AS levels may be abolished?
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That's just a bad idea, so many people mess up their first exam and improve considerably afterwards that it would be unfair.
I think a big problem with it is that you won't really know what you are going to get overall until the end.
With modular exams, the early modules give you an indication of what grade you are going to get overall, so you know what unis to apply to. But with linear exams, it's much harder to tell and some people could have a completely wrong idea of what they are going to get and end up either completely missing their offers or getting much higher and feeling like they could have applied to a better uni.
I know there is always clearing/adjustment, but that isn't ideal.
With modular exams, the early modules give you an indication of what grade you are going to get overall, so you know what unis to apply to. But with linear exams, it's much harder to tell and some people could have a completely wrong idea of what they are going to get and end up either completely missing their offers or getting much higher and feeling like they could have applied to a better uni.
I know there is always clearing/adjustment, but that isn't ideal.
Good, the retake and prediction system takes the piss and favors schools and individuals who can work the system...
I think it'll change so everybody applies once they have the grades... Exam dates are moved earlier as well
Original post by izpenguin
I think a big problem with it is that you won't really know what you are going to get overall until the end.
With modular exams, the early modules give you an indication of what grade you are going to get overall, so you know what unis to apply to. But with linear exams, it's much harder to tell and some people could have a completely wrong idea of what they are going to get and end up either completely missing their offers or getting much higher and feeling like they could have applied to a better uni.
I know there is always clearing/adjustment, but that isn't ideal.
With modular exams, the early modules give you an indication of what grade you are going to get overall, so you know what unis to apply to. But with linear exams, it's much harder to tell and some people could have a completely wrong idea of what they are going to get and end up either completely missing their offers or getting much higher and feeling like they could have applied to a better uni.
I know there is always clearing/adjustment, but that isn't ideal.
I think it'll change so everybody applies once they have the grades... Exam dates are moved earlier as well
(edited 11 years ago)
I'd hate to have a picture taken of me in an exam 
The new scheme doesn't allow much scope for illness or special circumstances which currently allow students to resit exams, which I think is fair.
Then again, you could argue that being allowed to continously resit is unfair if certain individuals are able to without any different circumstances.
The new scheme doesn't allow much scope for illness or special circumstances which currently allow students to resit exams, which I think is fair.
Then again, you could argue that being allowed to continously resit is unfair if certain individuals are able to without any different circumstances.
sit A-level maths modules 29 times, it emerged.
Original post by izpenguin
I think a big problem with it is that you won't really know what you are going to get overall until the end.
With modular exams, the early modules give you an indication of what grade you are going to get overall, so you know what unis to apply to. But with linear exams, it's much harder to tell and some people could have a completely wrong idea of what they are going to get and end up either completely missing their offers or getting much higher and feeling like they could have applied to a better uni.
I know there is always clearing/adjustment, but that isn't ideal.
With modular exams, the early modules give you an indication of what grade you are going to get overall, so you know what unis to apply to. But with linear exams, it's much harder to tell and some people could have a completely wrong idea of what they are going to get and end up either completely missing their offers or getting much higher and feeling like they could have applied to a better uni.
I know there is always clearing/adjustment, but that isn't ideal.
Like it was in my day! The system wasn't perfect, any more than the modular way is now. However, I think that the present way of retakes etc has caused a lot of problems. It has lead to some universities demanding certain UMS scores, no retakes etc, and must have been one of the main reasons for the introduction of the A* at A2. It is much more difficult for universities/employers to identify the 'genuine' A grade people. I would stick with AS, which gives a indication of how people are getting on, and also enables them to do an extra subject in year 12. However, I would remove the opportunity to do retakes.
I know it's not quite the same thing, but when SATs were abolished for yr6s and yr9s, most schools just replaced these with their own internal exams because the children's next schools wanted results.
Surely we'd just see the same thing happen here. Universities need grades so they know who they are offering places to, so will expect some kind of provisional grade - which at the moment is the AS level combined with the A2 predicted grade. So in terms of relieving stress on pupils, well, it won't.
I know that's not what the article is saying; just in reply to what some other posters have said!
I think placing a stricter cap on retakes is a good idea, but having everything riding on end of year exams like it used to be is not a good idea. Anything can go wrong on the day of the exam.
Surely we'd just see the same thing happen here. Universities need grades so they know who they are offering places to, so will expect some kind of provisional grade - which at the moment is the AS level combined with the A2 predicted grade. So in terms of relieving stress on pupils, well, it won't.
I know that's not what the article is saying; just in reply to what some other posters have said!
I think placing a stricter cap on retakes is a good idea, but having everything riding on end of year exams like it used to be is not a good idea. Anything can go wrong on the day of the exam.
(edited 11 years ago)
If they're going to do this, they'll HAVE to make sure the exams improve. As in so they're always the same difficulty, on a spread of topics, with no **** ups (as is becoming more and more common). They should also have to change it so its not (For some exams) 4 marks between grade boundaries.
