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Why isn't their more controversy over the scrapping of January exams?

I haven't seen a lot of controversy surrounding this decision, and it seems that, at least by the national media, this issue has gone under the radar. However this is quite big news for students.

All Michael Gove has done is made it more stressful for students by making them sit all of their exams in June; this also creates even more pressure in A2's when students are worried about meeting their offers.

Do you agree with Michael Gove? and do you think university offers will be reduced on average?

Edit: Here is the link to the e-petition, if you want to sign:

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/41702

(edited 10 years ago)

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Reply 1

Aysha97

I can understand how doing AS exams in January could be detrimental as year 12 students have only been in sixth form for a few months and might not have realised how big the exams are and so make mistakes but in A2 they should have January exams due to all the stress, meeting offers etc.

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Reply 2

KateJMC

When you think about it January exams were, to the majority of people, a big waste of money. Basically everyone I know has resat or will resit the exams they took in January of year 12. People treat them as a glorified mock exam tbh. So people don't want to waste money on exams that so often are resit anyway, I guess.

Reply 3

theblackreaper

Original post by Pedd

January exams, especially in my school, usually end up being a heartache. Most people in my Politics class ended up recieving U's, E's and D's a few weeks back - demoralised many of them from trying again. Only myself and one other person actually hit our target A's. As long as the school gives out mocks, students won't be missing out.

Scrapping the January exams is a completely and utterly stupid thing to do. First of all it doesn't demoralize students from trying again. If anything it's a wake up call to try harder for the next set of exams. Somebody might be ill on the day of their exams and thus doesn't perform to the best of the ability. For example, i was extremely tired on the day of my history exam and managed to talk about topic 2 instead of topic 1 in my second essay. I still got a C, but the fact of the matter is, i could have easily got an A if i wasn't under the weather that day. Therefore, it's not an accurate representation of what i'm capable of achieving. Normally when people resit exams in the summer, it's either because they've failed and got all Us, or it's because they've got Bs and cs, but wanted As instead. Now in both case scenarios (e.g. january exams in as or a2 year) they've had first hand experience on where they can improve, and not just on areas of the exam, but also psychologically in terms of stress, which can't be accounted for by a mock exam (which people don't even take seriously to begin with, at least not in any of my classes). Additionally, it's less stress if they got something to fall back on just in case they perform badly in the resit. For instance, one of my friends got a c in his first as chemistry paper and decided to retake it in the summer to get a B. Unfortunately, he scored lower and got a D, despite putting in the same amount of effort. He said that he thought the exam was harder than the one he sat in January anyway. This amounts to another reason why we need January exams- the difficulty of the paper varies throughout the year, in which areas of the subject may be easier or harder for students of equal intelligence. Therefore, by having another chance to resit the paper, the student may be lucky and find that areas covered in the next exam are more to his/her taste, and thus he/she performs better as a result. Fortunately, he could retake the same as exam in the January of his A2 year and managed to get the B he wanted. If we look at it from the perspective of having his January exams scrapped this year, he would have to deal with as retakes, a2 retakes and new a2 exams all the summer. In simple terms, a lot of students retake as exams during their a2 year to bump up their grade. But with January exams being scrapped, as, a2 resits and new a2 would all have to be done in the summer. Now that to me sounds like a lot of hard work stress to deal with especially when you're already worrying about Uni offers and personal statements etc.. With the January exams in place, students can at least balance out all their as retakes effectively whilst doing their a2/a2 resits at the same time. This will also put even more pressure on A level students who have jobs.
Going back to the point i made earlier, lets say i'm feeling unwell/stressed( because of all the exams, and the fact that i've only got one shot at this) in the summer exams of my A2 year and i don't end up getting the grades i wanted for example. And as a result i go to a crappy university, whilst in fact i should be going to one of the top ones, because in reality i'm smart enough to to get into the top ones. So the point i'm trying to make here is that anything could happen, e.g. hospitalized, feeling sick, stressed out etc.. and therefore isn't a true representation of what i am potentially capable of. And believe me, by scrapping the January exams it's only going to put a lot more pressure on students with a levels already being hard enough as it is. Everybody is different and different circumstances could arise for those wanting to retake, but with janauary exams in place it reduces the stress and so people can fall back on their previous grades instead of failing all their exams in the summer and coming out with nothing.
Mark my words, scrapping the January exams is a bad idea. This is only gonna reduce the amount of people going to University and damage our economy as a result.

