what grade does your school require to do an A level in that subject?

[user1484040234]

My Kids' school currently requires a B grade to do an A level subject. For next year it's going to be a grade 7 with a grade 7 in Maths to do science subjects. Have other schools changed their requirements with the new linear GCSE/A levels? A 7 is supposed to be an A. This is a local comprehensive school.

When I was at school you only needed a C Grade to take A level maths but it had to be a C Grade at Higher, not Intermediate level.

Alexander, The difference is 25/30 years ago a Grade E GCSE grades were probably considered to mean a pupil had functionally ability .

Today's C grade at GCSE carries the same weight as E grades did 25-30 years ago. Noticeably you could get on courses at College with E grades that now require C grades.

This could be down to numbers, roughly suggest 25-30 years ago only 35% or so gained C grades at GCSE. Therefore by going down to D and E grades at GCSE 25-30 years ago; we equal the current 60% or so pass rate at C grade (4).

I don't want to get in to a debated as to whether a grade E English at GCSE in 1988 is equal to a grade four today (though the figures suggest it is ).

That is unless you believe pupils are brighter today than yesteryear.

English teacher here. Been teaching since 1992. The demands on students of the GCSE are tougher than ever in that time.

A student who would scrape a C in the 90s on paper looks very much the same as one who would get a 4 in reality.

Been teaching since 1992

you could have taught me!

There definitely has been grade inflation, that’s undeniable, but students are also much better prepared for exams today than they were in the past. Scrutiny of teachers and schools, and the internet opening access to masses of resources have also had a positive effect on results.

I don't really disagree with you tiggytape. I'm saying that use of the word "pass" leads to confusion. Especially now, where it has more than one qualifier (G used to be a pass, in that you had a GCSE, C was a good pass, now 1 is a pass, 4 is a standard pass, and 5 is a strong pass). It's a nonsense. Just give the grade. You don't need to retake if you get a 4. You need a 6 to do A level, or a 7, or whatever. You need a 5 for it to count towards the EBacc. No need for the word pass at all, except to distinguish a GCSE grade from a U.

I still correct people (notably students) when they say they are going to 'fail'. They are always surprised to hear that grades D-G / 1-3 are passes!

A student who would scrape a C in the 90s on paper looks very much the same as one who would get a 4 in reality.

But there are also other dimensions, i.e. the scope of the exam, how marks are awarded, which skills are being examined etc. I think the problem is that the requirements have shifted, which has confused public opinion. So you can come across someone with a relatively good grade, but who doesn't know how to spell February, or doesn't know the difference between their and there - these "small" things which may only lose a few marks, so in exam terms are pretty unimportant within a Macbeth essay, but which are very important out in the real world.

Yep, the DfE had a huge opportunity with the move to numbered grades to get away from that horrible C cliff-edge and the divisive language of calling a C a pass when that harked back to the O-level era. They totally ballsed it up, and then added further confusion when they bottled Gove's idea of a 5 being the pass grade because they realised that the headlines would look bad.

I still correct people (notably students) when they say they are going to 'fail'. They are always surprised to hear that grades D-G / 1-3 are passes!

In the education world, yes. But out in the real world, there'll be few employers who pay much attention to such low grades, and people with low grades like that will be pushed down the pecking order when applying for jobs where there is a lot of competition.

Surely not Mountford. I got a higher C grade in 1990 in Maths & 2 A's in English & the work my children are down my now (Year 11 on track for 7/8 & Year 9 on track for 6 is far, far harder than anything I did.

(There is also way more pressure/homework etc)

kazzy the examples you give are fairly typical of a C/D borderline student in 1992 and a low 4 now.

Honestly, trust me. Not much has changed in terms of what those students 'look ' like. An experienced English teacher can spot a 4 a mile off.

Mumsnet is so, so weird about A levels. I was at a 6th form college last week and saw the leavers destinations on the wall, including the A level grades. I nearly took a photo to post on mumsnet. Loads of C D E type results, all at unis, yes, mainly 'ex polys' (that peculiar mumsnet snob description) but doing some really interesting sounding courses. Biological sciences, history, sociology, German, sport off the top of my head.

What do we do with the roughly 1/3 of students below a 4 in Maths then KazzyHoward? Not encourage them to move from a 1 to a 2 because although it means they can do more Maths, they are just lumped in to the "not really a pass" group?
We seem to have ditched any notion of criterion grading. GCSEs are just perceived as a way of lining 16yos up in ability order. No matter that what they are studying is different when compared with previous years, that their knowledge and skills might be different.

I think the 'official 'answer to that Madonna is that progress 8 is meant to put pressure back on schools to see students at all levels of ability make progress but, true , in the 'real world' no one will pay much heed to whether someone has a 1 to or 3 (and on MN 4, 5,, 6 or even 7!)

Mind playing tricks on me there ! Meant to type 1, 2 or 3!

I do wonder whether someone should be taking a degree in a subject they attained an E @ A level !

Mumsnet is so, so weird about A levels. I was at a 6th form college last week and saw the leavers destinations on the wall, including the A level grades. I nearly took a photo to post on mumsnet. Loads of C D E type results, all at unis, yes, mainly 'ex polys' (that peculiar mumsnet snob description) but doing some really interesting sounding courses. Biological sciences, history, sociology, German, sport off the top of my head.

What do you expect the perceptions of what is academically average to be, from posters who regularly criticize people for foibles in punctuation to be !

Alexander. 25- 30 years ago the number of pupils gaining 1 A grade at GCSE (no A grade then )was around the 5% mark. Anybody that achieved 4 A grades @ GCSE was as scarce in number as those who attain 10 A GCSE grades today.

Qualitative evidence from workplaces and universities suggest a weakening of writing and arithmetic skills, are evident in some students today. This when compared with student skill sets from 20 years ago.

Much easier to post when i am wearing my glasses !

TO BE ARGH.....

30 yeaŕs ago I got the 3rd highest results in my school with 3A 7B 3 C at O level. That was enough to give me a scholarship to a private school, an offer of EE for my chosen degree at a top RG university and opened the door to a professional career. My brother scraped CDE at A level and went onto a lower status university. His professional career is equally as prestigious as mine. The mass of A/A grades means little in the working world as soon as you get your first real job. Even the professional service firms are now ignoring qualifications and recruiting based on personality. Write off poor GCSE attainers at your peril. Those I am involved with can knock spots off the A/A tutored clones.