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.
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
Quote from: lincsyokel2 on August 18, 2011, 17:02:57
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?
QuotePosted 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 !!
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.
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.
My lad just "failed" with C D D...
:-X
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.
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?
Quote from: BarriedaleNick on August 18, 2011, 19:02:54
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.
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!
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..
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??
Quote from: betula on August 18, 2011, 20:07:54
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!
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.
Pretty sure I would not pass A level Maths.......... ::)
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.
Remember that someone who does Foundation level maths now would have done CSE rather than GCSE then- or would have left school at 14!
Quote from: tonybloke on August 18, 2011, 17:19:49
Quote from: lincsyokel2 on August 18, 2011, 17:02:57
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?
QuotePosted 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 x
2+y
2=z
2The 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
All that and so modest LOL ;D
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.
Quote from: betula on August 18, 2011, 21:47:54
All that and so modest LOL ;D
Nothing to do with modesty, its to do with demonstrating im not talking out my arse, and have taken my fair whack of exams, and therefore know what should constitute an exam at that level.
Its my thread, im entitled to demonstrate my provenance when challenged.
I run my own domain and blog, all this is good material as a sheeple demonstration.
Quote from: lincsyokel2 on August 18, 2011, 17:02:57
You only have to look round the internet to realise spelling is a thing that has long since vanished from english lessons in schools.
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.
I can count at least half a dozen grammatical\spelling errors in the last sentence alone. I don't really care if people don't use English correctly on the Internet but you seem to mind..
Perhaps a spellchecker may have helped..
Quote from: BarriedaleNick on August 19, 2011, 08:49:04
Quote from: lincsyokel2 on August 18, 2011, 17:02:57
You only have to look round the internet to realise spelling is a thing that has long since vanished from english lessons in schools.
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.
I can count at least half a dozen grammatical\spelling errors in the last sentence alone. I don't really care if people don't use English correctly on the Internet but you seem to mind..
Perhaps a spellchecker may have helped..
There's two errors, both to do with keyboarding speed
"whos" missed the apostrophe
" i nany" space in wrong place.
You can tell in a forum debate when people have no arguments , they resort to attacking the other posters 'spelling' (which in this case were keyboarding and proofreading errors)
So do you actually have any intelligent counter arguments, or will you stick to banal nit picking ?
Personally, ill continue to complain and berate the Education establishment until they stop this farce and start giving qualifications that reflect knowledge required to pass them and the effort put into them. Second best doesnt come into it, neither does fobbing my grandkids off with worthless bits of paper. At this rate they will be doing a Baccalaureate, thats takes some effort to pass.
You were the one who thought spelling and grammer were poor on the Internet so I was responding to your point.
If you can't do better than the kids\schools you are critising then perhaps you should refrain from critising in the first place.
English should be capitalised. So should Interent in the previous sentance.
"neither its it criticism" makes no sense.
You used the wrong form of the verb in "giving a real grounding" - makes no sense.
You have used a comma in front of "and" twice in the same sentance which is ugly.
You used there instead of their in the last line.
Plus your two er "typos"..
I'd give you a C maximum for that post.
Post that on your blog.
Quote from: BarriedaleNick on August 19, 2011, 17:31:05
You were the one who thought spelling and grammer were poor on the Internet so I was responding to your point.
If you can't do better than the kids\schools you are critising then perhaps you should refrain from critising in the first place.
English should be capitalised. So should Interent in the previous sentance.
"neither its it criticism" makes no sense.
You used the wrong form of the verb in "giving a real grounding" - makes no sense.
You have used a comma in front of "and" twice in the same sentance which is ugly.
You used there instead of their in the last line.
Plus your two er "typos"..
I'd give you a C maximum for that post.
Post that on your blog.
but you are still happy that our kids are being fobbed off with a mickey mouse qualification so they can run up a debt of £20,000 by the time they're 22 ?
Im not. But then i care.
By the way, in your post, its 'Internet', not 'Interent', and a 'sentance' is given to people found guilty, usually by the Judge in the form of a spoken 'sentence'.
So, as they say in the Eurovision Song Contest,
Nil Points. If you're going to pick holes in typing and spelling, you have to make sure your posts are squeaky clean.
I'll go and have some tea while you get the gunshot wound in your foot bandaged.
I must admit I don't really understand either how the A'levels are marked these days or how the admissions/ offers work. My nephew sadly did very badly just one A'level at a D level and a mess of AS levels at Cs and Es so I assumed that was that, however today he rang to say he has been accepted through clearing by a college. I obviously am happy for him but as you say I wonder what the quality of the course can be if they are accepting such low grades.
