Students should be given a choice to which education system they should follow

Original post by nanachan123

Reason why i said this is because i failed my a levels, like didnt just get e, there were U's too. However when i moved to canada and re did 12 grade again, i passed with 90+%, that's like A*. Now I got offers from top ranked universities i never thought i would get chance in my life time. This overall experience makes me wonder, how many students out there lost their chance to get into good unis because the education system has failed them? Is there such thing as bad students?

Different countries have different system, i wish students were given a choice to which system they can follow. All my friends are graduating when i am just going to start uni because of that one mistake. I wish someone sat down with me and showed me the system i would ace in. sorry if it doesnt make sense

Why is it the education system failed you and theres no part for you failing yourself?

Reply 3

OP

Original post by james_law

Could you elaborate on what you mean by the education system has failed them, exactly how?

Yes of course there is such thing as bad students.

For instance, the previous system i was in (GCE), the final carries 100% weight. While in canadian system, 70% weight went into assignments/ daily class work and 30% went into finals. I remember in UK, i worked hard to ace class test, assignment and quiz which carried no marks to the final and three weeks before the final, i would get too burned out to even study because i put in all my efforts into stuffs that didnt matter in the end. On of the worst thing about this system is, your papers are marked by strangers who doesn't even know how much effort youve put in before. While the canadian system, its marked by teachers who aknowledges your effort and gives you extra boost. The papers are even made by teachers themselves to suit the thinking skills of students in the class, meanwhile the uk system had variant 1, 2, 3, 4 and i remember i was given no choice but to end with variant 3 that was the hard.

Regardless my friends passed and I didnt. Was I a bad student or was there simply a flaw in the system? I don't know, but i remember what helped me the most was knowing my class work mattered. It gave me constant motivation, like if i did well in one class test, i would aim to do well in the next class test too and by the time it was final, the topics would be engrained into my brain because i was genuinly interested in learning than worrying about finals.

Reply 4

OP

Original post by 999tigger

Why is it the education system failed you and theres no part for you failing yourself?

Because i got good grades in one system and bad grades in other despite putting equal effort in both. :smile:

Reply 5

Debate & Current Affairs Helper

Original post by nanachan123

Because i got good grades in one system and bad grades in other despite putting equal effort in both. :smile:

It just means you found the Canadian system easy compared to the UK one.

Reply 6

vapordave

It means that the UK education system didn't work for you, or rather you didn't adapt to it. However, I think it's a fairer system because it means no student or group of students has an advantage due to teaching quality, (justified) absences, teacher preferences, and so on. The reason you got bad grades in the UK despite your effort is because you didn't focus your efforts on what mattered - revision. Whereas in Canada your effort distribution matched what was asked of you.

Responding to your statement; this isn't really possible because of the logistics of the government managing multiple distinct systems at the same time. I good compromise is what we have now - BTEC Level 3 puts more emphasis on coursework than A-levels.

Reply 7

OP

Original post by 999tigger

It just means you found the Canadian system easy compared to the UK one.

In case you havent read the title of this thread "Students should be given a choice to which education system they should follow" and uk system failed me, canadian system wasnt any easier, it was just more merciful in a sense? It suited me despite having the same syllabus.

Original post by Daveological

It means that the UK education system didn't work for you, or rather you didn't adapt to it. However, I think it's a fairer system because it means no student or group of students has an advantage due to teaching quality, (justified) absences, teacher preferences, and so on. The reason you got bad grades in the UK despite your effort is because you didn't focus your efforts on what mattered - revision. Whereas in Canada your effort distribution matched what was asked of you.

Responding to your statement; this isn't really possible because of the logistics of the government managing multiple distinct systems at the same time. I good compromise is what we have now - BTEC Level 3 puts more emphasis on coursework than A-levels.

I just wish there was some guidance before starting A levels. A counsellor who would sit down with you and find out which system would work best for you as each students have unique learning capabilities.

I agree canadian system has its own share of flaws too, but at least not everything depends on finals. I would have attended community college based on my a level grades if i didnt move. Because of luck, i had the chance to explore and redo 12th grade in another system. Now think about how many students are out there like me who has failed a levels? Or perhaps got low grades that doesnt meet the min requirement? Are they worthless for unis? No, they are capable of getting good grades in another system but because there is no guidance, they are stuck into believing that's the worth of their effort when in reality, its the system that didnt suit them.

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 8

Debate & Current Affairs Helper

Original post by nanachan123

In case you havent read the title of this thread "Students should be given a choice to which education system they should follow" and uk system failed me, canadian system wasnt any easier, it was just more merciful in a sense? It suited me despite having the same syllabus.

I just wish there was some guidance before starting A levels. A counsellor who would sit down with you and find out which system would work best for you as each students have unique learning capabilities.

I agree canadian system has its own share of flaws too, but at least not everything depends on finals.

So a pupil could decide whether to emigrate to Canada or not?

Reply 9

vapordave

Original post by nanachan123

In case you havent read the title of this thread "Students should be given a choice to which education system they should follow" and uk system failed me, canadian system wasnt any easier, it was just more merciful in a sense? It suited me despite having the same syllabus.

I just wish there was some guidance before starting A levels. A counsellor who would sit down with you and find out which system would work best for you as each students have unique learning capabilities.

I agree canadian system has its own share of flaws too, but at least not everything depends on finals.

If you're talking about BTEC vs A-level I agree and more schools should give guidance on that. If you're talking about moving to Canada or the like, for pre-university education it's not practical for a vast majority of people.

You'll find that many international school systems actually have a lower standard than A-levels, eg. an American high school diploma is not in itself acceptable for entry at many UK universities. (it is often regarded as equivalent to GCSEs with AP classes [university level in the US!] equivalent to A-levels) Similar looks to be the case with Canada - with university level (wrt Canada) courses required for a few universities I've checked, (certainly the ones that require A*s) at least in certain provinces.

Anyway, this is besides the point - for some subjects, exam is unfortunately the best alternative. While subjects like history and english could probably be made almost entirely coursework, it'd be extremely difficult to make science/maths almost entirely coursework based/continually assessed. It's a flawed system but there's not really a better way to do things in some cases.

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 11

OP

Original post by 999tigger

So a pupil could decide whether to emigrate to Canada or not?

Someone hasnt heard of online schools and it shows.

Reply 12

Original post by nanachan123

Someone hasnt heard of online schools and it shows.

So you get a choice at which online school across the world youd like to attend and then you study from home ?

Reply 13

ajj2000

got to say I don't believe this is a reliable story. There is no way anyone who was doing pretty well at coursework and mock exams would get a U in an actual exam.

Reply 14

OP

Debate & Current Affairs Helper

Original post by Daveological

If you're talking about BTEC vs A-level I agree and more schools should give guidance on that. If you're talking about moving to Canada or the like, for pre-university education it's not practical for a vast majority of people.

Not all schools in UK follows the same pattern. There are day schools specialised in AP, IB and what not. Cheaper alternatives are online schools. International students don't need to travel to UK to give igcse or gce.

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 15

vapordave