Record A Level Results - but are exams getting easier?

No, why do we have to constantly seperate very good from very very good. It is fine how it is.

Around how many people in the country in 3 percent?

Just heard the headlines;

"Record A Level Results - but are exams getting easier?"

To say this statement annoys me is putting it politely.

We clearly need to bite back with our own witty and silly headlines. I'll start first:

"The News industry has grown - are standards of journalism slipping?

I just wanted to point out one possible error in your argument. Universities upping their entry requirements do not necessarily mean standards are droping. The pass rate could be increasing due to other factors like teaching quality, resources, social attitudes, increased opputunitiesetc...
In any case, aren't univerisities going to boost their requirements if more people are achieveing the higher grades? They are still going to have a finite number of places available and there going to want the best of those applicants filling those places.

Huh? Dont understand

Heres another one:

"Paula Radcliffe set a new record in the 2003 London Marathon - but is the distance getting shorter?"

Agreed, but i feel the standards must be adjusted to fall in line with the better teaching etc. The A-level must better differentiate between abilities, and this can only be done by either making exams harder or make the % needed for grades higher. If teaching quality keeps on increasing and better and better results are acheived eventually we will get in a situation where not only is everyone passing, but everyone is acheiving A-C. Imagine an exaggerated situation in which teaching quality, resources, social attitudes, increased opputunitiesetc are all so good that everyone acheives an 'A' grade. The exam has failed to distinguish between abilities. In this situation something must be done to get the proper spreaqd of results.

It's not nice but to preserve the quality of the A-Level they must get harder. Unfortunately some people must fail to maintain standards in mty opinion

Whether standards are raising because exams are getting easier or not is not the true issue to me. As long as the system is differentiating between abilities I do not see a problem. Once it has reached a point where its difficult to differentiatiate between abilities then I would agree that something has to be done. Making the exams easier is not the only solution. Giving marks (UMS) instead of grades or an A* could solve the problem. I certainly do not believe exams should get harder where there is a coniderable large number failing. I believe education is supposed to open doors to new oppurtunities not close them.

I believe education is supposed to open doors to new oppurtunities not close them.

Sorry, I meant how many people in the country make up the 3 percent?