A level changes - Only one resit and only Summer exams

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Reply 60

nulli tertius

Original post by lrosex

imagine if you do maths and further maths - 6 maths exams a year - imagine all of that in june!

6 x11/2 hours=9 hours

which is 3 hours less than someone doing double maths A levels before AS levels were invented.

Reply 61

JackJack

I fail to see how A-levels are not good preparation for university? Is everyone failing when they go into uni then? Er well clearly not because people are getting Firsts and 2:1s so what is the issue?

I think this whole debate is a nonsense. People today are still getting degrees, still getting jobs, still getting paid, so why does it matter whether exams are easier or harder?

On the subject, it's stupid, but the majority of Gove's changes have been. At the end of the day, all exams test is how well you can pass that individual paper, it does not necessarily examine the students entire knowledge and understanding of the entire course and subject.

Reply 62

nulli tertius

Original post by JackJack

Don't take my word for it. This is the survey of academics conducted earlier in the year by Cambridge (who own the OCR A level board).

http://www.cambridgeassessment.org.uk/ca/digitalAssets/202382_Cambridge_Assessment_HE_Research_Qualitative_investigation_Executive_summary.pdf

Reply 63

JackJack

Original post by nulli tertius

Well OCR are a farce of an exam board anyway; they should be worrying about whether they actually have competent markers before worrying whether or not the syllabus is rigorous enough.

Reply 64

username321708

Original post by nulli tertius

Thank you for sharing it; it's interesting to note the summation of their opinions.

Original post by JackJack

It matters immensely. Only looking at the short term will damage us as an economy, when more skilled graduates are replaced by migrant workers, and both in a global and competitive sense when the skills of our graduates fall below industry expectations and are deemed not to be good enough to warrant hiring them and then key fields such as Science, Technology, Research will fall to other countries and we'll experience a brain drain where there will be no jobs, because other more capable workers have filled them, or the companies that hire them will simply move their operations overseas where they know they can get the staff that are at the cutting edge of their chosen fields or careers.

I can't answer your question about whether they are good preparation or not because I won't be starting my AS levels until next year, but in my experience from GCSE and friends experiences at AS level, there is still an unwarranted or irresponsible amount of spoon-feeding occurring, with certainly an attitude of 'learning to the test' quite prevalent. If anything, I can't wait to start my AS levels and quell quite a few of the general opinions that are bandied around here and in the media.

Reply 65

nulli tertius

Original post by JackJack

Well OCR are a farce of an exam board anyway; they should be worrying about whether they actually have competent markers before worrying whether or not the syllabus is rigorous enough.

All of the boards have issues.

The marking problem is simply that once upon a time few people did A and O levels and they could all be marked by experienced teachers. Now with virtually every 16 year old doing a raft of GCSEs and a huge number doing A levels, you have first year undergraduates marking.

http://www.ocr.org.uk/assessors/faqs/#nogo

Reply 66

ApplePearOrange5297

Original post by Jammy4410

Phew glad I'm in second year. Feel well sorry for year below, but as happy cause maybe less competition for jobs cause more peoe will fail.

You Sadistic Ba**ard lol

I'm a year below currently taking Maths, F.Maths, Physics & Chemo

Yes, I'm Scewed

Reply 67

SciF1

Im also one of the further mathematicians. If six maths exams in June 2014 wasn't enough, i will also have four other exams (physics and chemistry A2). The chubby faced toff has done it again...

Reply 68

Jammy4410

Original post by Tanvir.A

You Sadistic Ba**ard lol

I'm a year below currently taking Maths, F.Maths, Physics & Chemo

Yes, I'm Scewed

Lol, i took the exact same subjects last year. If I had 6 maths exams in june, id fail so bad.

Reply 69

PrinceyJ

Original post by SciF1

Im also one of the further mathematicians. If six maths exams in June 2014 wasn't enough, i will also have four other exams (physics and chemistry A2). The chubby faced toff has done it again...

Yes I'll have 10 exams as well, I suppose we're all in the same boat but the universities can't be happy about this.

Reply 70

Jkizer

Exams like psychology, biology, chemistry are gonna way too hard for people to hold all the information in the mind!

Reply 71

Data

Original post by Jkizer

Exams like psychology, biology, chemistry are gonna way too hard for people to hold all the information in the mind!

What do you think people did when the whole of an A level (AS and A2) was examined at the end of Year 13?

