BBC NEWS | Education | Students count multiple A grades
Not wishing to dismiss the achievements of any of the mentioned students, but can’t help feeling that A levels have to have got easier. I started off studying 5 – Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Biology and General Studies (yes, we did have General Studies lessons, but no homework) and I couldn’t do it. Had to drop Physics, and it must have taken me two terms to catch up on everything else. And I’m no slouch. So how are ppl managing to do six or seven at a time? Did someone slip an extra couple of hours into the day when I wasn’t looking?
Comments
16 responses to “BBC NEWS | Education | Students count multiple A grades”
Just seen your post about the job – congratulations!
Have to say that we were really impressed when someone wanted to study 4 (and I’m sure you were only able to if you got really good GCSEs – and I didn’t exactly find them challenging but would never have considered studying more than 3 A Levels – far too much like hard work). I did go to take 3 A Levels plus GCSEs in Latin and Greek – but decided drinking was more fun and dropped out. I have to say that I cannot see either how people are studying 6 or 7 unless they have got MUCH easier.
It’s a sign of old age, Jax, when you start talking about the good old days 🙂
I think I view this bit differently, as it’s the norm in Scotland to be much more broad-based at this point, and taking 6 Highers wasn’t unusual, even in ahem – 1974 – and you were expected to have a mix of Arts and Sciency type things, plus a language, maths and english.
i did 4 – and it was bloody hard work [chemistry, physics, maths and music]
I not sure whether or not the new A2’s are easier than old A levels but I think that it is easier to study for modular exams when you are not being assessed on 2 years worth of work in one setting. When I took A-levels two of them (maths and chemistry) were modular, one (music) had a massive chunk of coursework and the other two (classical civilisation and general studies) had one exam at the end. Classics was much much harder to revise for than Maths, for instance because we had all the Classics work we had studied in 2 years to look at but for Maths all the Statistics was finished with at the end of Y12 so there was only a bit of Pure and decision maths in the final set of exams .
Really what I think I am trying to say is that modular exams are easier to study for than non-modular exams, in my experience, and all A2’s are modular.
That’s a valid point Stella, hadn’t considered it.
And Nikki, I’ll show off my age, and point out that I did O levels 😉
Joyce, didn’t refer to them as the good old days, school wasn’t that for me (now university, that’s a different story 😉 ) by any stretch of the imagination! Broadening out the study seems to me to be a good thing to do, but Highers and A levels were supposed to be of a slightly different standard I believe – which was why Scottish universities did 4 year degree courses. And wasn’t (or isn’t) there an extra qualification that could be taken? Nobody has claimed though, that we’ve moved to this system in England, or not that I’ve noticed, I think the standard chant is that children are cleverer and teachers are better and A levels are just as difficult as they ever were.
I don’t believe that. If children are cleverer, how come the pass rate for driving tests hasn’t gone up? Ah, perhaps driving instructors haven’t improved. Well how come, if they have all been taught their standard subjects by the wonder teachers – surely all the new driving instructors will also be fabulous, and able to impart driving skills so much better?
Or perhaps someone somewhere realises that doing the same thing to the driving test that they’ve done to school exams would be a highly dangerous thing to do? 😕
mmmm,well i did a year of ‘a’ levels,as I did g.c.s.e ‘s when they were fairly new ,i found them so different to ‘a ‘ levels,a crap preparation in my view
TBH I think a lot of it has to do with hoop-jumping, but then I’m a cynical cow.
The driving test is a poor analogy I would suggest, as a driving test environment will vary from test to test and person to person depending on time of day, weather etc.
I think schools have got better at getting kids to pass exams. I don’t think A-Levels are necessary easier just the kids are better prepared, this certainly doesn’t mean they are cleverer or have deeper or more extensive knowledge.
I failed my maths A level – there was too much fun to be had at sixth form than worrying about calculus. When I took the A-Level I had next to no knowledge of pure or applied maths. I decided to retake it and my mum agreed to teach me through it (she being a maths teacher). We spent a couple of hours a day over the three week Christmas holidays going through specific areas of the curriculum. We decided to play a percentage game, to learn the questions that come out nine times out of ten etc. With less than a month’s work I got a C. I think schools just do this much better than they used to – my school was never *that* interested in what I got – they would be now because their reputation depends on their kids results.
Look at Paula Radcliffe and the marathon. I am sure there were athletes around 20 years ago who with the same training methods, technologies etc could have run as fast as her.
It’s not that the kids are cleverer it’s that the A-level has run its course. It’s a bit like IQ tests – people can learn to do them. Of course at work we now use something called the BMAT to assess applicants – given each year we get more and more applicants because more and more have the grades we can no longer use A levels to partially assess students. Companies are already starting to offer courses on how to pass the BMAT……it’s a changing world.
And congrats on the job. What does the company do?
I think the driving test is a fine analogy. As I dimly recall there may have been environmental variables 23 years ago, I will check, but I am pretty sure it used to rain and snow sometimes back then, it could be just that my memory is cloudy, or yes, maybe we had fog too.
What about driving centre pass rates? Have you seen how much they vary – it’s astounding.
What about it? Can’t see what point you are trying to make.
I started out with 4 A-levels (maths stats, music, geography and psychology) but dropped out of 6th form pretty quickly since finding out drinking and hanging around was more fun! I did music off my own back, and psychology as an adult evening class though. I think stella’s point about the modular aspect of it now, especially as it’s broken down into AS and A2 is a good one, as it’s much harder revising for a two year course. Also the amount of coursework would make a difference. I also agree that schools are better at teaching how to pass exams, rather than teaching the actual subject.
No real point – just staggered to find that some centres have a 70% pass rate while others have less than 30% – goes to show now what you know it, but where you know it.
I took two driving tests, failed in Central Birmingham, passed in Ipswich. Quite honestly, I can’t see how it is possible to pass the test in some parts of London. As an example, This roundabout was on one of the test routes in West London, don’t know whether it still is, but it beats me how anyone could drive round it to the satisfaction of a driving examiner.
My sister failed her driving test numerous times in London, moved to Newcastle and passed straight away.