Students really are thick
Discussion
After the whole A level marking fiasco, only 0.5% of papers were upgraded.... and only 1% of students affected.
http://education.guardian.co.uk/alevels2002/story/0,12321,812221,00.html
A bit of a storm in a teacup?
http://education.guardian.co.uk/alevels2002/story/0,12321,812221,00.html
A bit of a storm in a teacup?
This is excatly what the Govt WANTS you to think.
"It was all a storm in a teacup" is a great way of diffusing peoples anger at the Govt screwing around with their kids chances in life just so they can make the stats look right and the govt look good. Depends on whether you accept the new version of events.
Personally I don't. This has all the hallmarks of the Government not wanting to admit the problem is as big as it is, cos they caused it by putting pressure on the exam boards. Yet they come over now as "honest" (cos they "owned up" ) but "in control" (cos the looked into iit pronto) and the effects were minimal (cos only a few hundred were ACTUALLY affected)
Morris will lose her job in the next reshuffle so then the damage will be completely repaired in time for the next election.
See how it works now?
Andy 400se
"It was all a storm in a teacup" is a great way of diffusing peoples anger at the Govt screwing around with their kids chances in life just so they can make the stats look right and the govt look good. Depends on whether you accept the new version of events.
Personally I don't. This has all the hallmarks of the Government not wanting to admit the problem is as big as it is, cos they caused it by putting pressure on the exam boards. Yet they come over now as "honest" (cos they "owned up" ) but "in control" (cos the looked into iit pronto) and the effects were minimal (cos only a few hundred were ACTUALLY affected)
Morris will lose her job in the next reshuffle so then the damage will be completely repaired in time for the next election.
See how it works now?
Andy 400se
After the whole A level marking fiasco, only 0.5% of papers were upgraded.... and only 1% of students affected.
A bit of a storm in a teacup?
How many people took A-levels? Consider that... then consider the fact that certain courses and Universities require specific grades... dammit even when looking for jobs I was being how many UCAS points (A level points) I had - many require a 2:1 degree in a numberate subject AND 24 UCAS points (A and 2 B's).
That could be enough for someone to miss out on their place at Uni, miss the course they wanted to do AND potentially screw up their career - through no fault of their own?
Storm in a teacup? Me thinks not.
As far as I'm concerned, this whole debarcle is a a bit of a non-story, exam results have been statistically manipulated since at least the 60s. My most recent exposure to this was at university, where it was well known that the grade boundaries were only approximate, and were subject to later moderation.
raceboy said: Still can't work out how students who were expecting (via their teachers comments) A or B grades got Ungraded marks, thats a big difference not just a mark or two
Those grades are based on students work throughout the duration of the A level course. Just becuase they do well in class, does not equate to good exam results.
Besdies, the predicted grades still make the school look good... when the actual grades come out, they just blame the student - poor exam technique or bad day type thing.
My A levels were a nightmare... five consecutive days of two exams a day - one morning, one afternoon in a gym hall with a glass roof and no ventilation... and each exam was 3 hours long... bloody essay papers.
Still... did alright, got to Uni, and then got a 2:1. So
raceboy said: Still can't work out how students who were expecting (via their teachers comments) A or B grades got Ungraded marks, thats a big difference not just a mark or two
Because they didn't do any revision? They had a big night out the night before the exams? Their teachers told them X was a sure-fire inclusion on the exam paper, so they didn't study anything else and whoops, no X on the paper?
It happens. It happened to students when I did my A levels (not to me though!!
), and that was in the good old days when A levels were jolly hard work and only the best passed, before our esteemed government got its sticky paws on the education system and made people think A levels are a right, not a privilege. Bit like driving licences, really. When you're young you have no track record so the exam results are a good way of assessing how good you are at taking exams.
The whole system is completely screwed now, lazy thick ignorant students moaning to the gov for their own incompetances, teachers having to frigg the results due to lazy thick ignorant govn education commitees not knowing anything about how best to educate the 'new' yoof.
I could go on as both parents are teachers and so's my sister and brother in law, but I won't cause it's my birthday.
The whole system is completely screwed now, lazy thick ignorant students moaning to the gov for their own incompetances, teachers having to frigg the results due to lazy thick ignorant govn education commitees not knowing anything about how best to educate the 'new' yoof.
I could go on as both parents are teachers and so's my sister and brother in law, but I won't cause it's my birthday.