Reply 72

nulli tertius

Original post by Data

What do you think people did when the whole of an A level (AS and A2) was examined at the end of Year 13?

Coughs

And of course people also did S level papers.

Reply 73

anony.mouse

They'll get rid of them, then people will do worse.

The government will then complain that pass rates have gone down and the BBC will report on shocking news that students are getting more stupid.

:facepalm:

Reply 74

Tha Realest

Original post by anony.mouse

Yeah exactly :smile:

So very true :biggrin:

Reply 75

lrosex

Original post by nulli tertius

6 x11/2 hours=9 hours

which is 3 hours less than someone doing double maths A levels before AS levels were invented.

Fair enough, but the majority of exams are at the same time. For example, I sat core 1 and core 2 straight after eachother. I know they weren't the hardest of exams, but I know people who did M1, and then the S1 resit afterwards. They'd have to make sure exams like this are more spread out over the exam period rather than being scheduled for the same day/time, otherwise it's ridiculously hard to revise for.

Reply 76

theshipscat

I'm from that time way back when A Levels were sat at one sitting, at the end of the course, with S Levels and the odd additional O Level thrown in for good measure.....having sat on the sidelines of my daughter's AS and A Level Studies and looked at the pros and cons of the modular approach versus the linear, I don't think it's possible to make a straight comparison......each system has advantages and disadvantages and will favour some candidates to the detriment of others, depending on where their strengths lie and what works best for them...

however, given that there is currently a modular system in place designed to be taught in discrete units that layer up to a full AS and then to an A Level, with synoptic knowledge to be applied increasingly throughout the course, and with stretch and challenge questions to offer opportunities for all students to demonstrate the full range of their ability, Gove's comments and approach don't make a lot of sense to me.

Taking out the January exams in a staged, modular course seems a nonsense; taking out the opportunity to resit (Jan or June), more than once if necessary, doesn't create a more level playing field where the grade is a more relevant match to student ability.

I've been digging around in the undergrowth having a look at the research papers that proceeded this decision and the Consultation process that drew on them and I cannot find anything more substantial as the basis for the media bite '"grade inflation" headline grabber than the fact that when figures were compared of students who resat modules (to look at their grades with or without the resits included in the final grade), it was found that there was a 25% improvement.....so students who take a tumble on a paper and learn from it, do better next time.......was this really news? Why call it an 'inflated' grade when the resits are a new set of questions on the same syllabus? There is no particular advantage gained from having sat the exam once already, and if you hit the marking criteria in an exam, you hit them and have to be given the appropriate grade...

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 77

nmanvi

They stopped me doing my physics A mechanics AND computing Unit 1 exam in january :frown:

(im year 12).
I am very angry and will do everything in my power to do my exams in january, the government wants to limit the amount of people doing well but this is not the way to do it :frown:

. I paid to do my exam in january (through the exams officer) but i THINK there has been a miss communication between the teachers, as soon as they find out I paid and I am entered for the exam im sure they will try to stop me :frown:

. Is anyone else having the same problem of not being able to take your science exams in january? (i heard some schools still do it!)

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 78

nataliekwong

I think that in a way, the no January exams is good because some schools don't even finish teaching the first unit before the students have to do the exam, and it seems a bit too rushed either ways.
(my school forbids January exams, but I have a few friends who are worried now because January exams, for them, seem to be quite early on in the year and they dont feel they know the topic in and out)
But then on the other hand
When we take A2, and if we don't manage to meet our offers, or predicted grades and all that, we won't be able to retake it in January during the gap year...
But I guess it puts more pressure on people now.

Reply 79

theshipscat

Original post by nmanvi

They stopped me doing my physics A mechanics AND computing Unit 1 exam in january :frown:

(im year 12).
I am very angry and will do everything in my power to do my exams in january, the government wants to limit the amount of people doing well but this is not the way to do it :frown:

. Is anyone else having the same problem of not being able to take your science exams in january? (i heard some schools still do it!)

If I were you, I would talk to your teachers and check that they know that you want to sit the exams and then check with the exams office that you have been entered for them:if you are at a large school, it is possible that although you paid for the exam entrance some admin error meant that this did not get processed if you were an individual candidate, rather than one of a group entry: if your school has a policy of no exam entrance in January (and therefore doesn't set aside exam space, invigilators etc), you could look for your nearest centre where you could enter as a private candidate.....and see if you can transfer the entrance to them. Hope this helps and good luck.