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Higher education

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Original poster

And so the 'A-level misery' starts…

137 replies

HappySonHappyMum · 07/08/2023 07:14

So nice of The Mail this morning to start preparing us for the massive grade deflation our DCs can expect next week😡

And so the 'A-level misery' starts…
OP posts:
Postapocalypticcowgirl · 08/08/2023 14:27

floribunda18 · 08/08/2023 11:39

Exams are ok but I think they should be less of a memory test and more open book and I think coursework should be reintroduced.

If there is a worry about parents helping then it could be done at school in a set time/written up at school in exam conditions with some preparation allowed/note making etc beforehand.

Coursework still exists for some A-levels, though? It's used, for example, in history and geography.

There are also alternative qualifications available, such as BTEC, if a student wants to be assessed mainly via coursework rather than exams- and some of those exams allow notes to be taken in with you.

To be clear, I do think the current system puts a lot of pressure on students, but decent alternatives are (currently) available. I'm also not sure that the last two years (when the education system is trying to recover from covid) would be a good time to completely change KS5 assessment.

FWIW, imo, 2020 and 2021 were a nightmare for a lot of students- some definitely missed out on uni places unfairly. At least here, everyone is being assessed in the same way, and judged according to the same standards.

lastdayatschool · 10/08/2023 05:22

The Times at it again today with another scaremongering, doomladen, inaccurate article about lack of places in Clearing this year

Original poster
HappySonHappyMum · 10/08/2023 07:22

@mushroom3 No it's not - it's a selective sixth form attached to a Senior school in an outer London borough that is part of an Academy chain. I know of another school in the borough that does exactly the same and both of these sixth forms are at the top of the pile for results achieved in our borough. I know why now my DD has passed through.
@Postapocalypticcowgirl It concerned me too - they pay lip service to mental health, make all the right noises in a lot of ways - but there was a drop in attendance after Year 12 and my DD openly talked about friends who had been told they wouldn't make the grade and were encouraged to choose alternatives that may suit them better.

I should say that for my DD her sixth form experience has been positive but that's probably because she was making good grades.

OP posts:
TeenDivided · 10/08/2023 07:36

It's not necessarily wrong to point out to students at the end of y12 that they are on track for low grade A levels. It gives them the opportunity to switch to something else such as BTEC/T-Level which might suit them better.
I can imaagine for this and previous years y13s there might be more in this category than usual. Some schools were quite 'generous' with GCSE grades so it is possible that some people started A levels who probably should not have.

OTOH I think admissions rules have now established that forcing students to leave because they are not reaching say CCC is unacceptable.

itsgettingweird · 10/08/2023 07:40

Piggywaspushed · 07/08/2023 07:33

The papers froth when results go up, and when they go down. Stay away from them. I agree they ramp up stress. MN is just as bad, though! Anyone who received results last few years can find them being devalued right here on this site...

It's not true that the current exam years had no Covid disruption.

However, the pegging to 2019 is not quite as simplistic as the press are suggesting.

Agree about devaluing.

All those who have received grades the past 2 years are now getting "well you only got an A because of covid".

No one's a winner in this.

Piggywaspushed · 10/08/2023 07:43

TeenDivided · 10/08/2023 07:36

It's not necessarily wrong to point out to students at the end of y12 that they are on track for low grade A levels. It gives them the opportunity to switch to something else such as BTEC/T-Level which might suit them better.
I can imaagine for this and previous years y13s there might be more in this category than usual. Some schools were quite 'generous' with GCSE grades so it is possible that some people started A levels who probably should not have.

OTOH I think admissions rules have now established that forcing students to leave because they are not reaching say CCC is unacceptable.

Wasn't there a school a few years ago that got jnto big trouble for kicking students out in fact? Either a grammar or a private school iirc. Led to some sort of government level proclamation.

TeenDivided · 10/08/2023 07:46

Yes there was @Piggywaspushed , that was the 'admission rules have now established' bit of my post. I can't remember the details, but the school was putting in a high barrier to continue which of course kept their %A/A-star grades artificially high.

I do think though that kids on track for say DEE should seriously consider switching courses, but it should be their choice.

Piggywaspushed · 10/08/2023 07:49

We get stuck with loads of them at my school. I guess in more urban areas there are more alternatives open. But in many areas, school is all there is , and possibly a college somewhere. Sticking is easier than twisting.

TeenDivided · 10/08/2023 08:06

Piggywaspushed · 10/08/2023 07:49

We get stuck with loads of them at my school. I guess in more urban areas there are more alternatives open. But in many areas, school is all there is , and possibly a college somewhere. Sticking is easier than twisting.

There are downsides to the Hampshire system of no school based 6th forms, but at least it forces all students to make an active choice about what they want to do and where. There is no default of staying at school.

Postapocalypticcowgirl · 10/08/2023 16:19

HappySonHappyMum · 10/08/2023 07:22

@mushroom3 No it's not - it's a selective sixth form attached to a Senior school in an outer London borough that is part of an Academy chain. I know of another school in the borough that does exactly the same and both of these sixth forms are at the top of the pile for results achieved in our borough. I know why now my DD has passed through.
@Postapocalypticcowgirl It concerned me too - they pay lip service to mental health, make all the right noises in a lot of ways - but there was a drop in attendance after Year 12 and my DD openly talked about friends who had been told they wouldn't make the grade and were encouraged to choose alternatives that may suit them better.

I should say that for my DD her sixth form experience has been positive but that's probably because she was making good grades.

To be fair, I don't think it's unreasonable to encourage students to choose alternatives that suit them better. Most students in this cohort came into Y12 with somewhat inflated GCSE grades, and some of them have really struggled on A-levels.

Directing students to more appropriate courses is normal, and will have happened more than usual with this cohort. However, asking them to leave altogether is not really allowed in state schools at the end of Y12, which is what I thought you meant by "culled". That implies something a lot more brutal.

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