More Than A Quarter Of A-Levels Awarded At Least An A

[dryrot]

Just looked on the Mail website - their piece on A level results has six photographs and not a single male in any of them.

Amazing.

A collection of A-Level Girls from the press at: http://sexyalevels.tumblr.com/

[bonner]

Dear All,

A levels are easy?

If you think they are have a go at them.

Just search for a particular subject and exam board as well as level and have a go.

For the sake of argument dont look at the answers either until you have had a crack at the paper.

There a a lot of sites that will supply the actual papers and expected answers.

Teaching someone to pass a particular examination is different from teaching someone to understand why, what application it has and how it links in with other topics that are set.

Again to all those that think teaching and lecturing is a doddle. Have a go see if you can do it and get the desired results. (Expecting the foaming mouth brigade to mention the long holidays and the gold plated pension etc. etc.)

All the best

Bonner

[57percent]

Again to all those that think teaching and lecturing is a doddle. Have a go see if you can do it and get the desired results. (Expecting the foaming mouth brigade to mention the long holidays and the gold plated pension etc. etc.)

Not from me. I would not like to teach kids today, looks like a thankless task.

.... but I do think less is taught and higher grades are dished out.

If I get a chance at the weekend I'll try some of the recent maths papers. I remember everything I did ... but maybe not how to do it!!!

[bonner]

Not from me. I would not like to teach kids today, looks like a thankless task.

.... but I do think less is taught and higher grades are dished out.

If I get a chance at the weekend I'll try some of the recent maths papers. I remember everything I did ... but maybe not how to do it!!!

Good on you! 57%.

Notice nothing from the "Foaming Mouth Brigade". all talk and no substance!

Think I may use that as shorthand now (FMB).

Somewhere I have a 1966 O'level maths paper. Yes it is the one I took! Wonder if thats on the interweb?

All the best

Bonner

[Riedquat]

Dear All,

A levels are easy?

If you think they are have a go at them.

Just search for a particular subject and exam board as well as level and have a go.

For the sake of argument dont look at the answers either until you have had a crack at the paper.

There a a lot of sites that will supply the actual papers and expected answers.

Teaching someone to pass a particular examination is different from teaching someone to understand why, what application it has and how it links in with other topics that are set.

Again to all those that think teaching and lecturing is a doddle. Have a go see if you can do it and get the desired results. (Expecting the foaming mouth brigade to mention the long holidays and the gold plated pension etc. etc.)

Without having studied the subject at all? Even an easy one is going to be rather a struggle there. To be honest even if it's easy in the subjects that I did do at A level I'll be too rusty now. Doesn't mean that they aren't easier than when I did them though.

I would very much like to have a go but haven't found (admittedly after only casual searching) anywhere to do what I would like to have a go at (geology).

[Terribad]

The stuff that my teacher did in A Level maths in the 80s is now considered "Further Maths" - ie way too clever to be normal A Level Maths. I think imaginary numbers are now considered the tough bit of maths at A Level.

Apparently calculus used to be done at GCSE too.

The fact that this is the case, is proof that standards have been diluted.

I imagine GCSE maths is now about studying the social impact of bullying those who can't count, "alternatives to counting stuff", and studying "maths from other cultures".

If your feelings are hurt by this, here is my bothered face ---->

[57percent]

It's definitely obvious to see the 'syllabus creep' within the maths papers.

Even in '95, we used old O Level books/test for the first few months. Looking at Cambridge International syllabus for this year, there's possibly only half of what was there in '95, plus some stuff pushed up from GCSE.

Are Matrix gone completely? They were on my GCSE in '93, but we were taught them again as they moved off GCSE and into A Levels .... can't see them now.

Imaginary numbers? Hyperbolic trig?

[Terribad]

It's definitely obvious to see the 'syllabus creep' within the maths papers.

Even in '95, we used old O Level books/test for the first few months. Looking at Cambridge International syllabus for this year, there's possibly only half of what was there in '95, plus some stuff pushed up from GCSE.

Are Matrix gone completely? They were on my GCSE in '93, but we were taught them again as they moved off GCSE and into A Levels .... can't see them now.

