Yep, A levels are a lot easier than 25 years ago!

Search the Internet for O level papers from 25 years ago. You'll find in the same subjects that most of what was taught to 14 - 16 year olds then is now in today's 16/17 year old AS level syllabuses, with bits appearing even in the A2 Level.

What has changed is the volume of pointless sh*te that 16-18 year olds are expected to do - "pump up the volume". Poor pre-university kids have to waste hundreds of hours on waffle: Citizenshit, General Studies, Team Building, Numeracy etc. Back in the days when qualifications meant something, these kinds of skills were developed through voluntary work, activity weekends, sport etc, with no exams unless you wanted to get certificated.

Nowadays, you have every skiving moron under the sun getting Es and Ds without lifting a finger. You have students doing A Levels who can't work out a basic percentage in their head, add two numbers together without a calculator and don't have the ability to string a sentence together that makes sense to at least 50% of the Engliush-speaking world. Unluckily as well, there are now so many joke A Levels around that the whole system has been undermined. Still, students who finish Uni with a Media Studies degree (third class), a £20,000 debt with no job can feel very proud.

Search the Internet for O level papers from 25 years ago. You'll find in the same subjects that most of what was taught to 14 - 16 year olds then is now in today's 16/17 year old AS level syllabuses, with bits appearing even in the A2 Level.

What has changed is the volume of pointless sh*te that 16-18 year olds are expected to do - "pump up the volume". Poor pre-university kids have to waste hundreds of hours on waffle: Citizenshit, General Studies, Team Building, Numeracy etc. Back in the days when qualifications meant something, these kinds of skills were developed through voluntary work, activity weekends, sport etc, with no exams unless you wanted to get certificated.

Nowadays, you have every skiving moron under the sun getting Es and Ds without lifting a finger. You have students doing A Levels who can't work out a basic percentage in their head, add two numbers together without a calculator and don't have the ability to string a sentence together that makes sense to at least 50% of the Engliush-speaking world. Unluckily as well, there are now so many joke A Levels around that the whole system has been undermined. Still, students who finish Uni with a Media Studies degree (third class), a £20,000 debt with no job can feel very proud.

Search the Internet for O level papers from 25 years ago. You'll find in the same subjects that most of what was taught to 14 - 16 year olds then is now in today's 16/17 year old AS level syllabuses, with bits appearing even in the A2 Level.

What has changed is the volume of pointless sh*te that 16-18 year olds are expected to do - "pump up the volume". Poor pre-university kids have to waste hundreds of hours on waffle: Citizenshit, General Studies, Team Building, Numeracy etc. Back in the days when qualifications meant something, these kinds of skills were developed through voluntary work, activity weekends, sport etc, with no exams unless you wanted to get certificated.

Nowadays, you have every skiving moron under the sun getting Es and Ds without lifting a finger. You have students doing A Levels who can't work out a basic percentage in their head, add two numbers together without a calculator and don't have the ability to string a sentence together that makes sense to at least 50% of the Engliush-speaking world. Unluckily as well, there are now so many joke A Levels around that the whole system has been undermined. Still, students who finish Uni with a Media Studies degree (third class), a £20,000 debt with no job can feel very proud.

I got a lot of neg rep for this post even though it seems everybody agrees with what I was saying. My neg rep said I was abusive? Well is it more wasn't the orginal thread quite abusive?

Why not go on a joinery forum and slag of A levels, why come on a site when you know there is a lot of students taking them. People that undermine youing peoples hard work make me sick.

"joinery forum" how patronising what makes you think that the person who posted doesnt have qualifications. Their post although I dont agree with its content appeared highly articulate to me.

Hes made his point you've made yours but you could raise a decent counter argument to his post rather than calling him a twat and calling him bitter and twisted.

Actually, "joinery" isn't such a bad idea. I recently heard that 70% of plumbing apprentices are graduates that couldn't find white collar work so instead are learning a trade that will gross them 70k a year. Anybody know if this a fact?

Actually, "joinery" isn't such a bad idea. I recently heard that 70% of plumbing apprentices are graduates that couldn't find white collar work so instead are learning a trade that will gross them 70k a year. Anybody know if this a fact?

Actually, "joinery" isn't such a bad idea. I recently heard that 70% of plumbing apprentices are graduates that couldn't find white collar work so instead are learning a trade that will gross them 70k a year. Anybody know if this a fact?

I did my A-Level chem in 1994. The stuff we covered then is now not covered at A-Level, but at University level (part one).

I remember being shown a past paper from 10 years previous to my A-Level chem. We thought it was identical and got cocky about how on earth can people claim A-Levels are getting easier. It was at this juncture our teacher interjected with the vital piece of info. It was an O-Level paper!

Sorry guys but I am a firm believer that A-Levels are getting easier. But then again in todays educational climate you are being encouraged to be more rounded with a range of subject matter incompasing both the arts and the sciences, and from what I can see from tutoring etc. 4 or 5 A-Levels seems to be the norm. There is no way on earth the norm could be 4-5 with the content of previous years.

Does it not occure to you that things change hence the content won't be the same? My degee contents change every year but it dosn't mean its getting any easier, it just means that things change.

It may be that things just seem easier to older people.

I certainly look at the A-levels in subjects I took and think they look easy, but the syllabi aren't too different (finished A-levels in 1994) and I remember them being rather hard (for me) at the time. The difficulty comes not with the material itself, but with the short time we have for it to 'sink in'.

Also, you have to remember that teaching methods have improved, and there is a lot more reference material available (online) than there was in the good old days. Try doing today's A-level coursework with a couple of reference books and an hour's tutorial per week and nothing else.

Of course it does! But given the level we studied to isn't even covered at A-Level now, but degree level, are you not getting the message?

Right! From tutoring, here are my observations, based on hard fact:

Todays A-Level syllabus (regardless of board) is made up of:
year two GCSCE as was in 1992.
year 1 A-level as was in 1993.

This is fact - go and dig out syllabuses!

Every student gets the 'things are getting easier, in my day...' thing. We did 10 years ago, people 20 years ago did and I dare say today it's exactly the same.