A-Level Results 2011

[LucyGoosey92]

Good luck to everyone receiving their A-Level results today, and here's hoping you all got what you wanted and deserved.

 

I got an A*, 2 A's and a B and am off to study Law at the University of York I'll miss Sheffield!

[Mecky]

Exams are far too easy

[Jon26]

Good luck to everyone receiving their A-Level results today, and here's hoping you all got what you wanted and deserved.

 

I got an A*, 2 A's and a B and am off to study Law at the University of York I'll miss Sheffield!

 

Well done!

[LucyGoosey92]

Thank you Jon26 . They're not all easy - admittedly some are easier than others, depending on what you study. Literature isn't fun when you're trying to remember Shakespeare etc. Plus the majority of us worked really hard for our grades and now we may celebrate!

[Guest]

Exams are far too easy

If you're talking about syllabus content, then you might have a case. Certainly there's been a knock-on effect on some first year undergraduate course content, and in university selection procedures, to accommodate the changes at GCSE and A Level.

 

The route to the qualifications has changed and is changing (again), however. Take GCSEs, for example: coursework replaced by controlled assessments; fewer modules/a return to linear assessment, where all course content is examined at the end of the course; assessment of the quality of written communication.

 

Having had a moan about exam standards, today's probably not the best day on which to have a moan about exam standards . None of that detracts from the fact that most of today's pupils have obviously worked hard for their grades.

[LucyGoosey92]

Hectate, you raise a valid point there. People are saying that exams are getting increasingly easier. An interesting point - it must be remembered that whilst actually passing the exam might be easy (a pass at AS or A Level merely requires an E grade) getting the higher grades is a different story altogether.

[Bloomdido]

My girl got two 'C's and a 'B'. That's good enough for what she wants to do.

[Norbert]

Said on the news that 27% are getting A or A*. Back in the (my) day it was more like 10%. I recon my A, B & 2 D's is worth an A*, A and 2 B's by todays standards. Yay for me!

[Chris_Sleeps]

Said on the news that 27% are getting A or A*.

BBC News - A-level passes rise amid university places pressure.

 

This year A* was awarded to 8.2% of entries - up from 8.1% last year.

 

But the proportion of entries getting either an A* or an A stayed unchanged at 27%.

[Guest]

Congratulations on securing a place at York! You're going to love it.

Hectate, you raise a valid point there. People are saying that exams are getting increasingly easier. An interesting point - it must be remembered that whilst actually passing the exam might be easy (a pass at AS or A Level merely requires an E grade) getting the higher grades is a different story altogether.

Oh, absolutely. It does take hard work to secure a top grade. However, many of the very bright pupils who do study hard for their A Levels come out with a clutch of top grades. That's great for them, but it's made it difficult for university admissions boards to distinguish between them during the selection procedure; they're interested in the ability and the potential of those bright applicants, and the A Level exams aren't necessarily doing the job of allowing them to shine. I think that does a disservice to the pupils, whose abilities aren't being stretched thoroughly, and for whom the rigours of university-level work and assessment, beyond the introductory courses, come as a bit of a shock.