OR 22 - Edinburgh, Warwick, St A, UCL, Durham, Nottingham, Bath and more

[Valleyofthedollymix]

Following on from the Oxbridge rejects thread but I've got rid of those two words. I for one am interested to know where they all end up and when Durham might finally deign to reject/offer DS...

Nightmare with tube strike. The rail strike is a right pain but I think we have a plan to work around it. Is your DS finishing 24th @CaliforniaDrumming or is he into the next week?

I get all your points, I do, but I'm still astounded that an A could be 50-55%! WTF? So what's all this on the news every year 'Record passes' or 'Highest amount of A* ever" if it's just the government setting the boundaries to make that happen? Mind blown!

We're rearing up against this here in Scotland as it seems the SNP are starting to do this- exam results to justify their shit educational policies, when in actual fact it's just dumbing down.

DS1 says his Adv H Maths was the same level as the MAT he sat for Oxford. I thought they were supposed to be the equivalent?

I agree they shouldn't be horrendously difficult- what's the point of that? Why can't they make the standard similar each year? I'm still reeling at 50%, though.

Yes, a few years ago, there was a Maths paper one of mine did (can't remember which board), but they all came out in a state of shock and the teachers were also reeling. But, the grade boundaries were much lower to reflect the fact it was a harder paper. Many students couldn't even attempt pages of questions! But the ones who were predicted the top grades still got them. In other years, they might have got almost full marks on other papers.

Hope this reassures people a bit and fingers crossed for all the DC!

Puffalicious - the thing is there are different exam boards and they have to have some moderation between them, I think. They can't have all the ones doing AQA getting higher grades because the paper was much easier than say, the EdExcel paper, etc.

Please don't quote me @Puffalicious - it was a glib completely uninformed comment! My son said something along those lines yesterday but it's completely unverified.

@cosenza is right - these things are moderated across boards and only a certain percentage of people are given the various grades. It's fair because as shown here, some papers are harder than others.

A previous poster said that more people get A stars in maths, physics etc but I saw a graph the other day that said that the lowest percentage of applicants getting top grades is actually in physics and further maths. The highest was in fine art. I'll see if I can find it.

I think, despite variations in grade boundaries, there is still a kind of 'checklist of competency' for the various skills arise the subject curriculum in order to attain a grade. It's just that in harder papers, you the evidence of the required competency may be at 50%. In easier papers, students showing a similar competency could be clustered around the 95% mark.

*across the subject curriculum

Different exam boards? AQA? EdExcel? I am so lost. There are different exam boards? Really?

Don't feel you need to explain- I'm just in a difficult system with one exam board. My new colleague has come from the English system, so will quiz her Monday when I'm back in school. We have loads of chats about how everything is crazily different!

Different system, not difficult- ours is very one dimensional!

Just for further complexity, at GCSE, one of the options is the IGCSE which is also (mainly)? sat in countries like China and India. Quite a few independent schools do the IGCSE. So, if we're talking about maths in particular, those U.K. students are up against the Chinese mathematicians!

Hello everyone. Name changer here who's been a contributor on these threads but paranoid since the data leak especially as I'd reported a couple of threads and got emails back from MN showing my real name and email address!

DS based in Scotland. So, schools out, Proms done, exams went well (he thinks?!) And now Glandular Fever has hit accompanied by a godawful Strep throat.

Apparently there's a lot of it about. We're hoping a months recuperation and antibiotics for the throat will provide sufficient recovery time so that he can go on his lads' holiday to Greece in July. I suppose it's better happening now rather than at exam time or Freshers Week at Uni. We were hoping he'd be able to work and save some funds for Uni but we'll see how it goes. Missing a lot of partying as people turn 18 so it's a bit miserable but hey ho!

Feeling it for all of you with kids still wading through A-Levels and battling crazily difficult papers and rail strikes.

Puffalicious - there are various boards at A-level. EdExcel, AQA, Cambridge, WJec (not sure that's the right abbreviation)? I'm sure there's more as well. I think also, under the Cambridge board, they are not called A-levels but Pre-U and the grades are something like D2 (A star) of D1 (A). It's something like that anyway. Yes it's very complicated!

‘A previous poster said that more people get A stars in maths, physics etc but I saw a graph the other day that said that the lowest percentage of applicants getting top grades is actually in physics and further maths. The highest was in fine art. I'll see if I can find it.’

Oh dear, that’s a touch depressing 😀 I am quite philosophical about where DS ends up now which sounds like it’s a good thing !

Thanks conzenza. You've got me intrigued now! I'll quiz colleague and try and get my head round it.

Ontouni Hi! We're the same boat- great to be finished/ prom was great/ 18th celebrations/ lads' holiday in Greece in July (🤣 wonder if they'll be partying side by side unbeknownst?)/ working this summer. All pressure off and that's super. Feeling the contrast to all the other PP who are still.in the midst. I'm crossing all fingers for everyone.

So, so sorry to hear DS is sick. How gutting for him. It's such a shame after all that work and he just wants to enjoy himself. Hopefully he'll recuperate with your excellent care and be tip-top soon.

@Puffalicious I didn’t know that about the special award! Clearly DS largely within the 85-95% boundary then!

I’ve been feeling for you all and friends / family with kids doing Alevels this year. It sounds like they’ve dropped a number of balls and have made things harder than they needed to be. Whole grade boundary shifting will help the DC achieve the result they are due, it doesn’t help their mental health or stress levels.

@cosenza I'm not sure that's still correct - it certainly was when DD sat her A levels in 2016 but DS school told us when DS chose his A levels in 2020 that they've brought Maths and STEM much more into line with other subjects. Days when 25% were getting an A in Maths and 7% or so getting an A in History are over I'm almost sure.

Sorry about weird bold long hot day! The only detail I can remember specifically was that getting an A* in Chemistry could need mid to high 90s.

And A*in History etc obvs not A!

25%? 7%?😱.

Eightytwenty The special awards are not as common as they used to be. You used to get a special * on the certificate if you were top 5% of the country, but that stopped years ago. I think DS1 only got a mention as he got 95% + in all his exams. And yet, Oxford still didn't want him! Their loss...😀

I googled 'percentages of different grades at A-level - sorry not sure how to link the site, but it's one if the first things that comes up and the first page looks like this -

If these stats are correct and if anyone is interested, you can see that the Percentsges if A* in Maths and FM are higher than anything else, both pre-Covid and during. Also, you can see the impact of CAGs and TAGs in terms of grade inflation!!! I just included History as a comparison, but other humanities (inc MFL) and social sciences are similar to history.

So if your DC is doing Maths and / or Further Maths A-level and they are setting grade boundaries between the last two years' CAGs / TAGs and 2019 grades, the odds of an A* is not too bad?

This is the link to all the A level grade stats:

www.bstubbs.co.uk/a-lev.htm

Interesting stats. Explains a bit why the tariffs are so high for stem, and why this year has been such a crap shoot.

Bloody hell! We knew he was clever but that’s incredible.

It's just the way he's built EightyTwenty. I suspect he has a near photographic memory, which is most of the battle. I definitely think this is the only way he got the grades for English, as he hates it (my subject🤣). Academia relies so much on memory. DS2 now jokes about how ridiculous his brother is. As the letter came through that he's won more school awards, he quipped "But there's no award for height or being handsome, or the coolest guy in the school, that's why I never get any"🤣. Good for him.

They're doing the NC500 right now with their dad, and when you're catching tonight's dinner noone cares what you got in your Highers 🤣