Frequently Asked Questions

Which exam board are your papers from?

The simple answer is that these papers are based upon the Edexcel papers.

A more complete answer is as follows. All the exam boards (Edexcel, OCR, AQA, etc) must test the same National Curriculum (2004/5). So, broadly speaking, a question on atomic structure on an Edexcel Higher paper must match the same level of difficulty as a question on atomic structure on an OCR Higher paper. This is because atomic structure, to a certain clearly defined level, is a part of the National Curriculum. Consequently, there is a huge overlap between the exam syllabus of one exam board with the exam syllabus of another. I have chosen to use the Edexcel syllabus because it is the one most widely used, the one most popular with students and teachers, and because I feel it is the best.

The law on copyright does not allow me to use the Edexcel papers word-for-word. So I have slightly re-written each question in each paper in order to make a 'replica' question as close as possible to the original. For example, suppose Question 3 in the real Edexcel Paper 6 begins.... 'A car is travelling at 30 m/s along a straight flat road....'; my replica Question 3 will begin...'A bus is travelling along a flat straight road at 40 m/s... ' When re-writing the Questions I have made absolutely sure that the topic being tested and the level of difficulty match exactly those of the original Questions. This means that if you can understand my Model Answers to the replica Questions you should have no trouble with the real Questions because they are virtually identical.

What do I mean by Model Answers?

When writing the Model Answers I do not just give the solutions to each question. What you get is a step-by-step answer with all the working-out fully explained in clear, simple language. Each question appears just as you would see it on an exam paper but around the solution are notes and arrows pinpointing exactly what is going on and why. Before the solution is given I like to give as much 'teaching' as I can, which means there are lots of hints and tips like in a 'teach yourself ' book. Click here to see a typical Higher Question and its Model Answer. If you think my Model Answers really can help you to understand the science then click here.