Are resits fair?

I like having the safety net of knowing if I have a bad day I can always retake, but I think they're responsible for having undermined the A levels system and it's been a major contributory factor to them appearing to be 'dumbed down'.

Everyone at college who improved their grade now cites their grade as being aab instead of abc for instance, which they got previously. I feel frustrated because I got 6 As first time round and a bet a lot of employers etc will think that I didn't do it in one go- that I have taken retakes. Also, those people didn't work that hard the first time round and all they did was cram over xmas. However because they got As too people now think that they're just as good and it does a disservice to the hard work that people put in.

I think that the resit system should be abolished- it should go on the first grade that you get- maybe it would encourage people to not treat AS as a doss year. If you want to repeat fair enough, but it should have the penalty of costing you the year of redoing all of it, not just select bits, which isn't (obviously) as much pressure. Any thoughts? Similar experiences?

Reply 1

lostinfantasies

2

Well, for me and everyone who worked hard, were confident about their exam and still didn't do that well, resits are a godsend. I mean, yeah, resits probably do account for this attitude of "oh, it's okay, I can just doss" I've found sometimes in college, but what about those people who work really hard, do really well in practice exam papers, and are SURE they've done well for their actual exam, yet get a low grade?

I do regret my January 2005 Sociology exam - I hated the subject (horrible teacher) and didn't really try. I got an E, which was my own fault. Retook it and got an A, which while only proves what you were saying can be looked at from a different perspective - what could I have got in that January if I actually tried? I tried for that A, I tried for the three As for the three Sociology summer exams. And now, for my January A2 exam, I get a D, even after being sure that I did well. So...yeah. I'm definitely retaking it. And I'm glad :smile:

.

But it's annoying when people abuse the system. You're not really supposed to go into the exam thinking "oh, it doesn't matter".

Reply 2

Champagne-Dahling

10

Retakes soften the A level system, no doubt...but I think i speak for all when i say THANK BLOODY GOD FOR THEM!

Reply 3

Kolya

17

Why care about other people and their grades? Do the best you can. You go to school to Sixth Form to learn more about those areas which interest you.

Is it just me, or is it more about how much money you can make than about the intellectual satisfaction of taking your studies further?

Reply 4

OctoberPoppy

OP

1

Baal_k

Why care about other people and their grades? Do the best you can. You go to school to Sixth Form to learn more about those areas which interest you.

Is it just me, or is it more about how much money you can make than about the intellectual satisfaction of taking your studies further?

I care about other people because they're who I'm going to be compared with for the rest of my life: for the prestige value (I feel proud of how much work I put in and don't feel that it's adequately represented under this system), for universities, for jobs, for lots of things. I don't like the feeling of 'why did I bother- I could have dossed away my time and then got the As from cramming anyway'. It makes me feel angry and resentful because I feel as though I've been short changed,a lthough I do recognise that people do have bad days and for some reason don't do as well on the paper as they should have and so resits are good for them.

Baal_k

You go to school to Sixth Form to learn more about those areas which interest you.

That was my idea until I saw the flawed constrictive nature of AS/A levels. I've actually been told by my eng lit teacher to not write original essays as I 'must remember that the essays are being marked at speed and therefore I must make every point blindingly obvious and write what they want to see' basically as opposed to writing intellectuallly challenging conceptual content.

Reply 5

belle_27

14

I know what you mean, retakes soften the system but at the same time due to the nature of our current system of A levels they're needed. A levels aren't intellectually challenging and the way that universities demand certain grades means that if you flunk an exam, no matter how good your teachers say you are, if you don't have a good reason then you're going to be rejected.

I know someone who is brilliant at English lit and her teachers recognise that she has a talent for it yet she happened to mess up her AS exams and came out with a B overall but Cs in her exams and an A in coursework but on retaking got it up to an A overall. Without retakes it would have been very hard for her/none existent to get an A grade and thus get into a good university considering the competitive nature of English.

Also, is it right to deny some people the right to retake when they had genuine reasons for messing up like illness just to stop those who doss about all year from getting a higher grade? Because its either a system of everyone can do resits or no-one can resit. Its annoying when people who can't be bothered first time round get good grades after retakes but tbh the whole system is unfair.

Reply 6

OctoberPoppy

OP

1

belle_27

I know what you mean, retakes soften the system but at the same time due to the nature of our current system of A levels they're needed. A levels aren't intellectually challenging and the way that universities demand certain grades means that if you flunk an exam, no matter how good your teachers say you are, if you don't have a good reason then you're going to be rejected.