Imaginary numbers? Hyperbolic trig?

I can only speak for my syllabus in 2002, but matrices within multidiff calculus was not present, nor imaginary numbers within calculus. Don't think constrained optimisation was in it either. (trying to think what i did at uni but not at A Level)

Trigonometry within multidiff calculus was pretty much the peak of A Level maths in 2002. You could leave that question blank and still get a B/C

[SarahBell]

Are there any a level maths papers about?

I did mine in 1988.

Edited August 18, 2011 by SarahBell

[Traktion]

Dear All,

A levels are easy?

If you think they are have a go at them.

Just search for a particular subject and exam board as well as level and have a go.

For the sake of argument dont look at the answers either until you have had a crack at the paper.

There a a lot of sites that will supply the actual papers and expected answers.

Teaching someone to pass a particular examination is different from teaching someone to understand why, what application it has and how it links in with other topics that are set.

Again to all those that think teaching and lecturing is a doddle. Have a go see if you can do it and get the desired results. (Expecting the foaming mouth brigade to mention the long holidays and the gold plated pension etc. etc.)

All the best

Bonner

I think you are missing the point, Bonner. It isn't about having a go at teachers or pupils. It's about keeping a level playing field over the decades.

The International Baccalaureate seems to manage to function without grade inflation, so why can't A-Levels? It seems that the uptake on using the IB is not without justification:

http://194.82.135.172/ibaem/associations/communications/documents/UK-factsandfiguresJune2011.pdf

TBH, if I had the choice to pick what my kids should study, I'd recommond the IB, as it would devalue less over time due to grade inflation.

[Goat]

If private sector employers want certain skills, they should take the initiative themselves. Not keep whining on about how the state fails to do it all for them.

This isn't industry specific skills we're talking about here, it's basic literacy and numeracy, organisation, the ability to communicate and to present one's work properly, even simple things like being able to dress properly and turn up on time.

And if that isn't the state sector's responsibility then what exactly is the 11 years of compulsory education for?

[Injin]

This isn't industry specific skills we're talking about here, it's basic literacy and numeracy, organisation, the ability to communicate and to present one's work properly, even simple things like being able to dress properly and turn up on time.

And if that isn't the state sector's responsibility then what exactly is the 11 years of compulsory education for?

To make sure most people can't do those things, in order to keep those who cans wages articially high?

[Goat]

To make sure most people can't do those things, in order to keep those who cans wages articially high?

[Mrs Bear]

when I did A levels it was below there with history of art,ancient history etc and thats saying something.

That was my opinion of it - until I saw that exam paper. Even the comprehension was something you had to read very hard and carefully. It was a very academic school and they made them do it to cover e.g. maths if they weren't doing that at A/AS, or a language if they weren't doing any past GCSE level.

I would guess most of the unis kids from that school were applying to wouldn't have counted GS anyway, but the idea was to give a more rounded education in the 6th form.

[catsick]

My feeling is the relentless erosion of standards is done to advantage those who are average but who have parents or teachers pushing them at the expense of the genuinely bright children who now have very little way to demonstrate they are bright. By making the exams easy, anyone who makes an effort can get the highest grade, by making the exams hard the very bright can differentiate themselves. Another way this is being achieved is through the use of course work counting in ever increasing volumes, so parents and teachers can ensure that a high grade is achieved by overseeing the work handed in, thus the grade reflects the hard work of the teachers, tutors or parents and to a lesser degree the pupil rather than the raw ability of the child as a hard exam would demonstrate.

The fairest way to demonstrate in an objective way how kids have done at school is to have a hard exam which is then graded in percentiles ( which therefore can never be subject to grade inflation ) to show how bright the child is and also a coursework together with an easy exam which can show how much of a swot the kid is or how pushy the parents/teachers were. A combination of the two will tell employers / universities all they need to know.

I did my A levels is 1986 and standards were already visibly falling compared to the papers of 10 years prior, getting A's in maths, further maths and physics enabled me to show I had ability and later land a good job when my teachers generally would have been happy to see me fail given my healthy disrespect for authority ..