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/EducationAndLearning/QualificationsExplained/DG_10039017 (http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/EducationAndLearning/QualificationsExplained/DG_10039017)
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/EducationAndLearning/QualificationsExplained/DG_10039018 (http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/EducationAndLearning/QualificationsExplained/DG_10039018)
Well you did ask!! :P
Thanks grawrc :) Sadly my poor old brain would obviously fail at the first hurdle of understanding the points system at all. I was looking at said nephews course modules ( Ancient History) and thinking how interesting and exciting they sounded and then realised that eighteen is a long time ago :(
By the way, in your post, its 'Internet', not 'Interent', and a 'sentance' is given to people found guilty, usually by the Judge in the form of a spoken 'sentence'.
[/quote]
love it
Quote from: carbonel11 on August 19, 2011, 17:47:40
I must admit I don't really understand either how the A'levels are marked these days or how the admissions/ offers work. My nephew sadly did very badly just one A'level at a D level and a mess of AS levels at Cs and Es so I assumed that was that, however today he rang to say he has been accepted through clearing by a college. I obviously am happy for him but as you say I wonder what the quality of the course can be if they are accepting such low grades.
Its a farce.
The way exams used to work, for example GCSE's was that if you scored less than 40% you had failed. If you scored 41 to 60 its was a pass, 61 to 80 a credit, and 81-100 a distinction. Or some other such divisions such as grades A,B,C,F,U. You knew if i had a grade B+ and you had a grade B+, we knew about the same amount on the subject. Simlarly, if I had an F and you had an A, then i clearly was crap at it. Not with A Levels.
The way A levels work is all the paper marks are arranged in order. Then they work out what the pass mark has to be to get say 10% of the people in the top A+ category. This means in a year when a lot of smart people take the exam, you might have to score 95% to get in the top . On the other hand, if a large number of particularly stupid people take it, you might have to only score 70% to get in the top bracket.
Similarly, they set the fail mark so that no more than say 5% of the people fail. This again could be 25 marks one year and 55 marks the next year. I could pass with 30 this year and fail with the same mark next year.
This obviously is nonsense. My A+ A level might have a score of 99%, and your A+ might only have been gotten with a 45%.
Obviously, the marks are meaningless for the purposes of comparing two job candidates. And since the object of an exam is to demonstrate your knowledge, intelligence and general level of education, then A levels as such indicate nothing whatsoever unless you know the exact mark each person got, which you never do.
So its an exam that is almost impossible to fail, and exam thats g'teed to have more people in the top bracket every year because they can move and fiddle the number as they like, and it bears no reflection on the abilities of those that have taken it from year to year, because the relationship of mark to score is a variable floating calculation different every year.
What it IS about is covering up the failings of the education system, crippled by 14 years of political interference by Nu Labour, looney left educationist theories, and political correctness. And I demand better for my grandkids than that.
Quote from: Bugloss2009 on August 19, 2011, 19:08:01
Quote from: lincsyokel2 on August 19, 2011, 17:35:22
By the way, in your post, its 'Internet', not 'Interent', and a 'sentance' is given to people found guilty, usually by the Judge in the form of a spoken 'sentence'.
love it
Thank you. Playing Grammar Nazi on internet forums is a dangerous game unless you are a genius at written english and never make a typo. People who play that game usually dont last more than three posts before they shoot themselves in the foot. Its also a stupid, pointless game to play, and is nothing to do with debating.
8)
Well, I can spell, I just can't type so most folks are used to my unique way of writing.
Interesting links Grawc`, thank you
XX Jeannine
Just to add the boundaries don't change for the new A*. A candidate has to score an average (mean) score of 90% or more over all exams taken during the AS and A2 year with no A2 exam at below 90% even with a higher average.
Thank you. Playing Grammar Nazi on internet forums is a dangerous game unless you are a genius at written english and never make a typo. People who play that game usually dont last more than three posts before they shoot themselves in the foot. Its also a stupid, pointless game to play, and is nothing to do with debating.
8)
Well, someone round here has metaphorically invaded Poland, and it wasn't me.
My last post consisted of 2 words, and had 2 grammatical errors. 3 if you're really picky.
I work at a Uni, not academic, purely on the support side. So having things to do with students, and having things to do with external contractors, I have come to a conclusion:
If I had to offer a job, and there was 2 candidates, one with a degree in the subject, and one totally unqualified but 20 years experience of doing the job, who do you think I would pick?
So shortly young people will be leaving with £50K of debt, and still at a disadvantage, even though they have been told they are ridiculously intelligent. Not necessarily going to help them find a job is it?
Quote from: BarriedaleNick on August 18, 2011, 19:02:54
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?
That's quite startling. The modern one is little more than a mental maths test. Even at my advanced age I can do all of those in my head (yes, I know that you have to "show your workings" or draw diagrams on some, but you take my point), with one exception.
Quote from: 2010 Maths GCSEEdith says that an isosceles triangle has rotational symmetry of order three.
Why is Edith wrong?
My first thought would be to put, "Because her mathematics teacher is crap", but I've a feeling that would be marked down as "inappropriate".
Edit: I've just been told that the 2010 paper is the basic one on which candidates can score a "C" grade at best. It's the equivalent of an old CSE, not an O Level. So I was being a bit harsh in my earlier comment.
