Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Matric candidates put tough first week of exams behind them, get ready for long haul
MATRIC candidates breathed a sigh of relief as the first week of final exams ended yesterday, giving them an indication of what to expect in the coming weeks.
So far, Grade 12 pupils have written the first papers for English, Xhosa, Afrikaans and various other elective languages, along with accounting, geography and mathematics.
The second maths paper is scheduled for Monday.
Pupils who spoke to Weekend Argus said the exams got off to a great start, but mathematics was harder than they had anticipated.
“I had a good start with the languages and accounting this week. Maths was a little harder than I thought,” said Duan van Schalkwyk, a pupil at Paul Roos Gymnasium.
“There were a lot of difficult questions and paper was different from all the past papers I revised.”
But he was unfazed, saying maths was one of his major subjects and that he would work harder for the second paper.
“There will be no chilling this weekend, I have to get ready for maths paper two right away.”
Another Paul Roos pupil, Franco Esterhuizen, said he had also been surprised by the maths paper.
“I don’t know how to describe it, but it was different. The questions were different from past papers.”
Generally, though, it had been a good exam and he was now focusing on the coming week.
Kayla Arnold of Wynberg Girls High School also said the maths first paper had not been what she had expected.
“The questions were phrased differently compared to past papers and the questions were generally harder,” she said. “I used a number of past papers nationally and from other provinces. I found this paper different.”
She hoped the second paper would be better.
Her schoolmate, Ashleigh Dreyer, also found the paper “harder than usual”.
“I’m hoping for an A still, but it was hard,” she said, adding that she was working hard for Monday. “I will be ready,” she said. In addition to mathematics two, matric pupils have history, economics, physical science, engineering graphics and design, as well as English paper two examinations in the coming week.