Annual 'a' Level Results Slating Thread

[Cambon]

It was different at the school I went to in the early 80s - everybody did English Language 'O' level in fourth year (year9?) and then 9 other O-Levels in Fifth year.

In Lower Sixth, another 'O' Level whilst studying for 3 'A' Levels, then in Upper Sixth we took the three 'A' Levels we'd studied for plus the 'General Studies' A Level (which didn't require any studying as such but was just a sort of test of your intelligence and understanding of the world).

 

At the school I went to we all took English language GCE in the 4th year, but that was not necessarily the same in other schools, especially where the exams were CSEs. They were rarely taken in 4th year. In 6th we could only study for 3 "A"s maximum, and optionally additional "O"s if they were relevant. I don't remember a general studies "A" level though.

[Cambon]

Disregarding the sniping that has gone on up to now, it can't be very nice when a kid has really tried to do well and studied hard, to be told "Well done you've passed with good marks, but the certificate is virtually useless because the exam was easy.

 

I assume you have some "O" levels? what use have they actually been to you since you left full time education? If you are anything like me the answer will be that they are useless. An unfortunate fact of life. No employer has ever asked to see them!

 

In my life I have taken many exams and have many certificates, all of which are virtually useless. In fact I took an exam last week, pass mark 70% I got 83% so passed. I received the certificate this morning. Brilliant. It is now filed away probably never to be seen again.

[VinnieK]

As I am a lazy bugger, I'm sure if I was at school today my grades would suffer because coursework was always a major chore for me - my main strength was being pretty good at assimilating information and putting it on paper in exams which, it seems, is no longer what education is about.

 

The trouble with the exam only method is that it tended to favour keeners cramming away for hours, resulting in a fair few people managing to do better than they perhaps deserved by virtue of learning to jump through the right hoops without having to demonstrate much imagination or understanding. The advantage of coursework is that a really good piece can show a flair and grasp of a particular topic that might otherwise go unnoticed in the exam, of course it's open to abuse just as much as the exam system was, but the basic idea isn't that bad.

 

Maths is a pretty good example of this in action: once you've got a basic grasp of the fundamentals, it's pretty easy to "play the system". Learn, say, how to apply the basic rules of integration and differentiation by rote and you can pretty much answer most single variable calculus questions on an A-Level paper without once having anything but a minimal understanding of what you're actually doing. Once a student realises that certain topics come up regularly from exam to exam (product/quotient rules, integration by parts), they'll have a very good chance of doing well without having to actually having to grasp that much. A well thought out piece of coursework, on the other hand, stands a chance of forcing the student to at least explore the subject in a meaningful way. Plagiarism is always going to be a problem, but it can probably be dealt with using a combination of vigilence and insisting that the student uses proper citations and references throughout their work.

[Domino]

Disregarding the sniping that has gone on up to now, it can't be very nice when a kid has really tried to do well and studied hard, to be told "Well done you've passed with good marks, but the certificate is virtually useless because the exam was easy.

 

I assume you have some "O" levels? what use have they actually been to you since you left full time education? If you are anything like me the answer will be that they are useless. An unfortunate fact of life. No employer has ever asked to see them!

 

In my life I have taken many exams and have many certificates, all of which are virtually useless. In fact I took an exam last week, pass mark 70% I got 83% so passed. I received the certificate this morning. Brilliant. It is now filed away probably never to be seen again.

 

You sound quite bitter about this Cambon.

 

In my case if I had not had the passes required for the career I wanted - I wouldn't have even got started. Mind you we are talking a long time ago (!). However an earlier posting said that even these days, unless you have the highest 'A' level grade on your CV, your application goes straight in the bin.

 

In your case it sounds like you apply for the wrong jobs to suit your schooling and adult education qualifications?

[P.K.]

However an earlier posting said that even these days, unless you have the highest 'A' level grade on your CV, your application goes straight in the bin.

It's not down to your "qualifications" at all, well, not according to David Brent anyway:

 

You don't want to hire unlucky people. So I always put half the cv's straight in the bin. That gets rid of the unlucky ones...