Its a bit too late for me to learn how to spell and submit posts that are grammatically perfect. I have probably spelt that wrong too, but at my age I don't bloomin care. I can grow decent cauli though. ;D
Quote from: shirlton on August 20, 2011, 08:18:56
Its a bit too late for me to learn how to spell and submit posts that are grammatically perfect. I have probably spelt that wrong too, but at my age I don't bloomin care. I can grow decent cauli though. ;D
I envy your ability to grow caulis. Mine are barely eatable.
Maybe our schools should concentrate more on useful skills like growing veg, and less on absurdly simple sums.
For example
Quote from: 2010 GCSEJane needs 250 kg of wood chip for her garden. At the garden centre she can buy it in two ways, in bags or a single load that is
delivered.
One bag weighs 25 kg and costs £2.85. She takes the bags home in her van.
A single load weighs 250 kg and costs £17. The delivery charge is £10.
Which is the cheaper way of buying the 250 kg of wood chip?
Show all your working.
They could start by teaching the children that woodchip is sold by volume, not weight.
And its not just A levels tha have been turned into worthless mickey mouse qualifications. labour made GCSE's a laughing stock as an academic exercise
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2028620/How-Labour-let-generation-easy-GCSEs.html
actually i agree. That guy from the RSC who just died found that higher tier GCSE's from 2009 in maths were easier than 1960 11 Plus exams...............
Still, if I were a were a kid who had just got their results, I would be totally hacked off with all this dumbing down stuff. They can only do what they have been asked, and i'm sure that despite our best efforts they are no less intelligent that they used to be
maybe the problem is with the expression "Mickey Mouse". That's an American monstrosity and need not concern us at all. Surely ours should be "Wallace and Gromit". Puts a whole different complexion on it. Now I would wear a Wallace and Gromit degree with Pride. Crackin' Degree, Gromit!
Well said Bugloss. My kids work really hard at school and are really motivated to learn/get good grades. It saddens me that folk rip into exam standards...you can only be assessed on what you have been taught.
In saying that, I agree that the standards have changed and the curriculum perhaps needs an overhaul :).
Quote from: Bugloss2009 on August 23, 2011, 09:16:16
actually i agree. That guy from the RSC who just died found that higher tier GCSE's from 2009 in maths were easier than 1960 11 Plus exams...............
Still, if I were a were a kid who had just got their results, I would be totally hacked off with all this dumbing down stuff. They can only do what they have been asked, and i'm sure that despite our best efforts they are no less intelligent that they used to be
maybe the problem is with the expression "Mickey Mouse". That's an American monstrosity and need not concern us at all. Surely ours should be "Wallace and Gromit". Puts a whole different complexion on it. Now I would wear a Wallace and Gromit degree with Pride. Crackin' Degree, Gromit!
Ah but then im related to one of Walt Disneys ancestors, Sirah Disney, of the early 17th Century, and hence qualified to us ethe expression. 8)
well let's just hope for your sake that Uncle Walt's ghastly qualities weren't genetic. Mind you, to be fair, I'm probably with him on The Beard Thing
Quote from: Bugloss2009 on August 23, 2011, 10:06:57
well let's just hope for your sake that Uncle Walt's ghastly qualities weren't genetic. Mind you, to be fair, I'm probably with him on The Beard Thing
Unlikely, im also descended from Phillipa Plantagenet, Edward II, Lionel of Antwerp, frankish nobility and thus ultimately Dagobert I, the founder of the Merovingians, as well as having common ancestors with Calvin Coolidge and Abe Lincoln's wife, but do i look like i'm about to become King or President ?
::) 8)
Hurrah for Shirl Cauli's.
Quote from: lincsyokel2 on August 23, 2011, 14:06:04
Quote from: Bugloss2009 on August 23, 2011, 10:06:57
well let's just hope for your sake that Uncle Walt's ghastly qualities weren't genetic. Mind you, to be fair, I'm probably with him on The Beard Thing
Unlikely, im also descended from Phillipa Plantagenet, Edward II, Lionel of Antwerp, frankish nobility and thus ultimately Dagobert I, the founder of the Merovingians, as well as having common ancestors with Calvin Coolidge and Abe Lincoln's wife, but do i look like i'm about to become King or President ?
::) 8)
Blue blood and nobility!! I wonder if they were any good at A levels?
Personally most of my ancestors were gardeners and seedsmen... as well as one vicar and a blacksmith. ;)
Quote from: Aden Roller on August 23, 2011, 16:50:11
Personally most of my ancestors were gardeners and seedsmen...
Sounds like you've been digging up your ancestors. Har har.
Quote from: lincsyokel2 on August 23, 2011, 14:06:04
Dagobert I
personally I much preferred Dagobert II, (Lust For Glory)
you should go on "Who Do You Think You Are?", though in your case they would have to call it "Actually I know Who The **** I Am, Thank You Very Much"