Summer 2017 A levels - are the results going to drop with the new exams?

[badbadhusky]

Just watching BBC News do the nightly review of the papers' front covers. They've been discussing a piece from either the Sunday Times or the Telegraph about the exam regulator stepping in to prevent a large downward move in grades. Are we being softened up for a big 'correction' downwards when the results are published next week?

I read it as the examiners lowering the grade boundaries so we don't see a huge drop.

Ah. Interesting you took it differently.

Schools fear chaos over ‘tough’ A-levels

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/462348d0-7fb0-11e7-816d-eccee8c9dbd0

This isn't news. The exam regulator's actual job is to do this each year to make sure the grades accurately reflect the ability of the cohort.

But 'regulator does their job' doesn't make such a good headline... apparently neither do nonblond haired girls

I agree that is sort of the job of the exam regulator - but where would the headline be in that?

That said, if grades were down across the board, then it wouldn't actually make that much difference to any of our dc, as all universities would then just have to accept candidates with lower grades. There is only an issue if one exam board is wildly different from the others.

But grades won't be down...

...hence the if they were

The ST has certainly gone in for headline hyperbole today

Schools fear chaos over "tough" A-levels

screams the main headline on the front cover, swiftly followed by

Exam chief acts to stop grades plummeting

things get worse on page two with

Risk of "meltdown" at universities baffled by new grade system

worried about titchy at this point in proceedings :)

Although we've had several days of doom and gloom in the weekday paper

failing universities ; clearly no real grasp of what the TEF is, or at least that Bronze does not equate to Bad

Big story about alleged preference for EU applicants as % of British A level entrants have dropped - allegedly

Splendidly sarcastic letter from the VC of Warwikc Uni in the ST letters page today suggesting that perhaps the journalist behind the story might have considered using the correct statistics. Although that may have resulted in a less appealing story for the Times to run.

I honestly think I need a head in my hands emoji :)

That said Ii do struggle to understand exactly why we need multiple exam boards.

Wales and Scotland both have single exam boards. It is an English affliction, as post-devolution education policy is devolved. Education Secretaries are now limited to tinkering in England.

Don't forget that twat Adonis who didn't get the job he wanted

Education Secretaries are now limited to tinkering in England.

can't help feeling that tinkering is a bit of an understatement husky

and that with close to 87% of the combined England, Wales, Scotland population being in England that is more than enough to wreak havoc on.

I know. Gove's reforms were more akin to taking a baseball bat to a Lalique showroom. Twat!

If the new levels sort the really clever from the worked hard all hours, it will be worthwhile. I think there should be a handful getting grade 9, not 25%. I did the minimum, but read a huge amount around the subjects I took for A level, because I was deeply interested, and ended up with the equivalent of A* results.

Perhaps I am in a minority, but IMVHO, I think we need to select and somewhat ruthlessly .

It is not going to matter for my kid who is not academic at all. Bright enough but far more likely to think outside the academic route.

In my career I see dozens of graduates each year entering my profession with strings of As and A*s at GCSE and A level. Very few of them are exceptionally bright and they go on to struggle with professional exams where you need to learn a lot very quickly. They think they are far cleverer than they really are. The tougher grading system is long overdue (speaking as a parent of someone about to enter year 11).

That said, if grades were down across the board, then it wouldn't actually make that much difference to any of our dc, as all universities would then just have to accept candidates with lower grades. There is only an issue if one exam board is wildly different from the others.

Don't agree with that, sorry. It's not just comparing those of the same year. Future employers will be comparing against candidates of different years. For those taking time out of education and returning to it in later years, they'll likewise be compared with those in other years.

When I did my A levels in the 80's, I got D grades. Today, that's not impressive and wouldn't look good, but in the 80's it was good enough to open doors to higher education and a professional qualification. I was at school in the 70's and 80's and A grades were only for the very best - I knew very few classmates likely to get one or more A's. In the noughties, a string of A/A*'s was the norm. We're now seeing a partial correction of the dumbing down and grade inflation.

If this year's grades are lower, the pupils will be at a disadvantage as there'll be loads of people who've taken a gap year (or 2) after school, currently applying to Uni, who may have got higher grades.

I accept that grades have got higher from when I did my o levels and a levels. But could there be other reasons this has happened besides the dumbing down of content.

Maybe it is just me, but young people seem to work harder nowadays. I tended to revise a bit in the weeks before exams. Whereas my dc has been working hard for 2 years. I don't think she is that unusual.

As parents I am so much more supportive than mine were. I haven't expected her to work, pick up and take siblings to school and look after them in the holidays if there were child care issues. Nor has she had to do a lot of housework.

Schools and teachers seem to work so much harder which the emphasis on league tables. When I was at school I don't remember being offered revision sessions at lunchtime or after school. Never mind being enticed into school with pizza on a Saturday for more revision.

And there is so much revision material on line. For GCSE English lit my dc found a teacher who'd put up useful videos on each of the poems she was studying online. Plus you can look at old papers, mark schemes and sample.

Nowadays there is more support for students with learning difficulties so young people can still take exams alongside there peers despite being severely dyslexic.

It seems a bit more complex to me.

If this year's grades are lower

As the OQQUAL Chief Regulator has made clear they wo'nt be

She has set this out quite clearly in an open letter to all schools

www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/619839/15_June_2017.pdf

Her letter covers both GCSE and A levels

Well not really Kazzy as pupils that have taken GCSE prior to this year, will have letters to grade their exams, and this year's candidates will have numbers. It will be pretty obvious to all and sundry that they were taken in different years.

back

this year's will get the best of both worlds not sure that is the most appropriate phrase as they'll have a mix of numbers (English Language, Lit and Maths) and letters for the rest. ditto next year depending on subject choice as more move from letter to number grades.

The thing that has always slightly puzzled me is that at all the DCs schools a 1, whether for effort or attainment, was always the ultimate in terms of the good end. I wonder if in due course a !st at University will become a fail / unclassified, and a newly invented 4th or 5th the thing to aspire to :)

I wonder if in due course a !st at University will become a fail / unclassified, and a newly invented 4th or 5th the thing to aspire to :)

Grade point averages have been mooted...

how likely do you think a move in that direction is Titchy ? Have some Uni's already started (Surrey ?) - potential to gather momentum?

Sorry boys3 - yes, I meant 'this year coming' (in my head..... just didn't put it )

top of the Surrey scale seems to be a 4.25; doesn't quite have the same ring to it as a 1st, although skimming the website Surrey also continue with the traditional 1st, 2.1, degree classification as well.

I doubt it'll happen in the next few years, but it's certainly gaining traction, QAA are keen and I think it's inevitable we'll go that way in say 10 years.