Reply 4

AnonymousPenguin

Original post by theblackreaper

Mark my words, scrapping the January exams is a bad idea. This is only gonna reduce the amount of people going to University and damage our economy as a result.

Utter piffle. There's a set number of university places, if everyone does worse in exams the entrance requirements will just be lower.

The only relevant question is whether the exam system is now more unfair. Quite frankly I don't see how having one less attempt is more unfair, after all past papers are still available and schools can easily set up mock exams. This only levels the playing field with other qualifications (like the IB), which don't allow you to resit. Moreover, unis won't allow you to resit, why should the qualifications assessing your suitability for uni be different?

I broadly agree with what Gove has done with A-levels, but it's rather unfortunate that the real issue of how to cater for the more vocationally-oriented pupils has not been addressed at all during this government.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 5

Acruzen

I'm one of the lucky ones about to go off to uni and have sat January exams. I'd say that being able to sit exams in Jan is beneficial because it gives you an advantage if you score highly in a module, it reduces pressure in June. Also, if you mess up, you can just take it again in June.

One issue I can see with 2 modules being sat in June is the content for the first module being taught, sep-dec, and then the second being taught, so you have to re revise all of the stuff taught earlier so you don't forget it.

Reply 6

SheldonWannabe

I think it's a good plan for the sort of people who don't try in January and think of it as a mock for the summer when they can resit. And I think these people not having a second attempt within a year will probably make them try harder the first time. But I personally feel a little annoyed as I'm, and I know I'm not alone, try to do the best I can in all exams I do, and all I feel the this new rule has done for me, is make my exams next year increase stress levels, to no doubt an unhealthy level. I feel a little cheated if I'm honest :/

Reply 7

russellsteapot

January exams are a pretty new thing. I didn't take them and I'm not especially ancient. The world didn't fall apart before they were brought in, and it won't fall apart when they're taken away. It just isn't that big a deal. I'm indifferent either way and the majority of people are too, so it won't ever make much of a news story (to answer the original question).

I don't know if it made A Levels easier or not (I do think the re-sit culture is a bit odd and makes things a lot easier for some students), and less stress and revising has to be better (I find the existing memory exam culture quite ghastly if I'm honest, but there are few alternatives) but it's not going to have much of a negative impact on anyone because you're all in the same boat surely? If you're only competing against other A Level students for university places, each of you has had the same opportunities. If grades go down, universities will respond accordingly.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 8

tbhlucy

The January exams shouldn't be scrapped, they give you the opportunity to get exams done early, especially if you're talking triple science then you need those early exams!!

Reply 9

zeb786

Original post by ThatPerson

At least you don't have to stress over the Christmas holidays? I actually prefer them being in the summer, because you have more time to revise. However, the scrapping of the re-sits for AS summer exams are more problematic, because you're basically ****** if you have a bad day or you ill. :s-smilie:

Reply 10

TheMan100

I don't agree with Gove. Why?

•

The system's had January exams for many years and has been fine.

•

Lots of stress in the upcoming months to exams. I can imagine it's stressful as it is with just the final unit exams in summer, let alone with January exams combined.

•

Copious amounts of revision required due to having to sit a whole year's worth of content in the same month.

•

In the unfortunate event that you're ill or cock up on the day, you may fail the paper or achieve grades lower than that required for your university offers... what now? Stay for a 3rd year? Pfft.

•

Changes to the system shouldn't affect those in their first year of Sixth Form. Instead, if any changes are to be implemented, it should be for the next intake of Year 12s.

Don't get me wrong though, I can see where Gove is coming from in some respects:

•

Lots of people do retake nowadays.

•

You can find that you spend weeks revising, instead of weeks spent learning new content.

Other possible benefits:

•

For subjects such as maths, perhaps learning C3 and C4 before an exam will help, because in maths you build upon what you already know... So you may find the C3 exam slightly easier.

•

Not much of a benefit, but we may find grade boundaries will be reduced/raw mark to UMS conversion may be 'better'.

•

As stated earlier, required grades for university may be lowered.

