Topic: A levels

[lincsyokel2]

I see the A level pass rate has risen for the 29th year.

Its a farce. If you talk to the average taker of A levels, you'll realise the annual dumbing down has reached the point where you only have to write your name and the date correctly and you get an A+.

Eventually, the A+ pass rate will reach 100%. No one with an A+ will be able to spell, string ten words together into a grammatically correct sentence, or do mental addition, but thats not the object. (were nearly at that point anyway)

By 2020, all 16 years olds will receive 3 A+ A levels no matter what they do at School

by 2025, you'll get three A+ passes even if you didnt go to school. Even people who are dead will get them.

by 2030, exams will be pointless, since no one from this generation will be able to read to mark the next generations exams anyway.

[ACE]

Now, these kids have not been out rioting and looting, they have been studying hard. Every year we get the knockers. Congratulate them and give them some support.

Well done kids

[tonybloke]

I see the A level pass rate has risen for the 29th year.

Its a farce. If you talk to the average taker of A levels, you'll realise the annual dumbing down has reached the point where you only have to write your name and the date correctly and you get an A+.

Eventually, the A+ pass rate will reach 100%. No one with an A+ will be able to spell, string ten words together into a grammatically correct sentence, or do mental addition, but thats not the object. (were nearly at that point anyway)

By 2020, all 16 years olds will receive 3 A+ A levels no matter what they do at School

by 2025, you'll get three A+ passes even if you didnt go to school. Even people who are dead will get them.

by 2030, exams will be pointless, since no one from this generation will be able to read to mark the next generations exams anyway.

the Step-son got 3 A's, one with a 'star'
History, Economics, & Politics.


none of them 'easy' to get, he worked bloody hard. ( He's off to the UEA to study Modern History )

for all the folk who think A Levels are easy, why don't you go and take a few?

Posted by: ACE    Posted on: Today at 17:14:08
Insert Quote
Now, these kids have not been out rioting and looting, they have been studying hard. Every year we get the knockers. Congratulate them and give them some support.

Well done kids

bugger, I agree with ACE !!

[BarriedaleNick]

lincs - Hey something we can agree on!!!

I work in a school and most of the teachers actually would agree with you.  I do not knock the kids taking these exams - they can only do what they are set to do but it is getting to be quite a farce.  The problem for me is not that the exams are easier (they are) but that it is getting all but impossible for the brightest kids to shine.
This has the effect that I see 11 year old children worrying about not getting all A+ at GCSE because "eveyone does" - which actually seems to stress out the brightest ones more.

Anyway well done to those that did well - now all you have to do to compete in the world is to spend £60K and three more years in education.

[Sparkly]

What you have to remember is that kids now drop a subject after AS. The AS pass rate is alot lower. The weakest candidates are being pulled out of the statistics at this point. Schools are colleges are also a lot 'hotter' on how to remove students that are likely to fail; dropping back to AS mid-year, dropping a subject completely, transferring to different courses etc. The exam boards also do alot of 'moving the boundaries'. This is where the real fix is. I have seen instances where 68% is an A grade going down 4% for each grade which is not far off 2 marks per grade on some papers. This, coupled with the poor standard of mark schemes means that the difference between grades in terms of a students quality isn't that much! Mark schemes, in my subject which is Biology, seem to be 'guess what the examiner is thinking'. There is alot of the same question being asked, but answers getting credits on some papers and not on others! I blame this on the poor standard of marking generally. We have had papers on behalf of students remarked and they have changed by 2 grades! I actually see alot of candidates failing at AS who shouldn't really because they have a reasonable understanding and just don't pipe out the specific expected answer, although their response is correct! Much of the "grade for any valid point" seems to have dissappeared. I really feel sorry for the kids now.

[saddad]

My lad just "failed" with C D D...
 :-X

[bikegirllisa]

As a mum of a boy with 4 A* - Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Maths, I can tell you how much time he spent studying, and how many chances to go out and mess about with his mates he passed up.

Not every kid does A levels - lots skip out at GCSE level, others take different exams.  We hear the same old bleating every year about dumbing down.  The simple fact is, most kids who take A levels are serious about their futures and work their butts off.  My boy will be studying Nuclear Physics and Maths next year at ICL - and he deserved the results he got.  I couldn't pass the exams my boy just did - and I got A's for Physics, Chemistry and Biology 20 years ago.

