/news/hwa-chong-sustains-tradition-of-excellence