45% of A Level grades A & A*
- Thread starter gravy173
- Start date
It was so unfair on students this year - and after last year's absolute fiasco they deserved all the praise, recognition and help with grades they can get.
Congratulations to all A Level Students and I hope you got the grades you were looking for. You have had such a difficult time in which to do your studies. All the best to you.
Massimo's Header
Member
There was no easy solution to the issue. The Government tried last year to impose a solution which provided some year on year consistency and it blew up in their face, so effectively they have just walked away this year.
Adi_Dem
Well-known member
The department of education's approach to this has been shambolic. It is the government's job to come up with solutions to difficult problems. Once again absolute incompetence won the day. There was a huge disparity of approach between schools.
For example, my daughter gets her GCSE results this week. She sat mock exams in December. She then sat a series of 'GCSEs' in April and May under strict exam conditions. These were papers that were removed freom the internet past papers sites - they were therefore effectively unseen. As close to a proper exam as it was possible to get. However, the exam timetable was compressed hugely across a couple of weeks such that she was sometimes having three exams in one day, which simply would not happen with a proper GCSE timetable. Most of her final year and a half was spent in and out of lockdown. Areas of the syllabus were untaught and she had to do the work herself. The amount of pressure she put herself under was visibly doing her harm. Her results this Thursday will be based on the exam 'results'. Compare that to some other shcools who decided not to do any exams and instead grades will be entirely based on teacher assessment. I don't have a particular problem with either approach (with sensible timetabling and access to lessons) but there has to be consistency across all students. It is that disparity which seems grossly unfair to me.
For example, my daughter gets her GCSE results this week. She sat mock exams in December. She then sat a series of 'GCSEs' in April and May under strict exam conditions. These were papers that were removed freom the internet past papers sites - they were therefore effectively unseen. As close to a proper exam as it was possible to get. However, the exam timetable was compressed hugely across a couple of weeks such that she was sometimes having three exams in one day, which simply would not happen with a proper GCSE timetable. Most of her final year and a half was spent in and out of lockdown. Areas of the syllabus were untaught and she had to do the work herself. The amount of pressure she put herself under was visibly doing her harm. Her results this Thursday will be based on the exam 'results'. Compare that to some other shcools who decided not to do any exams and instead grades will be entirely based on teacher assessment. I don't have a particular problem with either approach (with sensible timetabling and access to lessons) but there has to be consistency across all students. It is that disparity which seems grossly unfair to me.
With respect it is clear that some students, through no fault of their own have received grades which they would not have attained in normal circumstances. This will prove problematic further down the road when they get a job or university position based on their grades which is above their capability.
Adi_Dem
Well-known member
I think that's a leap actually. I think by and large students will get the grades that they will deserve.
FatCat
Well-known member
Spot on - whilst there are no easy solutions - over grading doesn’t help many in the long run.
FatCat
Well-known member
Except the additional 20per cent receiving an A or A star
BlindBoyGrunt
Well-known member
Are there any obstacles to working in percentiles where for instance, to earn an A* you must be in the top 3% and so on, which would iron out problems like some exams being set much harder or easier than other years.
Primus84
Well-known member
Broadly speaking that's what the usual GCSE and A-Level exams do - they adjust grade boundaries every year so that they limit how many people get each grade. Whether you think that's fair or not is a matter of great discussion.
Randy
Well-known member
I don't see an issue with it personally. If anything he's giving hope to thousands of kids who might not have achieved the grades they wanted but he's showing them anything is still possible.
Primus84
Well-known member
I think it's more that he's not exactly the norm and times have changed - qualifications are more important now than they might have been in the past.
Massimo's Header
Member
Up until the mid 1980's there were prescribed percentages. There were no A*s in those days. The top 10% of scores were granted an A grade at A level.
Students with a mix of Bs and Cs would still get on good courses at Russell Group universities.
Not the students fault,but now the top universities are now requiring extra exams (eg STEP exams for Maths) to differentiate between students, because they struggle to identify the top students from A levels alone.
Students with a mix of Bs and Cs would still get on good courses at Russell Group universities.
Not the students fault,but now the top universities are now requiring extra exams (eg STEP exams for Maths) to differentiate between students, because they struggle to identify the top students from A levels alone.
This is certainly true for a professional qualification I studied.
FatCat
Well-known member
parents with kids going through this predictably want the best for their children - you would think they could see grade inflation devalues the grade and doesn’t really prepare kids for reality believing they are a Straight A student when previously they would have been a B or a C.
Primus84
Well-known member
The normal method of grading for A-Level and GCSE is also not entirely free of political influence - years when the Government want to be able to point to the "improvements" they've led then we also see increases in top grades and the percentage of students obtaining what most would consider to be "pass" grades.