A* at A'level

[Cortina]

How will this change things? If at all.

How many will be awarded in a few weeks time?

Not sure if this is a good thing. It might make things harder for children from bog standard comps to compete for places with grammar and independently educated pupils.

I don't know anything about it really but am interested to learn more.

Some I know taking GCSEs have a tick box list of what turns an 'A' into an 'A*' - so have people understood what's required to do similar at A'level?

Curious to see how many are awarded in the next few weeks.

As far as I know it's 90%+ (UMS as opposed to mark) in the A2 modules. I know a fair number of people who achieved this pre-this year...a lot depends on how the rest of the country performs.

Surely it may cause confusion with employers etc? If you scan a recent CV and compare to one only a few years ago etc.

Will it be comparable to an 'old' (pre 1988) 'A' at A level?

I read in the Sunday Times that the govt/QCA(?) are expecting around 7% of all A2 students to achieve A*, but these figure vary from 4% for comp students to 16% for those at indy school .

The article went on to say that this is one reason that the Unviversities are treating the A* with caution so as not to discriminate against state school students

"Will it be comparable to an 'old' (pre 1988) 'A' at A level? "

I don't think it works like that - I did a mix of 'old' and 'new' (but not 'new new' ;) ). The methods of assessment are very different between old and new, and certainly the % of people achieving an A* is likely to be different. It's more about how they are compared to the last 10 years...but my experience is of academia, where A-levels matter less once you have a BA.

A minority of universities (e.g. Cambridge/some of the London ones) asked for UMS marks already for all/specific courses, so that is only changed by them asking for A* rather than UMS marks.

Cortina: I work at a recruitment consultancy and would hope that other employment agencies and direct employers are already researching the new A* grade and what is needed to achieve it.

As I understand it, the A* grade is meant to be a universal replacement for the Advanced Extension Award, which a lot of schools don't do as it's a separate exam. It simply marks out those students who have performed at a higher level.

Personally I don't like it. I did the AEA in English and it wasn't just 'more difficult' to get, it was actually closer to university work. And as Snowmash said, Cambridge et al already ask for UMS, it would just be easier to implement this across all universities, no?

I agree it would be easier to use the UMS scores, but think students should have to submit all their scores so it is clear if they have resat modules.

JGB fingers crossed our DS's will be in the 7% in 8 days

My son too is waiting for A level results on the 19th. He was predicted 4 x A but is hoping to get at least one. Luckily he doesn't need an A for his first choice uni.