I know someone who is brilliant at English lit and her teachers recognise that she has a talent for it yet she happened to mess up her AS exams and came out with a B overall but Cs in her exams and an A in coursework but on retaking got it up to an A overall. Without retakes it would have been very hard for her/none existent to get an A grade and thus get into a good university considering the competitive nature of English.

Also, is it right to deny some people the right to retake when they had genuine reasons for messing up like illness just to stop those who doss about all year from getting a higher grade? Because its either a system of everyone can do resits or no-one can resit. Its annoying when people who can't be bothered first time round get good grades after retakes but tbh the whole system is unfair.

Points accepted: to rule it out would be seriously unfair to some, but I have been judging on the basis of what I've seen at college (an isolated example). I think it's true: the whole system is unfair and this is just a small facet of it. I am against AS and A2 separation and personally speaking, the old, traditional format would have been a better system, although I suppose people who drop out now after a year at least have some sort of qualification. There are pros and cons to everything education related, I suppose. The problem fundamentally is that there can never be one cover-all solution to suit thousands of candidates, with different skills, interests, personalities etc.

Reply 7

lufiaguy

6

*Arc

I feel frustrated because I got 6 As first time round and a bet a lot of employers etc will think that I didn't do it in one go- that I have taken retakes.

I would imagine that the degree you are awarded would be more important than whether you did any resits at A Level or not... however there is nothing to stop you from mentioning that you've never resat anything on your CV, to give yourself the edge over any other candidates. :smile:

Reply 8

Ises

I just wish it like the IB, where you did the exams at the *end* of the two years. It was like that for the A-level as well. I mean, no one can deny that people come along in two years at different rates. I really hope universities dont penalise me for being a serial re-sitter. It's not like I'll be taking them beyond the two year period.

Reply 9

tymbnuip

1

*Arc

That was my idea until I saw the flawed constrictive nature of AS/A levels. I've actually been told by my eng lit teacher to not write original essays as I 'must remember that the essays are being marked at speed and therefore I must make every point blindingly obvious and write what they want to see' basically as opposed to writing intellectuallly challenging conceptual content.

Not that I agree with the thread, but that is an interesting point you make!

Reply 10

Knogle

16

Personally I think that they are unfair, and that they numb the entire 'A' level certificate.

As a graduate of the 'A' level system in Singapore, we only had ONE chance to sit for the 'A' level exams - we don't even have ASs and A2s here. So within the span of a month, we sat for countless papers for 4 subjects, and a couple of months later, we received our grades.

The UK 'A' level systems is a lot more sympathetic to students. It allows for a GREAT DEAL of flexibility because of its modular structure, and the ability for students to resit specific modules. In addition, students are told their UMS scores, and can accurately calculate how well they need to do for a certain module to achieve a desired overall grade (and hence they know how much effort to devote to a certain module).

As an international applicant, we never had these great advantages.

With the Singapore system, a lot more stressed is placed on students especially during the lead up to the examinations. But it does ensure that students are in the best forms, knowing every intricate detail of their subjects all at one point of time. You, needless to say, have to work significantly harder than your UK counterparts.

Reply 11

*River

15

There was some statistical annalysis done some time ago (no, I don't have a link) and it basically said that people rarely improve dramatically if they decide to go on and have a third attempt at a module because these people tend to be the ones who are just grabbing at straws and aren't really going to get high grades. Resits are a lot more work than many people imagine, it's so easy to say 'never mind, I'll try again in Summer', but at my school atleast we don't get study leave so there just isn't going to be enough time to revise everything properly and harder module scores will probably suffer as a result. However, it seems foolish that to a degree your immediate future is all decided on one day, as it was under the old system. GCSEs are ridiculed and we don't have multiple resits in those.

Reply 12

Katy200

13

i dont reallyl ike the idea of re sits especially when people get a B and resit just to get a an A. i got a D in my geography and im not going to re sit because i tryed hard and i didnt do it the first time so im just going but all my effort into getting a better mark in the next couple of modules. I think people do rely too much on oh well i can do it again, and dont try as hard.

