"An 'A' is equivalent to a 'C' two decades ago"

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Mann18

And two decades ago, if you went to a state school, you almost definitely weren't going to university either.

Yes, I also wonder what effect the expansion of alevel education has had. I would expect that many more able students, especially women, who 20 years ago would have been told to do vocational training or lower jobs being able to do alevels has had on average grades.

Reply 21

Iepnauy

There are many reasons why grades are better now, but there is the same percent of people getting A*s now as there was people getting A's in 1980 :smile:

(8%).

Why grades are better now
-Better facilities
-Better teacher
-Better conditions for studying
-Internet access - lots of information for free and lots of past papers
-Various other reasons :smile:

Reply 22

sand4

ilickbatteries

Discuss.

I recently read this in a newspaper. Have A-Levels really become that easy?

I'd love to see an A-Level paper from twenty years ago, just to see the difference. I honestly don't think it would be much different.

The Conservatives planned to set up an online library open to the public of past exam papers, scripts and examiners' reports going back to Victorian times.

I want to know what happened to it.

Reply 23

defuzion

back then they probably only learnt by reading, probably one of many factors why exams were much harder in the past.. or so to speak

Reply 24

nulli tertius

sand4

I think they are a grade easier. The percentage of people getting an A 40 years ago is very similar to the number getting an A* this year. So the ability to distinguish between the best candidates hasn't changed. The number of A* grades will likely increase year on year so this might only last ten years.

No there are differences.

Firstly the proportion of A* awards is much more variable than the awards of A grades before 1987. 1987 is important because it is the year A levels changed from the system of (almost) fixed percentages getting each grade.

Secondly the A* is being awarded at the very limits of the question papers whilst 1980s A grades were not. If the exams were cars, it is the difference between doing 100mph in a Ferrari and doing 100mph in a Fiat 500.

Reply 25

Mann18

spidergareth

I also think that whilst many people do very well in A-Levels, it's not as though everyone gets AAA as it seems to be bandied about.

If anything any "grade inflation" has just made it harder to get into uni.
Meaning grades aren't worth as much as they used to and thus extra things come into account, which can only be good.

Reply 26

bloomblaze

Noble.

You can't really talk about how easy A-Levels are, then use a module in which the majority of the content is taught at GCSE.

Would I not be right in thinking for that most subjects(well, maths and sciences actually), GCSE content is included, in slightly more depth??

(ie someone mentioned a lot of c1 math is gcse work, im saying thats true for the first module of other subjects too, my physics AS covered a lot of gcse stuff in greater detail, often not much more detailed anyway.)

There is an overlap between gcse and AS -they share a very small amount of the same content ie a student with a gcse in physics could answer some questions correctly of the first module of AS physics without having studied AS physics, due to the overlap of content.

Reply 27

Noble.

bloomblaze

Yes, that's true for pretty much every first module in AS, but the overlap is much greater between GCSE and C1.

Reply 28

username359983

Mann18

Yes, actually a little inflation makes sure that everybody gets something from their 2 years in 6th form rather than getting nothing. :yes:

Reply 29

PhantasyStar

I think A -> B is more accurate.

Reply 30

boromir9111

TheCurlyHairedDude

AND THE ******* POINT OF THIS IS ?

It's 2010, not 1990. Get up to date biatch.

This.

Reply 31

MrCharmed

I don't think the A levels have become easier as such, I think the re-takes and ability to drop a bad subject at AS have contributed most to the grade inflation.

Reply 32

SundayJob

xXxBaby-BooxXx

Just to add my two cents, my GP, for medicine, needed BCC for Cardiff and BBC for Birmingham to get in.

Granted, it has gotten more popular, but nowadays you need AAB and AAA respectively

Cardiff is now AAA, too.

Reply 33

Anon1993

^^Agreed with osuoa. I can believe A=B, but i reckon people getting over 90% would be getting the equivalent of an old fashioned A. .

Reply 34

Jono404

I think what they mean by this is the amount of A's has increased due to the number of 'soft' subjects like media, general studies etc, so therefore an A as a grade in itself is less impressive than it used to be. I maintain though that for individual subjects like maths, the papers are of a similar difficulty to the ones of yesteryear.

Reply 35

BumperBo

ilickbatteries

Thought you meant bra size.
I am disappoint.

Reply 36

shmuxel

fist of the south star

Two decades ago we didn't have the internet. Obviously things were harder then, duh.

This.

Reply 37

LufcEllandRoad

Past papers look harder because some of the course content isn't taught now, the content has moved on and modernized.

Personally i think its down to entry requirements going up year after year, and students desperately trying to match them

Reply 38

Retrospect

Well, exams grades are dependent on UMS. A C grade in in terms of raw marks, e.g. 50-60% may equal 80-100 out of 100 UMS, equivalent to an 'A'. So a person could get only just over half a paper correct and still achieve an A. Therein lies the problem.

Reply 39

member312105

They've gotten easier, I wouldn't try and equate grades or anything, but my dad needed BBC for Chem Eng at Brum 40 years ago (40?! **** my parents are old) and now you need AAB :dontknow: