A Level Results....guess what :-)
Discussion
EDLT said:
scenario8 said:
grumbledoak said:
At this rate we'll soon have a generation of 'highly qualified' Uni students who cannot use a broom the right way up.
They are not getting magically cleverer.
For an alarming number of graduates that is precisely the skillset they need in these difficult times.They are not getting magically cleverer.
an A level used to be the equivalent of three old 'O' levels didn't it?
Show a current GCSE student an old O level paper any they will crumble. gcse's are easier than a levels and gettign easier - i'm sorry but its a fact (if 12 and 13 year olds are doing gcse's then they're easier full stop.)
so what natch does that say about current A levels?
ok I'm all behind making exams more relevant but at the end of the day we still need adults in the work place who "know" stuff not just how things relate to each other.
a generlism but I don't care - I worked basterd hard to get my A levels - are they giving them away these days?
Show a current GCSE student an old O level paper any they will crumble. gcse's are easier than a levels and gettign easier - i'm sorry but its a fact (if 12 and 13 year olds are doing gcse's then they're easier full stop.)
so what natch does that say about current A levels?
ok I'm all behind making exams more relevant but at the end of the day we still need adults in the work place who "know" stuff not just how things relate to each other.
a generlism but I don't care - I worked basterd hard to get my A levels - are they giving them away these days?
tomw2000 said:
Kwai Chang Caine said:
Who'd have thought it? This year's kids are cleverer and better educated than last year's!
8% A*
27% A
97.8% E and above which I think is a pass.
So only 2.2% of students failed....hmmmm.
Has such a sustained annual increase in 'intelligence' levels ever happened across any other population ever?8% A*
27% A
97.8% E and above which I think is a pass.
So only 2.2% of students failed....hmmmm.
It's amazing. Thank goodness for Tony and Gorgon. Or maybe it's flouride in water or something.
Not only are they smarter and cleverer than their parents - they are above all those pesky laws and rules that their elders and (not so) betters created.
It's a real drag being so smart and having to obey rules and regulations created by idiots who could only manage humble O Levels and A levels when they were their age.
Kwai Chang Caine said:
Who'd have thought it? This year's kids are cleverer and better educated than last year's!
8% A*
27% A
97.8% E and above which I think is a pass.
So only 2.2% of students failed....hmmmm.
When did they get A* for A-level put in? Must of been after my time! Wish they had it when I did it... 8% A*
27% A
97.8% E and above which I think is a pass.
So only 2.2% of students failed....hmmmm.
scenario8 said:
In A levels the A* was introduced for the 2010 results.
The A* was introduced for GCSEs in 1994.
It's "have" by the way.***
suppose they had to do something... it seemed to be getting tougher to differentiate.The A* was introduced for GCSEs in 1994.
It's "have" by the way.***
It was a case of cant see the wood for the trees. By more students getting the results everyone was back on the same level when instead the exams should of been separating wheat from the chaff.
- * noted
Granted it was a long time ago when I left school - Labour were in Govt (the time BEFORE Blair) ...so many eons ago - but it was only the brightest who went to University (or did A-Levels really).
Needless to sy I left at 15 and 3/4 but my sister did Economics, Maths and English, was pretty bright and only got 2 D's and a C I think ...
So just how this current lot manamge to do so well if the exams are as hard is beyond me - but then maybe they're taught to PASS exams rather than KNOW the subject (happens at GCSE all the time)
Needless to sy I left at 15 and 3/4 but my sister did Economics, Maths and English, was pretty bright and only got 2 D's and a C I think ...
So just how this current lot manamge to do so well if the exams are as hard is beyond me - but then maybe they're taught to PASS exams rather than KNOW the subject (happens at GCSE all the time)
Way back in the 70's and early 80's only exceptional kids got to do 3 A levels most did just two and lots of kids where encouraged to think again as regards to taking A levels.I do find it difficult to see how someone can take 5 or more A levels unless they are not intensive as previous or are the current crop of youths execeptionally intelligent ?.
johnxjsc1985 said:
Way back in the 70's and early 80's only exceptional kids got to do 3 A levels most did just two and lots of kids where encouraged to think again as regards to taking A levels.I do find it difficult to see how someone can take 5 or more A levels unless they are not intensive as previous or are the current crop of youths execeptionally intelligent ?.
Previously it was ne exam, now it's 6 or so with the modular structure. Suspect they are taught how to pass rather than educated around the subject as well.
tomw2000 said:
Has such a sustained annual increase in 'intelligence' levels ever happened across any other population ever?
It's amazing. Thank goodness for Tony and Gorgon. Or maybe it's flouride in water or something.
I understand the figures stabilised for the first time in a while.It's amazing. Thank goodness for Tony and Gorgon. Or maybe it's flouride in water or something.
The percentage passing should be fairly high. Schools tend to focus on dragging up Fs to Es and also those borderline C/Ds (as Cs are counted in the league tables) at the expense of other students. If they don't expect a pupil to pass, they generally prevent them sitting the exam in the first place.
Obviously many more sit A Levels nowadays to get into university, which you would expect to drag down results. However, there are more A Level courses available and 3As in Dance, General Studies and Food Technology officially count the same as 3As in Maths, Physics and German.
Schools these days rigidly teach to the exam rather than teaching the subject. Past papers are pored over and dissected to determine what will be asked in the exam (i.e. what doesn't need to be studied), what the examiner's expect in an answer and how to structure it to maximise marks. Model answers are prepared in advance and classes focus on exam technique, not knowledge for the sake of knowledge.
Finally modularisation means pupils can study a module, sit the exam in January and forget about it unlike the old days of a single exam at the end of the course. If they do badly in January, they can always resit in June. If they get a bad grade, they can choose to not "cash" (make official) the exam in but instead resit it until they get a better grade to "cash" in.
All driven by everyone (government, exam boards, schools, students) gaming the system.
louiebaby said:
anonymous said:
[redacted]
This was my thinking. Are more of them doing their own entrance exams now?Alternatives to A Levels (and GCSEs) are becoming more widespread, particularly among independent schools: Pre-U, International Baccalaureate and favouring exam boards that are considered more robust.
Edited by ninja-lewis on Thursday 18th August 19:45
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