I hate that they think if someone retakes and improves its because they were lazy and didn't work originally or whatever, many people improve just as a retake is a lot less scary than the original exam. Also i hate that they're saying it'll help improve peoples ability in the work place. Last time i checked, in a job i wouldn't have been caught out by a trick question, said a couple of things in a different way to the exact words they use in a mark scheme and have received an entire grade lower!
I do agree that a limit on retakes would be good, , so if a paper goes wrong originally, it gives people at least one more chance. It would also prevent people (Which i see all the time) deciding to do a retake and then not working for it at all because 'oh well i can retake it again'.
I hate that they think if someone retakes and improves its because they were lazy and didn't work originally or whatever, many people improve just as a retake is a lot less scary than the original exam. Also i hate that they're saying it'll help improve peoples ability in the work place. Last time i checked, in a job i wouldn't have been caught out by a trick question, said a couple of things in a different way to the exact words they use in a mark scheme and have received an entire grade lower!
I do agree that a limit on retakes would be good, , so if a paper goes wrong originally, it gives people at least one more chance. It would also prevent people (Which i see all the time) deciding to do a retake and then not working for it at all because 'oh well i can retake it again'.
(edited 11 years ago)
Original post by Supportive mum
I think that the present way of retakes etc has caused a lot of problems.
I do agree that resitting an inordinate number of times makes for a bit of a farce.
Yet in practice, how many times does a person resit a module, on average?
I'm confident that this number is very close to 0: there simply isn't time for most A Level candidates to repeat things over and over again.
They'd get (broadly speaking) 3 opportunities to resit a Jan Y12 module, 2 a June Y12 module, 1 Jan Y13 and no opportunities to resit a June Y13 module.
Original post by sammy-lou
I know it's not quite the same thing, but when SATs were abolished for yr6s and yr9s, most schools just replaced these with their own internal exams because the children's next schools wanted results.
Surely we'd just see the same thing happen here. Universities need grades so they know who they are offering places to, so will expect some kind of provisional grade - which at the moment in the AS level combined with the A2 predicted grade. So in terms of relieving stress on pupils, well, it won't.
I know that's not what the article is saying; just in reply to what some other posters have said!
I think placing a stricter cap on retakes is a good idea, but having everything riding on end of year exams like it used to be is not a good idea. Anything can go wrong on the day of the exam.
Surely we'd just see the same thing happen here. Universities need grades so they know who they are offering places to, so will expect some kind of provisional grade - which at the moment in the AS level combined with the A2 predicted grade. So in terms of relieving stress on pupils, well, it won't.
I know that's not what the article is saying; just in reply to what some other posters have said!
I think placing a stricter cap on retakes is a good idea, but having everything riding on end of year exams like it used to be is not a good idea. Anything can go wrong on the day of the exam.
I agree, I think it is too harsh to do it all at the end of the course, but there should be a limmit on retakes.
Original post by tuckaa
I hate that they think if someone retakes and improves its because they were lazy and didn't work originally or whatever
I agree to a large extent.
Imagine if they no longer allowed retakes of driving tests
For some reason, people think that if you pass your driving test second time around it's because you've actually improved, but with A Levels, if you make the grade only second time around it's more likely because you just struck lucky.
Whether this is a fault with people's outlook or with the exams themselves is a different story, I guess.
Well, fine, but will they change the curriculum? Which is the absolute, number one issue.
Stop all this fussing around and get to the heart of the matter!
I know some schools already do all the AS exams at the same time as the A2 ones.
Stop all this fussing around and get to the heart of the matter!
I know some schools already do all the AS exams at the same time as the A2 ones.
i took igcses where the exams were all at the end of year 11, so i dont see the difference between doing alevel exams all at the end of year 13... sure retakes are useful, but so what?!
EDIT - people really dont like this.. guess they are just afraid of hard work.. as mentionned later on in the thread i took 6 igcses on top of the IBMYP (13 subjects and a personal project) whilst in the middle of moving from germany to england... were talking about 30 exams all in all.. all at once pretty much.. so uhm yeah... they were different subjects and alevels even stuff like psychology do not cover as wide a range as my myp/gcses did.. so uhm yeah.. the pressure of doing alevels at once isnt that bad really...
EDIT - people really dont like this.. guess they are just afraid of hard work.. as mentionned later on in the thread i took 6 igcses on top of the IBMYP (13 subjects and a personal project) whilst in the middle of moving from germany to england... were talking about 30 exams all in all.. all at once pretty much.. so uhm yeah... they were different subjects and alevels even stuff like psychology do not cover as wide a range as my myp/gcses did.. so uhm yeah.. the pressure of doing alevels at once isnt that bad really...
(edited 11 years ago)
Original post by chinaberry
Well, fine, but will they change the curriculum? Which is the absolute, number one issue.
Stop all this fussing around and get to the heart of the matter!
