And now for the A Level changes

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Looking for help
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And now for the A Level changes

Post by Looking for help »

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-21156370" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Here's hoping we really do mean 2015 - I don't want my son to have to deal with more changes.
He will start 6th form in 2014.

Anyone else think Gove is just changing for the sake of change rather than for any real desire to improve education for our children ?
Hera
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Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2010 3:50 pm

Re: And now for the A Level changes

Post by Hera »

Yes, yes,yes. An egoist who wants to be remembered for something and unfortunately he has been put in charge of education. :(
scary mum
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Re: And now for the A Level changes

Post by scary mum »

Sigh. My poor kids. And poor DD who every time she sits a set of exams gets told they are rubbish and something better will be along soon.
scary mum
moved
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Re: And now for the A Level changes

Post by moved »

The reforms have already started.

Children in yr 12 will have January modules this year, but none in Jan 2014.
Children in yr 11 will have no January modules at all, which make maths a nightmare to timetable, let alone the sciences!

This will rather devalue AS. TBH I would prefer a release from the constant pressure of exams, although I'm not convinced that an end of two years suits the feckless!
hermanmunster
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Re: And now for the A Level changes

Post by hermanmunster »

I hadn't twigged how crazy the modular system had got until I discovered kids retaking absolutely every module (even if they had A grade) to squeeze a few more UMS out of it..
Reading Mum
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Re: And now for the A Level changes

Post by Reading Mum »

I switched mid course from a traditional degree in Engineering to a modular degree in Physical Sciences and it was so much easier - like taking lots of little O levels compared to what my former coursemates were doing.
I do wish they would stop fiddling around with things, but on the whole I prefer the move to end of course exams away from modular.
Marylou
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Joined: Sat Feb 25, 2006 2:21 am

Re: And now for the A Level changes

Post by Marylou »

hermanmunster wrote:I hadn't twigged how crazy the modular system had got until I discovered kids retaking absolutely every module (even if they had A grade) to squeeze a few more UMS out of it..
It's getting a bit like the tuition situation with the 11+. You have to do it because everyone else is, and end up at a disadvantage if you don't, especially if you're going for a highly competitive university course. Though I reckon those with top A-grades who scored them first time around must still be in the minority and should be given credit for it. The problem is that there is now so little top-end differentiation and as a result most of the sought-after courses now demand A grades, so it's hardly surprising that students will do all they can to get them. The system of firm and insurance offers is also impractical if all the courses want the same grades.

Once the modular system is dropped, I wonder if we'll see a return to the CCC offer of yesteryear?
Marylou
hermanmunster
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Re: And now for the A Level changes

Post by hermanmunster »

Marylou wrote:
hermanmunster wrote:I hadn't twigged how crazy the modular system had got until I discovered kids retaking absolutely every module (even if they had A grade) to squeeze a few more UMS out of it..
It's getting a bit like the tuition situation with the 11+. You have to do it because everyone else is, and end up at a disadvantage if you don't, especially if you're going for a highly competitive university course. Though I reckon those with top A-grades who scored them first time around must still be in the minority and should be given credit for it. The problem is that there is now so little top-end differentiation and as a result most of the sought-after courses now demand A grades, so it's hardly surprising that students will do all they can to get them. The system of firm and insurance offers is also impractical if all the courses want the same grades.

Once the modular system is dropped, I wonder if we'll see a return to the CCC offer of yesteryear?
Hope so! CCC was the standard offer of the people in my year at med school. (though most got higher). Agreed re the firm and insurance situation - it is sometimes a case now that if the offer is a bit lower the kids don't thinkk "great they want me" it is more of "what's wrong with the course?".
Last year there was some odd post offer reduction of the grades for english (I mean living in england :wink: ) students from a uni who should have known better, all very odd.
moved
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Re: And now for the A Level changes

Post by moved »

What was wrong with the lovely EE offer? :|

Most of my offers, apart from that one were ABB or ABC, which could be evened out with points. I took my A levels in 1985, but very few of my cohort went onto higher education. I think it was 11% for both polytechnics and universities, with only 2-3% going to university. That was a ridiculously low number of people with access to higher education and it would be tragic to go back to those levels.
Marylou
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Re: And now for the A Level changes

Post by Marylou »

If holding offers with the same grades, is it feasible these days to work out which university would be more likely to tolerate a grade drop and use that one as the "insurance" offer?

Regarding the change to final exams - my DD could have been saved so much angst if she had not felt the need to be constantly monitoring the scores on all her various modules, skidding through the snow for January ones which were held despite the school being closed, and instead focusing on getting a good overall result at the end. She did retake a few modules, but only because everyone else was as it had by then become the norm. I'm sure she would have done just as well if not better in a final exam system (which, it has to be said, does tend to suit last-minute crammers - she takes after her mother in that respect! :oops: )
Marylou
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