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Confused about new linear A Level AQA Spec?

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Original post by 04MR17
OCR History, AQA English Lit B.


AQA's website http://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/english/as-and-a-level/english-literature-b-7716-7717 says:
Our English AS and A-levels provide strong stand-alone qualifications that are designed to be co-teachable. This gives you and your students valuable choice.

OCR's website http://www.ocr.org.uk/Images/171400-as-a-level-history-summary-brochure.pdf
(British History) CO-TEACHABLE WITH A LEVEL – BUT WITHQUESTIONS SET AT A DEMONSTRABLYLOWER STANDARD (FOR EXAMPLE,USING FEWER SOURCES, AND WITH LESSDEMANDING MARK SCHEMES)
and
(Non-British History) The content will be the same as in theA Level units,
Reply 21
Original post by 04MR17
OCR History


"the first year of this course is co-teachable with our AS level specification."

(Page 9 of the specification, http://www.ocr.org.uk/Images/170128-specification-accredited-a-level-gce-history-a-h505.pdf)

Original post by 04MR17
AQA English Lit B.


"Both AS and A-level courses provide strong stand-alone qualifications that are fully co-teachable so that you can choose the approach that best suits you and your students’ needs."

(Page 4 of the specification, http://filestore.aqa.org.uk/resources/english/specifications/AQA-7716-7717-SP-2015-V1-0.PDF)
Reply 22
Sorry Compost, didn't see your earlier reply.
Original post by Pangol
Sorry Compost, didn't see your earlier reply.


I have no problem with people agreeing with me.:smile:
Original post by Pangol
"the first year of this course is co-teachable with our AS level specification."
(Page 9 of the specification, http://www.ocr.org.uk/Images/170128-specification-accredited-a-level-gce-history-a-h505.pdf)
"Both AS and A-level courses provide strong stand-alone qualifications that are fully co-teachable so that you can choose the approach that best suits you and your students’ needs."
(Page 4 of the specification, http://filestore.aqa.org.uk/resources/english/specifications/AQA-7716-7717-SP-2015-V1-0.PDF)
Co-teachable is just a made-up word by Gove/Morgan to ask the impossible. Co-teachable schmoteachable as far as I'm concerned.
Reply 25
Original post by 04MR17
Co-teachable is just a made-up word by Gove/Morgan to ask the impossible. Co-teachable schmoteachable as far as I'm concerned.


Well, much as I'd like to be diplomatic, you are simply wrong. In all new A Levels, the content of the first year of the full A Level and the AS are identical. Any other system would be unworkable.
Original post by Pangol
Well, much as I'd like to be diplomatic, you are simply wrong. In all new A Levels, the content of the first year of the full A Level and the AS are identical. Any other system would be unworkable.


Agreed. PRSOM.
Original post by Pangol
Well, much as I'd like to be diplomatic, you are simply wrong. In all new A Levels, the content of the first year of the full A Level and the AS are identical. Any other system would be unworkable.
They are not identical! Identical is an exact reflection! And this system is unworkable, thank you for noticing. Westminster decided this four years after they imposed the new rules.
Reply 28
Original post by 04MR17
They are not identical! Identical is an exact reflection! And this system is unworkable, thank you for noticing. Westminster decided this four years after they imposed the new rules.


I don't know what you are talking about. Can you give a single example of an A Level course where the AS and Year 1 are not the same? The two you gave clearly do not support your position.
Original post by Pangol
I don't know what you are talking about. Can you give a single example of an A Level course where the AS and Year 1 are not the same? The two you gave clearly do not support your position.
They do. The sample exam papers for the AS and A Level History are not congruent. Q.E.D.
Original post by 04MR17
Westminster decided this four years after they imposed the new rules.


Not sure who you mean by Westminster - the school? parliament? but the rules are new and haven't been in existence for anything like 4 years. You appear to have no idea what you are talking about.
Reply 31
Original post by 04MR17
They do. The sample exam papers for the AS and A Level History are not congruent. Q.E.D.