Podie said:
How many people took A-levels? Consider that...
91,000 took 'A' levels, and 300,000 papers were re-assessed - and 1000 got upgraded marks. So in those simplistic terms it's not the fiasco it was made out to be. Agreed that on an individual level it can't have been an easy time and there are probably still questions to be answered as to why there was so much political interference, but, as one of the examaning board people said, this level of correction is normal under re-assessment anyway.
Only 168 pupils are now affected as to the choice of uni.
thrust said: As far as I'm concerned, this whole debarcle is a a bit of a non-story, exam results have been statistically manipulated since at least the 60s. My most recent exposure to this was at university, where it was well known that the grade boundaries were only approximate, and were subject to later moderation.
I'm with you on this - if anything it'll prepare them for life better, most if not all professional exams have this sort of statistical marking boundry, at the end of the day its not how good you are its how good you are compared to others.
"My A levels were a nightmare... five consecutive days of two exams a day - one morning, one afternoon in a gym hall with a glass roof and no ventilation... and each exam was 3 hours long... bloody essay papers"
It was exactly the same for Thrust and myself.
The sick thing is, according to Dr Mouse snr., Thrust's physics guru, nowadays these kids don't have to take exams like this. The poor delicate flowers can't expected top perform under that kind of duress, so they all do modular courses, which is probably where the confusion originates from.
Late hand-ins, lost course work and retakes. It's enough to do anyone's head in!
No wonder Dr Mouse Bsc.PHD.etc.etc.etc. is bald as a coot!
Mouse jnr. Ba.Mdes.
p.s: Bon Aniversaire M. Scruffy quatre-cent
>> Edited by danger mouse on Wednesday 16th October 13:50
Modular courses? Jeez... almost as good as the "multiple guess" exam I had in a GCSE one! (technical term for "multiple choice" is "piece of piss").
Granted, I hated having 2 exams a day for five consecutive days... but you just get on with it... 'king lazy liberal namby-pamby state.
Granted, I hated having 2 exams a day for five consecutive days... but you just get on with it... 'king lazy liberal namby-pamby state.
No wonder Dr Mouse Bsc.PHD.etc.etc.etc. is bald as a coot!
Mouse jnr. Ba.Mdes.
p.s: Bon Aniversaire M. Scruffy quatre-cent
Merci beaucoup M. Mouse, J'ai aussi un PhD dans la physique, je peux connaître votre père. J'ai quelques cheveux.
Édité pour me dire pense que les enfants deviennent plus grands cependant.
>> Edited by Scruff400 on Wednesday 16th October 15:06
M@H said: its all a farce these days... I remember the time i found a question on an A level physics paper from 1991 on an O'Level Physics paper from a few years previously..
...however kids are just getting cleverer, the standards aren't slipping.. BX
M@H - more than a few years between O levels and and 1991!
Podie said: Modular courses? Jeez... almost as good as the "multiple guess" exam I had in a GCSE one! (technical term for "multiple choice" is "piece of piss").
Granted, I hated having 2 exams a day for five consecutive days... but you just get on with it... 'king lazy liberal namby-pamby state.
Modular courses are NOT easy, I took two (old style) A-Levels that were modular and it's an absolute ar$e revising for two exams every few months, then having to keep performing consistently well to get a good mark.
GNVQs, now them are some easy exmas.
I remember that whilst revising for my A level maths Pure/Applied exams, (1995 I think) I did every single paper for the last 20 years.
Try to stop the examiner being able to surprise you. When you open the paper and think "Oh, I'm *bored* of doing these" - you'll probably do alright.
If you plotted the marks I got against the year, they were high for the most recent papers, and then tailed off steadily as we went back in time.
The old papers had material that I simply couldn't do. Wasn't taught any more....
The uni I went to (York) does a pip test for the incomming students on the electronics course. The paper has never changed. The marks get worse every year. They now do a 20 lecture maths fundamentals course to bring the students up to where they need to be......
Try to stop the examiner being able to surprise you. When you open the paper and think "Oh, I'm *bored* of doing these" - you'll probably do alright.
If you plotted the marks I got against the year, they were high for the most recent papers, and then tailed off steadily as we went back in time.
The old papers had material that I simply couldn't do. Wasn't taught any more....
The uni I went to (York) does a pip test for the incomming students on the electronics course. The paper has never changed. The marks get worse every year. They now do a 20 lecture maths fundamentals course to bring the students up to where they need to be......
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