[cl_steele]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-18497563


among the changes that have been proposed are the reduction in re-sits, scrapping of modules etc.
I for one know several people who would have had serious issues with their A-Levels if these changes had been put in earlier

[lbsf1]

Scrapping AS, f off. The AS's system is brilliant. It means you can take a subject for a year if you don't know if you want to do a full a level in it, or don't have time to do the full A level, but leaves that opportunity fully open too you.

The system is fine as it is. If they make it more difficult all that will happen is that grades will drop and thus the percentage needed for each grade will drop so you only need to know half the sylabus well to get that grade.

Stupid idea's

[ANARCHY__]

(Original post by lbsf1)
Scrapping AS, f off. The AS's system is brilliant. It means you can take a subject for a year if you don't know if you want to do a full a level in it, or don't have time to do the full A level, but leaves that opportunity fully open too you.

The system is fine as it is. If they make it more difficult all that will happen is that grades will drop and thus the percentage needed for each grade will drop so you only need to know half the sylabus well to get that grade.

Stupid idea's

wut? no.

[North Irelandman]

Does anyone else hate how the media continually portrays A levels as 'easy' at the moment? I admit there are plenty of flaws with the system, but it's fairly disheartening as an A level student that all my hard work to achieve good grades will simply be passed off as being easy.

[cl_steele]

(Original post by North Irelandman)
Does anyone else hate how the media continually portrays A levels as 'easy' at the moment? I admit there are plenty of flaws with the system, but it's fairly disheartening as an A level student that all my hard work to achieve good grades will simply be passed off as being easy.

Yes! It's quite offensive to be honest, they can look back in hindsight and say those are easy but considering theyve probably already learnt it years ago of course they can claim such things -_-
Kids thesedays are damned either way, if we fail A-Levels we're branded as stupid and if we get good grades we're still called stupid because theyre 'too easy', very annoying!

[chrislpp]

(Original post by North Irelandman)
Does anyone else hate how the media continually portrays A levels as 'easy' at the moment? I admit there are plenty of flaws with the system, but it's fairly disheartening as an A level student that all my hard work to achieve good grades will simply be passed off as being easy.

It is ''hard'' because its probably the hardest thing you have done academically so far in your life when you're just getting base knowledge most of which has at the minimum, been well known for decades.

It is all subjective, A levels aren't exactly the forefront of human research and intelligence

Kids aren't getting smarter, don't flatter yourself, kids like Justin Bieber, Katy Perry and Nikki Minaj so go figure. They are getting easier, or teachers are just getting better...either way, don't flatter yourself. Even undergraduate level work isn't 'hard'.

[moorbre]

(Original post by chrislpp)
It is ''hard'' because its probably the hardest thing you have done academically so far in your life when you're just getting base knowledge most of which has at the minimum, been well known for decades.

It is all subjective, A levels aren't exactly the forefront of human research and intelligence

Kids aren't getting smarter, don't flatter yourself, kids like Justin Bieber, Katy Perry and Nikki Minaj so go figure. They are getting easier, or teachers are just getting better...either way, don't flatter yourself. Even undergraduate level work isn't 'hard'.

They are hard to get a good grade for the national average.

[North Irelandman]

(Original post by chrislpp)
It is ''hard'' because its probably the hardest thing you have done academically so far in your life when you're just getting base knowledge most of which has at the minimum, been well known for decades.

It is all subjective, A levels aren't exactly the forefront of human research and intelligence

Kids aren't getting smarter, don't flatter yourself, kids like Justin Bieber, Katy Perry and Nikki Minaj so go figure. They are getting easier, or teachers are just getting better...either way, don't flatter yourself. Even undergraduate level work isn't 'hard'.

I'm not saying they're hard. There are a number of ways of achieve good grades, from being naturally gifted to learning answering techniques for the exam without truly understanding the subject. I want to know where the right has been given to claim that they are getting easier. Exam results are scaled across every paper, no extra A grades will be awarded from an easy paper than a hard one.

I'm not flattering myself or my generation, I think now that GCSEs were easy and no doubt I will think the same about A levels when at uni. However they have an appropriate level of difficulty for the age of which they are studied at. Also kids should be getting smarter, unless you disagree that a fundamental objective of government is to provide an ever-improving education system?

[TheHistoryStudent]

Reducing re-sits I can kinda agree with to be honest, maximum I think you should only be allowed a single re-sit, after which your grade is fixed.

Scrapping modules is stupid I think, at the end of the day all it does is take pressure off students which they would have if all exams were at the end of year 2.