So no more dumbing down comments please - its rude and disrespectful to young adults that have worked really hard for the last two years. 

[BarriedaleNick]

Ok Just for fun I looked around to see if I could dig up some old papers to compare with those today..

This is this the General Certificate of Secondary Education (O Level) - Foundation Tier -Mathematics 4306/2F (Specification A) from November 2010

http://store.aqa.org.uk/qual/gcse/qp-ms/AQA-43062F-W-QP-NOV10.PDF

This is a 1962 O Level Maths paper

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B7gv596sc3JYNjc0NTAzZWMtZTJmZC00OTUxLTljMzctM2ZkYjM5NWQxZDU5&hl=en_US

I know this is not a proper like for like comparrison as todays Maths exams are modular and times vary etc.. but which paper would you rather do?

[OllieC]

Ok Just for fun I looked around to see if I could dig up some old papers to compare with those today..

This is this the General Certificate of Secondary Education (O Level) - Foundation Tier -Mathematics 4306/2F (Specification A) from November 2010

http://store.aqa.org.uk/qual/gcse/qp-ms/AQA-43062F-W-QP-NOV10.PDF

This is a 1962 O Level Maths paper

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B7gv596sc3JYNjc0NTAzZWMtZTJmZC00OTUxLTljMzctM2ZkYjM5NWQxZDU5&hl=en_US

I know this is not a proper like for like comparrison as todays Maths exams are modular and times vary etc.. but which paper would you rather do?

Apart from the shillings bit, I think they're fairly comparable, aren't they? Perhaps a bit more understanding the words with the old one? I've worked with people in financial services who wouldn't have passed either!

Oh, and well done to everyone who worked hard for their results - saddad, I hope your lad either gets in or finds another course he'll enjoy. Back in my day, I managed to get in with 4 points below the offer, so enough about it being harder in the past.

[caroline7758]

As a proud mother of a daugher who got 3 A's and a C today, and who heard on Radio 4 that the pass rate has NOT gone up this year for the first time in 15 years, can I say "Give the kids a break!".

As I type I have four very happy girls (only one mine!), all off to uni in a few weeks' time, getting dolled up ready for a night out celebrating!

they've had a lot of extra pressure this year because of the fee rises next year and they've worked really hard (although actually i think the AS year is harder because they have 4 subjects)

Congratulations to all who have got their results today!

[BarriedaleNick]

Maybe it was the question
"Write the number, seventy five thousand and forty, in figures." - I'd rather take the modern paper any day.

@bikegirllisa

Congrats to your boy - 4 A*s is a great result esp in those subjects and mean no disrespect to him or anyone else.
While I do think that over time exams have become easier I would not swap places with today's generation.
My A level results today would no loger pass muster to get me into UCL and when I went I was virtually alone amongst my mates.  Now you need all As or A*s and everyone is trying to get into the best Unis...the competition is fierce and there is so much pressure to do well - very well.
Plus I got a grant, travel and claimed housing benefit during the hols..
I think we had it much easier then..

[betula]

Congratulations to all the kids who passed  ;D

For all the kids who did not get the grades they wanted I feel for them.Must be hard but I assume they can try again later??

[caroline7758]

For all the kids who did not get the grades they wanted I feel for them.Must be hard but I assume they can try again later??

Yes, but they will have to pay 3 times the fees!

[OllieC]

Oh yeah, I suppose when you compare that to Q.8, you have a point. I challenge anyone here to answer it without using t'internet.

[betula]

Pretty sure I would not pass A level Maths.......... ::)

[Borlotti]

O levels were bad enough, especially physics, when I got 3%, as I drew a thermos flask and a cup, didn't know how it worked, and sat there for 3 hours (or whatever) couldn't even understand the questions let alone the answers. Had good fun in physics as I was the only girl in the class and the teacher made a fuss of me, and did the work for me, probably why I failed.  First lesson said 'we all know how a battery works' , what the heck, I said nothing, and spent most of the time looking out the window at the boys playing football.  Maths was worse and the teacher explaining something with an orange, think it was meridians or something around the world, and got 3 questions on it in the exam, so I failed maths and I was good at adding up, at least I passed my French oral but unfortunately failed the written exam, but did get English lit and language. Chemistry was bad, as my memory not so good, so failed that.  Got 3 out of 8 O levels, but went on to have good jobs (only Secretarial) and was good at making tea, and earned money, mainly through learning to type.   So I say good luck to the youngsters, I can't even understand granddaughters maths homework and she is only 13.

