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Do you think the A level reforms are unfair?

I had to study 3 AS levels;whereas my cousin was just set mocks for 2 of his subjects and his teachers told them what to study and as a result he had more time to study for his maths AS level. As a result, he got predicted A*AA. On the other hand, I didn't have as much time to study for my maths AS level, but I still gained my A* prediction in the subject. But I had to sit a real chemistry and biology AS to obtain my predictions which were incredibly more difficult.

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Predictions are a load of piss.

A-level changes are not unfair.

What is unfair is the differences between the postgraduate loans for students from NI compared to loans for English students.
Original post by APersonYo
I had to study 3 AS levels;whereas my cousin was just set mocks for 2 of his subjects and his teachers told them what to study and as a result he had more time to study for his maths AS level. As a result, he got predicted A*AA. On the other hand, I didn't have as much time to study for my maths AS level, but I still gained my A* prediction in the subject. But I had to sit a real chemistry and biology AS to obtain my predictions which were incredibly more difficult.


Why do you think it's unfair?
Reply 3
Avatar for alow
alow
19
No, A Levels completely fair. You're given marks based on how well you did compared to the rest of the people taking the exams, so it can't be unfair.

If you had less time to study for something, you need to take responsibility for that and work more efficiently.

If your cousin had his hand held through those mocks then he's going to have a much harder time when he has to do the real exams this year because he hasn't learned how to work.
Reply 4
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APersonYo
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Original post by _gcx
Why do you think it's unfair?


He did easier exams to get his predictions;whereas I had to do harder ones. For example, I wasn't told what to revise for my exams and consequently he will get higher predictions than me. If AS levels were brought back then it would be standardised across the board.
Reply 5
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APersonYo
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Original post by alow
No, A Levels completely fair. You're given marks based on how well you did compared to the rest of the people taking the exams, so it can't be unfair.

If you had less time to study for something, you need to take responsibility for that and work more efficiently.

If your cousin had his hand held through those mocks then he's going to have a much harder time when he has to do the real exams this year because he hasn't learned how to work.



I'm not saying what I was doing was unfair. I'm just saying it was more difficult to get my predictions than it was for him. For example, he was told what to revise for the mock exams he was given to make his A level predictions;whereas I had to sit a real AS paper. I had to sit 2 AS exams for biology and chemistry which reduces the time frame for me to revise for my maths as.My cousin got to sit nice evenly spaced mocks consisting of 1 paper from last year for chemistry and biology leaving lots of time for him to revise maths AS. Not to mention, he was told what to revise for these mocks. It's not fair because my predictions will be compared against his and he had an easier time.
Everyone is in the same boat and marks are adjusted depending on how everyone does, so it isn't unfair.
Reply 7
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APersonYo
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Original post by _gcx
Why do you think it's unfair?


I'm not saying what I was doing was unfair. I'm just saying it was more difficult to get my predictions than it was for him. For example, he was told what to revise for the mock exams he was given to make his A level predictions;whereas I had to sit a real AS paper. I had to sit 2 AS exams for biology and chemistry which reduces the time frame for me to revise for my maths as.My cousin got to sit nice evenly spaced mocks consisting of 1 paper from last year for chemistry and biology leaving lots of time for him to revise maths AS. Not to mention, he was told what to revise for these mocks. It's not fair because my predictions will be compared against his and he had an easier time.

Thats why^
Original post by alow
No, A Levels completely fair. You're given marks based on how well you did compared to the rest of the people taking the exams, so it can't be unfair.

If you had less time to study for something, you need to take responsibility for that and work more efficiently.

If your cousin had his hand held through those mocks then he's going to have a much harder time when he has to do the real exams this year because he hasn't learned how to work.