Of course they are not going to be identical. The AS papers are what you can cope with after one year, the A Level papers after two . But the *content* of the AS is identical to the *content* of the first year of the A Level.
Original post by Compost
Not sure who you mean by Westminster - the school? parliament? but the rules are new and haven't been in existence for anything like 4 years. You appear to have no idea what you are talking about.
I'm talking about parliament and the law they passed to bring the new G.C.S.E.s and A Level "reforms" was about four years ago now. It is only being introduced now but specifications must be prepared two years before teaching!

Original post by Pangol
Of course they are not going to be identical. The AS papers are what you can cope with after one year, the A Level papers after two . But the *content* of the AS is identical to the *content* of the first year of the A Level.
No it's not compare p 58-9:
http://www.ocr.org.uk/Images/170128-specification-accredited-a-level-gce-history-a-h505.pdf
To p 56-7:
http://www.ocr.org.uk/Images/170128-specification-accredited-a-level-gce-history-a-h505.pdf
See?
Different content
Reply 33


But these are all different units.

Page 56: Unit Y214: France 1814–1870
Page 57: Unit Y215: Italy and Unification 1789–1896
Page 58: Unit Y216: The USA in the 19th Century: Westward expansion and Civil War 1803–c.1890
Page 59: Unit Y217: Japan 1853–1937

And just to clarify, on page 41, it says: "Centres should choose one of the twenty-four units available in this unit group." (There are many more than the four that you have pointed out.)

History does give schools a lot of choice as to what they want to study, but this is nothing to do with the AS / full A Level issue (or rather, non-issue).
Original post by Pangol
But these are all different units.
Page 56: Unit Y214: France 1814–1870
Page 57: Unit Y215: Italy and Unification 1789–1896
Page 58: Unit Y216: The USA in the 19th Century: Westward expansion and Civil War 1803–c.1890
Page 59: Unit Y217: Japan 1853–1937
And just to clarify, on page 41, it says: "Centres should choose one of the twenty-four units available in this unit group." (There are many more than the four that you have pointed out.)
History does give schools a lot of choice as to what they want to study, but this is nothing to do with the AS / full A Level issue (or rather, non-issue).
I think you mistake me. The page numbers I'm referring to are at the bottom of the page. Both are the same unit: Cold War in Asia.
Original post by Compost
AQA's website http://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/english/as-and-a-level/english-literature-b-7716-7717 says:
Our English AS and A-levels provide strong stand-alone qualifications that are designed to be co-teachable. This gives you and your students valuable choice.
Not the same = different.
Original post by Compost
OCR's website http://www.ocr.org.uk/Images/171400-as-a-level-history-summary-brochure.pdf
(British History) CO-TEACHABLE WITH A LEVEL – BUT WITH QUESTIONS SET AT A DEMONSTRABLY LOWER STANDARD (FOR EXAMPLE,USING FEWER SOURCES, AND WITH LESS DEMANDING MARK SCHEMES)
and
(Non-British History) The content will be the same as in the A Level units,
Co-teachable doesn't mean the same. It means that you can teach both courses at once to put all students in one class. Not the same = different.
Reply 36
Original post by 04MR17
I think you mistake me. The page numbers I'm referring to are at the bottom of the page. Both are the same unit: Cold War in Asia.


So I presume that you are comparing pages 56-57 from the AS specification (which is at http://www.ocr.org.uk/Images/170209-specification-accredited-as-level-gce-history-a-h105.pdf, not the link you give) to pages 58-59 of the A Level specifcation. If you can see any difference between them, you've got better eyesight than me. They look identical.

Can you point out any differences in the AS and A Level versions of these units?
Reply 37
Original post by 04MR17
Not the same = different.Co-teachable doesn't mean the same. It means that you can teach both courses at once to put all students in one class. Not the same = different.


But you were claiming earler in the thread that the A Level is completely different to the AS, and that if you studied the AS, you would then have to study another two year course to take the A Level. This is clearly not the case. If you've studied the AS, you have studied the first year of the A Level. It really is that simple, and all of the specifications (including the ones that you refer to) support this.

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