in thinking that in a few years time it'll be impossible to fail an 'A' level?

[BarmyArmy]

A level pass rate up

"The pass rate for A-levels rose for the 28th year in a row, with 97.6% of entries gaining an E or above, up from 97.5% in 2009."

The problem (for I see it as that, rather than evidence of increasing 'hard work') began under the Tories, when they introduced the GCSE in 1986.

Traditional 'bell curve' grade allocation was replaced with marks awarded to a particular 'standard', meaning it is perfectly possible for everyone to pass, or indeed everyone to gain the same grade - depending on where the grade boundaries lie.

Under the old bell curve system, grades were allocated according to the percentile bands in which you lay - i.e. the top 20% of any given intake received an A, the next a B and so on.

What do people think?

Have you seen a GCSE Physics paper? They are not all multiple choice, although some of the questions at the front may be. The formulae are inside the front cover. I don't have a problem with them being available, because surely it's about knowing which one to use and when, rather than a rote learning of formulae that's important for distinguishing between candidates in a Physics exam, otherwise it is a memory test.

I found some old O level Biology papers before the holidays. My top sets (the ones who would have done O levels rather than CSEs - we always for get them when we compare O levels and GCSEs don't we?) could have managed most of it without much difficulty. They couldn't have labelled the ventral surface of an earthworm, but I'm not sure that's a great loss to the specification.

A levels are a lot easier today than they were. This is a fact - you only have to compare the papers to see this. Claiming that everyone has simply somehow "become cleverer" simply shows that everyone has not become cleverer.

The topics covered are not really that relevant. It is the questions, and the way they are set which matters. For example in maths the exam questions are now if many parts which guide you towards the correct solution whereas in the past you had to work out what you had to do far more yourself.

An A is supposedly to separate the exceptional from the outstanding - 8% got an A - this is nearly 1 in 10. How can one in 10 be exceptional?

This does not of course mean that anyone gettign an A* is necessarily unexceptional - just that those who are genuinely exceptional (say the top 3%) can not demonstrate this fact and are just lumped in with all the rest.

Go on then barmy, what qualifications:grades have you got?

2001 barmy

I don't want to be offensive to anyone who has worked hard and got amazing results at all - my dd did hers three years ago and did really well. When I did mine (at Hills Road VI form college in Cambridge) in 1982, ten or eleven out of about hundred students got one or more A grades in their three subjects - no-one else was expected to. I don't know why or how the grading system has changed but it clearly has. That isn't a criticism, just an observation.

DD2's RS teacher marks for the WJEC (we're in Wales) and he led most parents and students to believe that the 'bell curve' allocation of grades was still in use.
Were we misled, or does each exam board use a different system?

I couldn't pass a single A-level (2y ago) but it doesn't mean I'm stupid so to suggest that it will be "impossible to fail and A-Level) is fucking rude personally

TheFallenMadonna - indeed I have - I took mine in 1989. The examples to which I referred were on papers sat between 2000 and 2005, when my younger brother was taking them.

I delighted to hear things have moved on - hopefully the grade allocation will revert to the former system as well. For what it's worth, it's how the Army still allocates grades on its staff courses.

I think they should get rid of the AS levels, and all course work at A level and go back to the sitting of exams once at the end of two years. Grade inflation is partly caused by the fact you can resit modules several times.

I did a multiple choice paper for my Chemistry A level in 1989...

I meant have you seen one recently. Since we are kicking the current exam system. And no, you haven't.

MilkNoSugarPlease - is it rude? It wasn't meant as a slight on you. Your taking it as such says more about your own feelings on the subject than anyone else's (un-informed)observations.

You obviously know yourself better than anyone and, as you say, your failure to pass a single 'A' level doesn't mean your stupid.

Dinkytinky - 10 GCSEs (1989) and 4 'A' levels (1991)

Altinkum - so are you saying that today's exams do not measure intellectual ability effectively?

I'm really thinking along the lines of GCSEs as that's my specialism, but no-one gets top grades because the course is easy - those go to the hardest working or most naturally gifted candidates every time.

When it comes to the magic C grade though - well we're under so much pressure to get them there that it's a bit like spoonfeeding DD gobfuls of gloopy carrot. In that respect, those achieving the top grades deserve even more recognition because schools' focus really isn't on them.

I don't remember any multiple choice questions in my GCSE exams either, I took mine in 2004.

Good to know though that employers look at the year exams were taken - how exactly was I supposed to get around this then? Take my GCSEs at the age of 9? I am intrigued to know which years you find acceptable, too. It's not like picking a vintage wine, FFS! People can't help when they were born!

And what were your grades?
This sounds like Big old sooooour grapes to me. If you really feel the need to attack others achievements and intelligence I think you should take a big look at yourself, I bet you don't like yourself very much.

Dinkytinky - rest assured, I think I'm awesome

My grades were, for GCSEs - 3 As, 4 Bs and 3 Cs.

For A level - 2 As and 2 Bs.

BertieBotts - I simply mean that if I was to see a candidate had 10 C grades from 1993, I would accord them the same level of attainment as someone getting 10 A grades nowadays. It's not all about levelling people's achievements down, you know.

I had multiple choice papers for my 0'levels in 1979

Oh, I see, well that makes sense... I suppose?

Altinkum - I think we need to clarify what we mean by 'intellectual' as opposed to 'intelligent'.

Also, you're absolutely right about the need to not simply 'read off a text book', which is why today's tendency to teach to the exam is such a shame.

It means pupils have not been given the chance to decide for themselves what facts/themes/concepts are important. This becomes all too apparent once they leave school and enter the world of work.

I do not think A levels are easier, looking at the work my son did this year compared to what I did in the 80's, but the modular system does make it easier to get a good grade. Surely though that is a good thing? as it is fairer than everything depending on one exam. I cannot understand this criticism every year of hardworking teenagers who are not sat on their arses claiming benfits but trying to get a good education and career!

I teach German a-level. It has multiple choice sections on the final paper as well as on as papers. It's not easy. Some of it is designed to almost catch you out and make sure you really know your stuff. It's not the multiple choice on a gmtv phone in standard.My native speaker colleague has an Oxbridge doctorate occaisionally we stillhave to consult / double check a particular answer.
Tbh you know why standards of exam results have gone up over the last twenty years because the standards of teaching has gone up in the last twenty years. My a level teachers more or less left me to it and could not have given a monkeys whether I passed or failed. Now students are taught, supported, mentored, tested, monitored left right and centre. ( sometimes a little too much in some cases and then they flounder a little when they get to uni but that's another issue) a levels are hard. They need to be - level is easily harder than the first year of some degrees.
You are insulting my profession and all the students. Would you tell a dentist that their job was easy because you sat in a dentist chair? Or tell a solicitor because you went to court once.. Or the midwife because you've given birth....? No - but because you went to school once and sat exams and can spout some drivel about grade boundaries YOU know better. Give me a break. Grrrr