But for sciences, you have a practical element which is required by most universities to have a pass. Sciences before this had no practicals but they had some which wasn't really important. Therefore, a lot of schools cheated as the teachers gave the students help and in some cases done all of the work for them.
Aren't Reformed courses good? Now a lot of courses only count the A2 which is very good for me since I didn't get the best of grades at AS?
Reply 10
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APersonYo
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18
Original post by Kyou
Everyone is in the same boat and marks are adjusted depending on how everyone does, so it isn't unfair.


They are not in the same boat because I wasn't given a list of topics which would have definitely been on my exam to revise for my AS. He also got to sit 1 paper each for biology and chemistry. I had to sit a total of 7 exams to get my A level predictions.
Reply 11
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APersonYo
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Original post by Shazen
But for sciences, you have a practical element which is required by most universities to have a pass. Sciences before this had no practicals but they had some which wasn't really important. Therefore, a lot of schools cheated as the teachers gave the students help and in some cases done all of the work for them.


Yeah, I guess thats really good then.
Reply 12
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APersonYo
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Original post by Kiritsugu
Aren't Reformed courses good? Now a lot of courses only count the A2 which is very good for me since I didn't get the best of grades at AS?


Reformed courses are great. It just makes the system of predicting A level grades slightly unfair because different schools will have different ways of determining their predictions. For example, I had to sit real AS paper;whereas my cousin got to sit a mock where he was told what to revise for it.
Original post by APersonYo
Yeah, I guess thats really good then.


Yeah I guess. This is why a lot of students didn't find sciences that hard now you have to do the practicals as an exam and the teacher judges your practical and gives a pass or fail.
Well this does not affect international a-levels
Original post by APersonYo
Reformed courses are great. It just makes the system of predicting A level grades slightly unfair because different schools will have different ways of determining their predictions. For example, I had to sit real AS paper;whereas my cousin got to sit a mock where he was told what to revise for it.


Oh yeah, that's true.
Reply 16
Avatar for alow
alow
19
Original post by APersonYo
I'm not saying what I was doing was unfair. I'm just saying it was more difficult to get my predictions than it was for him. For example, he was told what to revise for the mock exams he was given to make his A level predictions;whereas I had to sit a real AS paper. I had to sit 2 AS exams for biology and chemistry which reduces the time frame for me to revise for my maths as.My cousin got to sit nice evenly spaced mocks consisting of 1 paper from last year for chemistry and biology leaving lots of time for him to revise maths AS. Not to mention, he was told what to revise for these mocks. It's not fair because my predictions will be compared against his and he had an easier time.


Then his teachers have put him in a worse position as he won't be prepared for his exams next year. Predictions don't mean much if you screw up the real exams.

Original post by Shazen
But for sciences, you have a practical element which is required by most universities to have a pass. Sciences before this had no practicals but they had some which wasn't really important. Therefore, a lot of schools cheated as the teachers gave the students help and in some cases done all of the work for them.


Most A Level sciences previously definitely had practicals, which you had to fill in a short exam which was marked (for 20% of your A Level). They were easy enough that if you spent half an hour studying for them it was basically easy full marks, if someone did poorly on them it was no one's fault but their own.
Original post by alow
Then his teachers have put him in a worse position as he won't be prepared for his exams next year. Predictions don't mean much if you screw up the real exams.

Most A Level sciences previously definitely had practicals, which you had to fill in a short exam which was marked (for 20% of your A Level). They were easy enough that if you spent half an hour studying for them it was basically easy full marks, if someone did poorly on them it was no one's fault but their own.


Ohh ok. The practicals now, are they examined by teachers? I heard that a teacher examines your practicals and depending on how good it goes they give you a pass or fail grade.
So you're saying that your predictions were more strenuously obtained, and that makes it unfair? Tbh I reckon you've done better, as your better prepared for the real thing. Anyway, who gives a s*** about predictions?


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Reply 19
Avatar for alow
alow
19
Original post by Shazen
Ohh ok. The practicals now, are they examined by teachers? I heard that a teacher examines your practicals and depending on how good it goes they give you a pass or fail grade.


I would assume so, yes.

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