Reply 13

Mustard-man

18

If it wasn't for resits I'd be pretty screwed. I think it's alright to resit AS's because many people don't acclimatise with the AS requirements the first time round. Especially if you come from a public school like myself where I only had a mock on unit 1 for chemistry, which I don't think is enough. I mean A-level is more exam practise and technique, that mock I had was the only past paper we were given.

Compared to GCSE, A-level is very different, and I believe people should get a second chance, but yeah, I think allowing a resit for each unit is getting way out of hand. What are they going to let you do next, resit sections?!!?!?!?

Reply 14

shyopstv

15

I'm pretty divided on this. I believe that it is fair to resit say one or two units but to be honest even if you mess up AS, if during your A2 year, you can build your knowledge of the previous year up to the point where you would be able to get a better grade, I don't see why you should't be able to get that better grade. However, I do think that its unfair that its your best mark and not your most recent that counts.

The one excpetion to what I have said is subjects like Maths where the earlier core modules become extremely easy once you have sat the later modules. I think that should go back to the old system of just having a big exam at the end of the 2 years (maybe have one at the end of AS too just to bring it into lne with other subjects)

Reply 15

kellywood_5

17

I'm not too sure where I stand on this, to be honest. On one hand, I agree with you that resits are unfair on people like you who get excellent results the first time around and aren't seen as being any better than someone who gets them after 2 or 3 attempts. I can also see your point about unlimited resits encouraging people to see Year 12 as a doss year. On the other hand, you don't automatically get a better grade just by retaking an exam. You still have to put in a lot of work to get the desired result, perhaps more so than the first time because it will all be your own work and no teaching. People who either don't take exams seriously and aren't bothered about their results or simply aren't good enough at the subject will do no better the second time than the first time. A few examples of that are one of my friends who got a U in AS psychology, resat it in January and got a U again and a boy in my French class who got a lower U in the reading and writing exam in January than he did last summer. There's also the point that sometimes people who've worked consistently hard and done consistently well on a unit get an inexplicably bad result in an exam. For my unit 2 history last summer I got a D despite getting As and Bs throughout the year, so I resat it in January and got an A. If I hadn't been able to do that, it would have been a struggle for me to get an overall B at A-level, whereas now I'm hopefully on track for an A. I think UCAS being able to see resits from 2007 entry onwards will solve the problem because it means people like you will get the recognition they deserve for doing well first time, but also people who want to resit for whatever reason will be able to. I also think they should be limited to one resit per module and the resit mark should count even if it's lower.

Reply 16

username38546

0

11

Apparently the university of London have stopped giving postgrad medical students any additional marks for their exams if theyre ill or have had a recent berevement, etc. If you are well enough to sit the exam, you get the marks you earned on the paper. If you are not well enough to sit the exam you dont.
Why dont the GCSE and ALevel papers work like this. And if you are not well enough to get the mark you deserve you shouldnt sit the paper.

Reply 17

Samothy

1

I think they should be more fussy about who they let resit. If you got a C and were estimated a B, you probably shouldn't be allowed. But sometimes there are instances where you need to resit. Last year my French class did the writing people thinking we knew what we were doing. We all got E's and U's so that obviously wasn't true. But then my teacher went to a meeting about the exam and so she had more of an idea for what they were looking for. They also changed the format of the exam meaning a lot of people must have had complaints about it. We all resat the exam in January and got A's and B's. I think that was fair because we couldn't have fakes the ability to go up that much.

Reply 18

Mellie

1

I think the resit procedure is fine. It's fair to those who might have underachieved through say, illness, family issues or stress. As for the people who were lazy first time round, it gives them more and more to do. Same for the others, I suppose.

If people are paying for resits, then I think they deserve to be given the extra chance. After all, nobody what anyone says, you can't just laze around all year then walk into an exam and ace it. I refuse to believe anyone who says otherwise.

Reply 19

Johnny 5

12

An exam is supposed to reflect the degree of knowledge that a candidate has in a particular subject. If it changes, or was not accurately recorded the first time, there seems to me to be no reason why there shouldn't be a second chance to get a grade more reflective of one's actual abilities.

Bear in mind firstly that A-level results aren't marked by robots that judge ability with perfect accuracy. At the same time, no-one, in a first attempt or resit, is likely to achieve marks vastly above their actual ability. Rarely, if ever, will someone go from a D to an A, and if they do, it's likely to be because the first exam had serious problems (with marking, say, or illness). I can't help but feel that resits are a way of making exam results more accurate than less.

(Not that I've ever taken any.)

Are resits fair?

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