However, I feel the costs far outweigh the advantages and these reforms are a huge mistake; they should be ditched like his failed GCSE reforms. The only advice I can give is, work hard and hope for the best... that's my plan anyway.

EDIT:
Just as a side note, I don't know about other Sixth Forms, but my Sixth Form has been discouraging students from retaking January exams this year and instead postponing retakes until next year! I personally haven't had to retake anything, but to me this is a bit crazy, as it'll mean A2 Jan exams, A2 Summer exams and AS Jan retakes... so possibly 8 or 9 exams.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 11

joe1545

I think scrapping january exams is soo stupid, most of the module exams are anchored so that students take one in january and one in june, and if colleges want to do all of them at the end of the year then thats their burden.

However i think resits should be limited to once only, i just got my Bio and Chem AS results, and not having very good (compared to elitist) GCSEs, my current school didnt really put me forward for any of the oxbridge trips, fair enough.
But i got two A's and most of the people who are in the oxbridge and medicine group got Cs and Ds and what not, and are now all retaking in june, now if they go on to retake and got higher then me, i would still like to think that me getting it first time is better then them getting it a second chance round, but obviously on paper that doesnt mean anything, and i dont think it does to Unis either.
Do you agree with this, and is it true?

TWITTER: @JoeBaldwin_95

Reply 12

theblackreaper

Original post by TheMan100

I don't agree with Gove. Why?

•

The system's had January exams for many years and has been fine.

•

Lots of stress in the upcoming months to exams. I can imagine it's stressful as it is with just the final unit exams in summer, let alone with January exams combined.

•

Copious amounts of revision required due to having to sit a whole year's worth of content in the same month.

•

In the unfortunate event that you're ill or cock up on the day, you may fail the paper or achieve grades lower than that required for your university offers... what now? Stay for a 3rd year? Pfft.

•

Changes to the system shouldn't affect those in their first year of Sixth Form. Instead, if any changes are to be implemented, it should be for the next intake of Year 12s.

Don't get me wrong though, I can see where Gove is coming from in some respects:

•

Lots of people do retake nowadays.

•

You can find that you spend weeks revising, instead of weeks spent learning new content.

Other possible benefits:

•

For subjects such as maths, perhaps learning C3 and C4 before an exam will help, because in maths you build upon what you already know... So you may find C3 slightly easier.

•

Not much of a benefit, but we may find grade boundaries will be reduced/raw mark to UMS conversion may be 'better'.

•

As stated earlier, required grades for university may be lowered.

However, I feel the costs far outweigh the advantages and these reforms are a huge mistake; they should be ditched like his failed GCSE reforms. The only advice I can give, is work hard and hope for the best... that's my plan anyway.

Couldn't have said it better myself lol. As you can see i'm not a big fan of Gove, being a first year as student myself. Whether these changes are taking place or not, it annoys me especially that it's affecting us first years!

Reply 13

MENDACIUM

It's a ridiculous idea imo. I have re-sat and know many people who have. Some days you are ill, or have an off day. It's life.

Reply 14

ThatPerson

Original post by theblackreaper

<snip>

Woah...Can you edit and add paragraphs please?

Reply 15

theblackreaper

Woah....can you stop being such a smart ass please. As long as my point comes across i don't care how it's structured. I'm not an idiot btw, i've got a stars in my english literature/english langauge gcse. It seems clearly obvious that you're more concerned about correcting people on their grammar than the topic itself, so why don't you join posh noob gove on some other smart ass forum. either the you're blind, or you can't read something that isn't split up for once. Might wanna consider going to spec savers Mr Gove junior woah....

Reply 16

Bennybo

I think the system at the moment fits everyone's 'style'. If you're responsible and work hard to get the A's in January, why should you suffer because of people who aren't as determined? Similarly, if you are just as determined but have a bad day (or whatever the reason may be), you have the opportunity to resit in the Summer.

Obviously there are other factors to consider, but being an A2 student myself I cannot stress enough how January exams this year have helped me.

Reply 17

ThatPerson

Original post by theblackreaper

No need to be a ****. I actually agree with you. However it is almost unreadable. It's not me being a grammar freak, it's common sense.

Reply 18

Anna.Karenina

Original post by theblackreaper

If you've got so much to say, isn't it better that people can read it clearly and be able to respond to your opinion?

With A*s in English, I would hope you understand concise, adaptive writing.

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