The WJEC A Level Unit 4 examination was widely perceived by many students as significantly more difficult than expected. A number of questions appeared to have limited reflection of the content that students had been taught and revised throughout their courses. As a result, many candidates found it challenging to apply their knowledge in ways that aligned with their preparation and understanding of the specification.

Several questions were considered particularly demanding and, in some cases, harsher than those seen in previous examination series. This created considerable uncertainty during the examination and left many students feeling overwhelmed. For students who had dedicated substantial time and effort to revision, encountering questions that did not closely reflect their learning led to frustration and a loss of confidence.

The impact of the paper extended beyond academic performance. Many students left the examination feeling stressed, upset, and concerned about the implications for their future education, university offers, apprenticeships, and career aspirations. Given the reported difficulty of the paper and the emotional impact it had on candidates, it is important that grade boundaries are set with careful consideration of the overall performance of the cohort and the relative difficulty of the examination compared with previous years.

Fair grade boundaries would help ensure that students are not unfairly disadvantaged by an examination that many perceived as unusually challenging. Adjusting boundaries appropriately would allow grades to more accurately reflect students’ knowledge, effort, and ability rather than the unexpected difficulty of the assessment itself.