Report on the Examination

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1 Version 1.0 General Certificate of Secondary Education January 2013 Applications of Mathematics (Pilot) 93702H (Specification 9370) Unit A2: Applications of Mathematics (Geometry and Measures) - Higher Report on the Examination

2 Further copies of this Report are available from: aqa.org.uk Copyright 2013 AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved. Copyright AQA retains the copyright on all its publications. However, registered centres for AQA are permitted to copy material from this booklet for their own internal use, with the following important exception: AQA cannot give permission to centres to photocopy any material that is acknowledged to a third party even for internal use within the centre. Set and published by the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance. The Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA) is a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales (company number ) and a registered charity (registered charity number ). Registered address: AQA, Devas Street, Manchester M15 6EX.

3 Report on The Examination - AQA GCSE Applications of Mathematics 93702H - January 2013 Unit 2: Higher Tier General Most students were able to access the questions with only the second part of the last question having a high number of non-attempts. Most showed their working clearly. However, students must realise that when an answer is given and they are asked to show it is correct, they must present a convincing, full solution. Formulae relevant to the specification were not always known and some of those given on page 2 were not used correctly. Students used a calculator, where appropriate, and the majority had access to geometrical instruments. Topics that were done well included: Area of trapezium and circle Ratio problem Speed, distance, time formula Drawing a trigonometric graph Topics which students found challenging included: Bearings Angle bisector construction Arranging shapes on a diagram Area under a curve Gradient of a curve Volume of a similar shape Question 1 Most students obtained the correct value of a although some did not set up an equation as instructed. Question 2 Parts (a) and (b) were well answered. In part (b) some subtracted the area of the circle from the area of the trapezium. Fewer correct solutions were seen in part (c) with a common error being to divide 512 by 16π. Question 3 Most students understood the context and many fully correct solutions were seen. Common errors included using an incorrect conversion factor and dividing the load for a van by the total weight of wood to be carried. Nearly all students who obtained 3.2 rounded up to 4. Question 4 This question was well answered with many fully correct solutions seen. Some used a fully correct method but gave their answer as The most common approach was to work out the cost of 6 litres of green paint then to multiply by 4. Other methods were also used successfully. Question 5 Part (a) was poorly answered with only a small number of students able to obtain the correct bearing. Many did not work out any angles correctly. Some appeared to have measured angles using a protractor. Part (b) was well answered with the main errors being dividing time by speed and multiplying 15 by 8 without subsequently dividing by 60. Question 6 Part (a) was a good discriminator. Those students who realised that they needed to consider the scale were often able to complete an accurate drawing. Many tried to produce a mathematically similar diagram to the given sketch. Part (b) was poorly attempted. Students either did not realise that an angle bisector was required or did not know the method of construction. 3

4 January H - GCSE Methods in Mathematics Report on the Examination Question 7 Most students made a good attempt and quite a lot of fully correct solutions were seen. Many correctly trialled 1.24 and 1.25 and made their decision based on these results instead of also trialling a 3 decimal place value. Another common error was to give a solution to a greater degree of accuracy than 2 decimal places. Question 8 Neither part was answered well. Many correctly gave 22 cm as one dimension but this was often accompanied by 12 cm. Some used the circumference of a circle formula but with a radius of 12 cm whilst others did not add on the extra 2 cm. Part (b) was not attempted by a significant number of students and fully correct solutions were seldom seen. Many responses indicated that the requirement to use the minimum length of material had not been understood. Question 9 This question was a good discriminator. Errors included truncating the final answer and having their calculator set in a mode other than degrees. Less able students identified that sine was needed but failed to use their calculator correctly. Some attempted to use the Sine Rule or Cosine Rule. Question 10 Many tried to apply Pythagoras theorem but less able students added 80 2 and The area of a triangle formula was usually correctly applied. More errors were made when the proportion of an acre was attempted. 1536, 4047 and 6400 were often seen but only the more able students performed the correct calculation using these numbers. Many did not round their final answer to 2 significant figures. Question 11 This question was a good discriminator with more able students being able to switch between the different views of the wall successfully. Many different methods were seen in part (a) and overall there was a good response. In parts (b) and (c)(i) a common error was to mix up the dimensions 4 cm and 2.5 cm. Part (c)(ii) was the most challenging part and there was quite a high number of non-attempts. Question 12 Part (a) was very well answered. Very few students failed to score in part (b) and many gained both marks. Some plotted the points correctly but made no attempt to join them whilst others drew straight lines between pairs of points. Parts (c) and (d) were quite well answered with many showing how they were using their graph. Most gave a time of day in part (c) and a time interval in part (d); but some errors were made reading the horizontal scale on the graph. Question 13 This question was a good discriminator, particularly for those at the top end of the ability range. In part (a) quite a lot of attempts at the area under the curve were seen but accurate calculations were not common. Many stated metres as the unit but less able students made no progress at all. Part (b) was only correct for the most able students. Many did not draw a tangent and those that did often did not use the correct scales when reading from the axes. Question 14 Part (a) was accessible to many students. Common errors were to work out the volume of a sphere and to use 20 cm as the height of the cone. Some did not work in terms of π throughout. Part (b) was poorly attempted. The volume scale factor was rarely seen and 312π was often doubled. Some successfully worked out the new volume by doubling the linear dimensions. The relationship between density, mass and volume was not well known. 4

5 Report on The Examination - AQA GCSE Applications of Mathematics 93702H - January 2013 Mark Range and Award of Grades Grade boundaries are available on the Results statistics page of the AQA Website. UMS conversion calculator 5

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