With the above change also, I think modules works perfectly fine to be honest, as you break the course down into managable chunks (well...except for the A-level Chem 4 module, which had like 17-8 different topics haha) with one chance to have another crack if you do crappy.

[Macabre]

(Original post by chrislpp)
It is ''hard'' because its probably the hardest thing you have done academically so far in your life when you're just getting base knowledge most of which has at the minimum, been well known for decades.

It is all subjective, A levels aren't exactly the forefront of human research and intelligence

Kids aren't getting smarter, don't flatter yourself, kids like Justin Bieber, Katy Perry and Nikki Minaj so go figure. They are getting easier, or teachers are just getting better...either way, don't flatter yourself. Even undergraduate level work isn't 'hard'.

Dude i so hope you have a doctorate in something or have studied a strong academic degree, because to slam A-levels and Degree's is quite frankly unfair. I'm coming to the end of my Human Biology degree and am going into teaching as well as having experience of A-levels, and believe you me they are not easy to get good grades in.

Fair enough, anyone can turn up and pass, but in the current economic climate, thats a no go, You have to have the best possible grades and to achieve them need to put in a credible amount of work.

Something tells me you are commenting on something you lack a great deal of knowledge on.

[concubine]

The way A-levels are set up now simply favours those that are willing to put in the most time memorizing pointless ****, not those that are able to think and apply their knowledge. And that's wrong.


These are good ideas, and I wish they had been implemented when I was doing my A levels. Instead I was a year before the fabulous 'A*' grade was introduced, which only needs to exist because of the aforementioned problem with the current system.

[Zuki]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/...d-exam-reforms

Thoughts/ comments?

[chickenonsteroids]

I don't think it'll be that bad if it actually happens. People will adapt to it. That's the system for the IB and I don't see how it'll be much different for A levels.

[carnationlilyrose]

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Back to my schooldays.

[Above.The.Empyrean]

Fortunately, every educational reform has happened a year after I've done it. Reforms continuously occur, when will the government learn that intellectualism only flourishes when people are emancipated from the fetters of convention and and pursue what they want, and not what the state requires.

[SpiggyTopes]

The only problem that I can think of is that if you drop a subject half way through like a lot of people do now, you won't have anything to show for that first years work whereas now you would have an as level.

[xoxAngel_Kxox]

(Original post by SpiggyTopes)
The only problem that I can think of is that if you drop a subject half way through like a lot of people do now, you won't have anything to show for that first years work whereas now you would have an as level.

I could only assume that you'd pick your subjects with the view to completing the full course. So people would either only do three in the first place, or continue the full four. As you said it would be a complete waste of time to do another and drop it with nothing to show for it.

[North Irelandman]

(Original post by xoxAngel_Kxox)
I could only assume that you'd pick your subjects with the view to completing the full course. So people would either only do three in the first place, or continue the full four. As you said it would be a complete waste of time to do another and drop it with nothing to show for it.

You're right. That would bring huge complications in my opinion. In my school the majority of students will study 4 AS subjects, and then make a decision after receiving AS results whether or not to continue with 4 A levels or to drop one (or indeed drop one and take up another AS as some have done).

Being locked in to your subjects does not seem like a good idea, after GCSE I was extremely keen to take 4 subjects for 2 years, but after a years work I realised that it would have been very difficult - something which many GCSE students don't realise. I don't feel AS levels are useless either, one of my university offers stated that an A at an additional AS subject would reduce A level grade requirements from AAB to ABB, so clearly some universities choose to recognise them.

[lbsf1]

(Original post by xoxAngel_Kxox)
I could only assume that you'd pick your subjects with the view to completing the full course. So people would either only do three in the first place, or continue the full four. As you said it would be a complete waste of time to do another and drop it with nothing to show for it.

Quite a lot of people including me have picked AS's with the view of completing them to AS then dropping it and picking up another AS. I'm planning on doing 3 full A levels and 2 AS's at sixth form just because the 2 AS's with give me a better basic knowledge of more topics related to the degree going into uni.

I also did an AS in year 11 as an extension from GCSE, this has been brilliant and will make my time at sixth form much easier as I know what to expect.

[SillyEddy]

Before they muck around with it, can they please sort out the quality of teaching? Especially with maths teachers, there is just a huge deficit in the way they're teaching the subject. I'd like to see more in the syllabus which is actually relevant to every-day life, the theories behind maths or some coursework elements. I'm tired of just going in to crunch numbers.