Too much fear mongering online
So far, I’ve only done Further Maths Core Pure 1 (Edexcel), and I’ve seen quite a few people saying things like “that was mad easy” or “75/75 for A*”. At first, it genuinely made me feel a bit worried because I started thinking about grade boundaries and felt like maybe I’d fumbled it. Personally, I didn’t find it nearly as easy as some people online seemed to.
But after thinking about it, I realized that the people posting straight after exams are often really passionate, very high-achieving students. A lot of them are naturally competitive too, so online spaces can sometimes feel a bit intense and make things seem worse than they actually are.
After the exam, I spoke to my classmates (after scrolling this subreddit for way too long), and most people thought it was alright (like medium) but not easy — more like slightly harder than the 2025 Core Pure 1 paper.
This kind of thing happens a lot, especially with STEM subjects. If you’re not someone who’s super high-achieving or constantly comparing scores online, try not to spiral by reading loads of opinions right after an exam. It can really mess with your confidence. People online often sound way more confident than the average student, and sometimes it just turns into fearmongering.
What’s done is done. You can’t change that paper now, but you can focus on the next one, and that one might go way better than you expect.
My main message is: keep your head up for the next exam and try not to let people online get in your head straight after the paper. You’re probably doing better than you think.
Good luck with the rest of your exams everyone