How difficult are these flipping A levels anyway?

[camilamoran]

DS started 6th form in September, and I have just been sent his A level target grades, based on GCSE results.

For these subjects, he got A or A* at GCSE. His targets for A level are all C.

Surely if he got an A, and has been accepted on an A level course, he should be aiming higher than C?

An A at GCSE does not equate to an A at A-level. Some children will get both, but, realistically in a lot of subjects, a child who got a B (if they worked) is going to struggle to get graded at all from a B.
Therefore you would expect the whole range from the A grades. you will get the ones who go from A to A, but also you get the grades A at GCSE to the E (and lower) at A-level.

Targets are based on CATS plus GCSE grades- don't worry about it.

Once you get to Spring term, the teacher will be able to set a far far more accurate target based on coursework/practice papers.

My dd got all A/A* at GCSE and is predicted 3 A and 1 B (in her strongest subject!) at AS some of her friends got lower but similar GCSEs. She thinks the teachers mark them down to give them a kick up the bum and stop them being too arrogant - this was the tack the head of sixth form took at a meeting in September.

Apparently a least one parent has complained that they are not getting enough support with English coursework. The teacher basically told them all that was "tough", they had to work it out for themselves and the teachers could not give too much help or spoon-feed.

I reckon all this is to wake them up to the fact that A' levels are a big jump after GCSE (bigger than between A' level and degree) and as preparation for more independent study at Uni.

This soinds about right to me, to get an A at Alevel I woulkd expect an A* at GCSE and even that is no guarantee. Getting an A at GCSE would probabkly lead to a C or maybe lower if you dont react well to the sudden jump in content.

At this stage they are just basing it on statistical data of how other students with the same gcse and CATS/YELLIS scores have done. At my DCs school they include all GCSE results .So grade obtained in (say) French GCSE would feed into Maths A level prediction.It means nothing so don't worry about it.

Thanks for all these useful points! Perhaps they've all been given C targets at this point - I should try to find out. I'm all in favour of teachers giving them a kick up the bum at this point and that's partly what I was unhappy about - I think he should be told to aim as high as possible.

Some schools use ALPS for targets which is based on average GCSE results and nothing else and gives a single target grade that is applied to all A levels. So it's very crude and doesn't take into account what subjects have been chosen or past performance in those particular subjects. I seem to remember to get an 'A' prediction on that system you needed quite a lot of A* at GCSE.

But equally- high target grade could over inflate confidence- much better to emphasise how hard they are to stimulate work rather than imply they're easy with 'a at GCSE means a at a level' assumption.

Obviously different things motivate different students- it's all about how you/the teacher present it to the student.

Ds's Target Minimum Grade is B for his three A levels based on his GCSE scores, however his predicted grades for UCAS are AAB.

There is a big leap between GCSE and A levels. Lots of A/A* students come down with a bit of a bump (especially in Maths!)

But is really is too early to say that this point so as long as he is working hard I wouldn't worry too much

It's the price our DCs pay for the dumping down of GCSEs.

The universities wouldn't let A'levels slip as much.

Looking at the grades needed for my old RG university, A'levels have slipped too.

I can't believe the DCs have all got 1.5 grades cleverer.

DDs GCSE science is a joke, most of it is writing waffle, very little science.
It's OK for her she's been doing A level science since she first asked a question (DH doesn't believe in short answers and mine aren't much better).

But if school science is all you know, heaven help you!

Maths was always a big jump,. DH and I both did additional papers in Y11 to ease the transition. I still got a dreadful grade, he didn't

There was a big jump between the old O' levels and A' levels in my day too and that is getting on for 30 years ago.

DD did the triple science GCSEs (gaining A*s) and is doing 2 science A' levels. I do not agree that GCSE science is mainly waffle. IMO the old O' level was mainly memorising and regurgitating, the GCSEs are more analytical. It is often more difficult to get maximum marks in a short answer question than woffling your way through a long one.

I think the teachers are better at teaching to the exam than they were 30 years ago which is one reason why grades have risen.

I think that was the idea, but they have messed about with the syllabus again.
Some one has decided that scientists can't write (true), I'm just not sure this present course is the way to go.

Of course scientists can write! How else do they publish their papers?

My DS got almost full UMS in his Chemistry GCSE but really struggled at AS, managed a very disappointing (for him) C grade and dropped it.

He is predicted A at Maths & Eng Lit (but only got a B at GCSE Eng lit - which was a shock as expected an A/A) so it is really hard to predict.

You have to remember that a pass at GCSE is A - C (for university purposes), and at A-level A - E. This means that a B at GCSE maps to a C at A-level, and a C to an E.

I suspect that the teachers are being cautious at the beginning. It is a big jump from GCSE, and while it is fine for a slogger to get an A* at GCSE, the same student will not be able to replicate this at A-level. Ditto for lazy, bright kids. For top A-level grades, they have to both work hard and have flair.

Papers are mulled over and handed round research groups, in which someone can write. Not necessarily everyone.

Dh moans bitterly at some of the stuff he gets, but accepts it works to his advantage when he gets brownie points for being able to turn out decent reports. (Old-school English teacher parents, he had no choice).

I'm a scientist, and you don't last long these days if you can't write. You simply don't get any funding if you can't write your grants/papers. That's interesting about your DH's experience startail - is he working in academia or industry? I sometimes think that a lot of people can't be bothered to write properly - it takes a lot of time and effort and they just opt out.

I suppose my main point is that if anyone has an aspiring scientist, then it is really important that they don't drop English (or equivalent such as history).

Industry, with computer software and hardware.