[caroline7758]

Remember that someone who does Foundation level maths now would have done CSE rather than GCSE then- or would have left school at 14!

[lincsyokel2]

I see the A level pass rate has risen for the 29th year.

Its a farce. If you talk to the average taker of A levels, you'll realise the annual dumbing down has reached the point where you only have to write your name and the date correctly and you get an A+.

Eventually, the A+ pass rate will reach 100%. No one with an A+ will be able to spell, string ten words together into a grammatically correct sentence, or do mental addition, but thats not the object. (were nearly at that point anyway)

By 2020, all 16 years olds will receive 3 A+ A levels no matter what they do at School

by 2025, you'll get three A+ passes even if you didnt go to school. Even people who are dead will get them.

by 2030, exams will be pointless, since no one from this generation will be able to read to mark the next generations exams anyway.

the Step-son got 3 A's, one with a 'star'
History, Economics, & Politics.


none of them 'easy' to get, he worked bloody hard. ( He's off to the UEA to study Modern History )

for all the folk who think A Levels are easy, why don't you go and take a few?

Posted by: ACE    Posted on: Today at 17:14:08
Insert Quote
Now, these kids have not been out rioting and looting, they have been studying hard. Every year we get the knockers. Congratulate them and give them some support.

Well done kids

bugger, I agree with ACE !!

Why ,all you are doing is giving them false hope, the exam is becoming worthless. Whats the point of an exam that no one fails and everyone gets top marks ? The villians here are not me for pointing out this farce, but the con trick being played on them by the government, the education establishment and the exam boards.

I want my grandkids to be able to spell and write a grammatical sentence. I want them educated properly. I looked at the A Level papers my son took 8 years ago, they were laughable, most of the kids i went to school with could have scored 100% at them at the age of 13.

I did A levels in the 1960's, then a degree and then a post grad. Ive also done professional exams, including the British Computing Society, which is only entry by exam, and some exams ive taken were 3 hours exams requiring 80% to pass, or 4 hours, two questions, 50 marks each (Systems Analysis). I know what an exam should look like.

I also spent 20 years working in IT for the Local Education Authority, ive met thousands of teachers and got an impression of what they know and what they dont know.

You only have to look round the internet to realise spelling is a thing that has long since vanished from english lessons in schools. Similarly, i had to teach my son not only how to do long division, but also how to use log tables and how to do calculus. Kids leave school unable to spell, unable to do maths, no idea about the basic rules of algebra and trigonometry. My son when he left school didnt even realise that the primary basis of algebra was geometry, until I  pointed out that by drawing a triangle of the same dimensions you provide a geometric proof to the algebraic  x²+y²=z²

The lack of basics and the reliance on spellcheckers and calculators is appalling.

So, I am not the villain here for wanting my grandkids educated properly, and giving a real grounding in the basics of maths, english and other subjects such as physics, chemistry, geography and history, and neither its it criticism of anyone whos taken A levels i nany particular here. All of this is sadly lacking, and its covered up by fiddling the pass mark. Anyone that is happy to accept the current standard is giving themselves or there kids short measure.

You DO realise the pass mark is moved around to make sure more people pass every year? Its utter nonsense!! Its nothing to do with 'improving education standards!! Its like repeatedly breaking the land speed record in your car by reducing the numbers of yards in a mile each attempt!!!

The Chambers of Commerce agrees with me!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2026858/Bosses-condemn-useless-degrees-leave-graduates-lacking-basic-skills.html

[betula]

All that and so modest LOL ;D

[bikegirllisa]

Not every child sits A levels.  The clever ones write A level exams.  The others go to vocational college, or get out into work.  When we have the cream of the crop sitting exams, it is a simple extrapolation that the pass rate will go up.

I have also sat professional examinations - and adjusting exam marks to account for the best and worst in the curve is pretty standard and has been happening in most exams for a very long time - it's nothing new.  I am a chartered accountant and can tell you that those examination results are adjusted every year - normally down, but there you go.

It's not wrong to want your children or grandchildren properly educated.  But it is naive to assume that because the exam pass rates are high, the exams themselves are easy.  They aren't - which is evidenced by the thousands of kids that are never entered into the exams in the first place. 

Rather than simply devaluing the currency of the examinations themselves, we really should be looking at the six years of secondary school education leading up to the exams, and asking why that is not more effective.