I know some schools already do all the AS exams at the same time as the A2 ones.
Stop all this fussing around and get to the heart of the matter!
I know some schools already do all the AS exams at the same time as the A2 ones.
I thought the idea that removing Jan exams would free up '6 weeks of teaching time' was quite interesting.
Bet it's true actually!
Hopefully it might allow teachers to decide what they teach a bit more, rather than strumming a mere 6-week extension of that ol' tune, the national curriculum.
Anyone who genuinly screwed up their first set of exams, re-sat and got what they were actually predicted (or higher) will be completely against this. To be honest it's not like the re-sit exams are any easier than the first ones, and the students are actually putting themselves under more stress to improve their grade. With jobs becoming more scarce we need good qualifications. The individual does not care if there are now too many people getting As and will 'cheat' the system (although completely 'legally') as much as they can to do their best.
Of course the politicans and adults will be the ones complaining about it, they've done their exams. If no one were allowed to re-sit all it would prove would be that some people worked hard, others didn't, mostly because they didn't realise how big the gap was between GCSE and A Level. A Levels aren't just about natural intelligence, I know absolute geniuses who got C and Ds because they didn't realise how hard they'd have to work. The AS year gives you the chance to see the difference and push yourself next year.
Completely disagree with this proposal. It's easy if you didn't need to do re-sits or if you've finished your A Levels to say "Yes let's separate the weak from the strong properly". But anyone who genuinly relies on re-sits to get decent grades will be bewildered by this. Why can we not just produce a good set of exam results without someone somewhere throwing a strop and saying "Well they've clearly just become too easy."?
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Of course the politicans and adults will be the ones complaining about it, they've done their exams. If no one were allowed to re-sit all it would prove would be that some people worked hard, others didn't, mostly because they didn't realise how big the gap was between GCSE and A Level. A Levels aren't just about natural intelligence, I know absolute geniuses who got C and Ds because they didn't realise how hard they'd have to work. The AS year gives you the chance to see the difference and push yourself next year.
Completely disagree with this proposal. It's easy if you didn't need to do re-sits or if you've finished your A Levels to say "Yes let's separate the weak from the strong properly". But anyone who genuinly relies on re-sits to get decent grades will be bewildered by this. Why can we not just produce a good set of exam results without someone somewhere throwing a strop and saying "Well they've clearly just become too easy."?
This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App
Original post by placenta medicae talpae
I thought the idea that removing Jan exams would free up '6 weeks of teaching time' was quite interesting.
Bet it's true actually!
Hopefully it might allow teachers to decide what they teach a bit more, rather than strumming a mere 6-week extension of that ol' tune, the national curriculum.
Bet it's true actually!
Hopefully it might allow teachers to decide what they teach a bit more, rather than strumming a mere 6-week extension of that ol' tune, the national curriculum.
Teaching at my school is generally pretty crap. So '6 weeks of teaching time' extra would not be in any way helpful. Also, they said somewhere in the article that having all the exams at the end of the two-year course would increase students' understanding of the units. I completely disagree - surely you're way more likely to understand the content of the units thoroughly if you dedicate your time to each one individually, rather than trying to retain knowledge of the entire course for one round of exams....
I really hate how they've described the modules as "bite-sized". Have they seen the specifications for AS and especially A2? There is a LOT of content to cover, across certain subjects the workload is huge.
Also the claim that students "can repeatedly re-sit to inflate their grade" makes it sound as though we have no limit on how many times we re-take. Of course there are limits, as mentioned above, unless you re-take an entire year at sixth form then you only have:
- 3 chances to resit Jan Y12 module,
- 2 chances for June Y12 module,
-1 chance to re-take Jan Y13
- and you are unable to resit a June Y13 module.
Most students won't have the time to take a re-sit because of the added pressure and workload - if they do then surely it's commendable that they are striving to achieve better and voluntarily doing a lot of extra hard work?
Also the claim that students "can repeatedly re-sit to inflate their grade" makes it sound as though we have no limit on how many times we re-take. Of course there are limits, as mentioned above, unless you re-take an entire year at sixth form then you only have:
- 3 chances to resit Jan Y12 module,
- 2 chances for June Y12 module,
-1 chance to re-take Jan Y13
- and you are unable to resit a June Y13 module.
Most students won't have the time to take a re-sit because of the added pressure and workload - if they do then surely it's commendable that they are striving to achieve better and voluntarily doing a lot of extra hard work?
(edited 11 years ago)
Brilliant. So I was a guinea pig for the new GCSEs (which they're now scrapping), now I'm most likely going to be a guinea pig for this? Fantastic. I've agree with the fact the amount of retakes need to be monitored, but surely modular is best, it allows the universities to clearly see where a candidate struggles and strives, rather than a large test where it isn't clear. I'm now worried about my chances of getting into uni if they do the :/
This was posted from The Student Room's Android App on my HTC Desire
This was posted from The Student Room's Android App on my HTC Desire
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