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In a few years, the A Level pass rate will be 100%. Universities will have to trawl through thousands of University-length essays in order to discern which students should be accepted, because a grade of all As just isn't good enough to guarantee a place anymore. Despite this, students and teachers all say that the bad press A Levels get is demoralising to the people working so hard to get the good grades...can't they just admit that it's getting easier? Modules mean that one bad day for a test won't wreck your grade, which is something I definitely agree with; but spouting this fact every single time doesn't change the figures we hear every August. A pass in A Levels is a grade from A to E. How can an E grade be considered a success? Everybody says that dismissing sets of grades like four As is an insult to students, but that simply isn't true. It's not the students' fault, they can only pass what they are sitting. But when you can get the perfect, maximum score and still have to jump through another hoop to get your desired University placement something is wrong with the system. Chris Woodhead mixes his stance on education with his stance on politics, but his ideas seem to be the ones that a lot of the public would like to see implemented. Indeed, perhaps the best suggestion is to simply go back to the old GCE and O Level system that worked just fine for the last generation.
And then there's University itself. I listened to a good program on the radio last night where the subject of learning for the sake of learning came up a lot. University is clearly an incredible experience that millions find improves their life - people walk out after a degree as a different person. But this option is becoming less viable every year, as more obstacles are put in the way of potential graduates. My year will be the first to get the new tuition fees. The sliding scale system basically makes it pointless to get a degree, because any improved wages you might earn are simply skimmed to pay for the degree itself. As the years of quota-filling catches up with the country, we will end up with over half of people going to University, but nobody able to screw in a lightbulb or fix a tap. Nowadays it is easier to walk into a highly paid job after a vocational course in plumbing than it is to get any sort of job with a good degree. People are coming out with these qualifications but without basic skills, such as the ability to fill out an application form. So what's the point of getting a degree anymore, when it is becoming devalued and even unhelpful?
I'm getting very worried about my 'grand plan' of getting to University, finishing with good results and getting a job I enjoy. And to make matters worse, I might be expected to write several thousand words of an essay to submit in my application, along with three years' worth of work. Perhaps I should go into mechanics.
And then there's University itself. I listened to a good program on the radio last night where the subject of learning for the sake of learning came up a lot. University is clearly an incredible experience that millions find improves their life - people walk out after a degree as a different person. But this option is becoming less viable every year, as more obstacles are put in the way of potential graduates. My year will be the first to get the new tuition fees. The sliding scale system basically makes it pointless to get a degree, because any improved wages you might earn are simply skimmed to pay for the degree itself. As the years of quota-filling catches up with the country, we will end up with over half of people going to University, but nobody able to screw in a lightbulb or fix a tap. Nowadays it is easier to walk into a highly paid job after a vocational course in plumbing than it is to get any sort of job with a good degree. People are coming out with these qualifications but without basic skills, such as the ability to fill out an application form. So what's the point of getting a degree anymore, when it is becoming devalued and even unhelpful?
I'm getting very worried about my 'grand plan' of getting to University, finishing with good results and getting a job I enjoy. And to make matters worse, I might be expected to write several thousand words of an essay to submit in my application, along with three years' worth of work. Perhaps I should go into mechanics.
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The goveernment though are trying to push this appreticeship(sp) thing forward though 4 of my firends are doing appreticeships. Again though i feel sorry for the elite as they can get put second best to the people just below them in grades, i belive there should be a 3 strands to every grade. A higher A middle A and lower A, then you could have only 2% get the higher A. This would make oxford and cambridge be able to pick a lot easier. Even though A levels are statistically no indication of what grade degree you might get.
I do try to defend the A Levels but then i remember i spent about 85% of my time in school either on the computers we had in the common room beating all comers at Half Life or in the sports hall playing basketball and i still got B's and C's in my exams so either i got extremely lucky, just very good under pressure in the test situation or exams are getting easier
The majority of the kids though do work hard to get their results and it is unfair on them to just dismiss their achievements. But then we are a country that likes to criticise and build up people only to smash them back down.
The majority of the kids though do work hard to get their results and it is unfair on them to just dismiss their achievements. But then we are a country that likes to criticise and build up people only to smash them back down.
In a few years, the A Level pass rate will be 100%. Universities will have to trawl through thousands of University-length essays in order to discern which students should be accepted, because a grade of all As just isn't good enough to guarantee a place anymore. Despite this, students and teachers all say that the bad press A Levels get is demoralising to the people working so hard to get the good grades...can't they just admit that it's getting easier? Modules mean that one bad day for a test won't wreck your grade, which is something I definitely agree with; but spouting this fact every single time doesn't change the figures we hear every August. A pass in A Levels is a grade from A to E. How can an E grade be considered a success? Everybody says that dismissing sets of grades like four As is an insult to students, but that simply isn't true. It's not the students' fault, they can only pass what they are sitting. But when you can get the perfect, maximum score and still have to jump through another hoop to get your desired University placement something is wrong with the system. Chris Woodhead mixes his stance on education with his stance on politics, but his ideas seem to be the ones that a lot of the public would like to see implemented. Indeed, perhaps the best suggestion is to simply go back to the old GCE and O Level system that worked just fine for the last generation.
And then there's University itself. I listened to a good program on the radio last night where the subject of learning for the sake of learning came up a lot. University is clearly an incredible experience that millions find improves their life - people walk out after a degree as a different person. But this option is becoming less viable every year, as more obstacles are put in the way of potential graduates. My year will be the first to get the new tuition fees. The sliding scale system basically makes it pointless to get a degree, because any improved wages you might earn are simply skimmed to pay for the degree itself. As the years of quota-filling catches up with the country, we will end up with over half of people going to University, but nobody able to screw in a lightbulb or fix a tap. Nowadays it is easier to walk into a highly paid job after a vocational course in plumbing than it is to get any sort of job with a good degree. People are coming out with these qualifications but without basic skills, such as the ability to fill out an application form. So what's the point of getting a degree anymore, when it is becoming devalued and even unhelpful?
I'm getting very worried about my 'grand plan' of getting to University, finishing with good results and getting a job I enjoy. And to make matters worse, I might be expected to write several thousand words of an essay to submit in my application, along with three years' worth of work. Perhaps I should go into mechanics.
And then there's University itself. I listened to a good program on the radio last night where the subject of learning for the sake of learning came up a lot. University is clearly an incredible experience that millions find improves their life - people walk out after a degree as a different person. But this option is becoming less viable every year, as more obstacles are put in the way of potential graduates. My year will be the first to get the new tuition fees. The sliding scale system basically makes it pointless to get a degree, because any improved wages you might earn are simply skimmed to pay for the degree itself. As the years of quota-filling catches up with the country, we will end up with over half of people going to University, but nobody able to screw in a lightbulb or fix a tap. Nowadays it is easier to walk into a highly paid job after a vocational course in plumbing than it is to get any sort of job with a good degree. People are coming out with these qualifications but without basic skills, such as the ability to fill out an application form. So what's the point of getting a degree anymore, when it is becoming devalued and even unhelpful?
I'm getting very worried about my 'grand plan' of getting to University, finishing with good results and getting a job I enjoy. And to make matters worse, I might be expected to write several thousand words of an essay to submit in my application, along with three years' worth of work. Perhaps I should go into mechanics.
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