Post-Exam Thoughts: GCSE German Unit 2 (Reading) – 27 June 2012

Unlike last Monday’s Listening paper, which I sat at Foundation Tier, I’d been entered for the full-whack Higher Tier in this German Reading exam. Miraculously, in the first past-paper I sat (the exact same one I’d sat in the Mock exam at Christmas), I achieved an A* – albeit by the skin of my teeth. Sadly, there was less luck for the other three past-papers I completed, attaining mid to high Bs in all of them.

I spent the last hours and minutes before this morning’s 9:00am Reading exam going over the body parts and illnesses topics. As seems to be ever thus, these didn’t really come up at all, and, instead, it was the questions on the environment that I struggled with.

I found even some of the earlier questions in the paper – typically the quite easy ones – difficult but, unusually for me, did manage to complete with some confidence the question requiring sentences to be put into position. On the other hand, I had to guess much of the multi-mark Question 8.

As I’ve said before, I’m not expecting a great grade from this of all subjects, yet it’s quite disappointing to know that my hard work from the Controlled Assessment elements will be cancelled out by what I expect will be poor results from these exams (which make up 40% of the final grade).

But alas, never mind: my final exam of the 2012 GCSE Exams season is over and the summer may now begin.