Senior_AP

http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0...197171,00.html


Of course they're getting easier.

darts_aint_sport

It's not as clear cut as that

Senior_AP

Two options.

1. They're getting less hard

or

2. The students are getting smarter.


I go for option 1.

darts_aint_sport

How about

Option 3. Exams are easier to pass, with the development of modular courses that can be retaken, instead of the do-or-die single exam

fast bloke

option 1 - exams are getting easier
option 3 - exams are getting easier to pass


is that not pretty much the same thing?

OllyK

Be interesting if they all did the Baccalaureate as well and see if the year on year improvements were as marked against that as they against GCSE and A Level.

I think the key here is the % getting A's. They need to rebalance the results against the normal distribution curve otherwise in 10 years everybody will get an A and the whole thing will be worthless, either that or they give the % rather than a grade.

darts_aint_sport

no.

fast bloke

please do enlighten us

darts_aint_sport

Well, "exams are getting easier" implies the questions are getting easier. To me atleast.
"Exams are getting easier to pass", as in the questions may or may not be as hard as they used to be, but there are more routes these days to get a better grade, by having a modular structure of the course, and being able to retake them if the grade isn't to your liking.

weapon69

Well all i have to say is i hope no one's kids on SN got there exam results today because they probably worked extremely hard for their grades and for you to turn round and say, everyone knows they're p!ss easy would be quite disheartening

Senior_AP

Exams are easier to pass/exams are easier - same principle applies.

Subjects are more modular these days but they don't get "that little bit more modular" every single year.

Senior_AP

Agreed, a more specific scale rating out of say, 100 so a percentage for each subject.

It would be nice and specific. Saving arguments like "we both got C's but mine was a better C" type ****.

2 people could get 'C', 1 could get nearly a 'D', the other nearly a B. There is a notable difference in the result of the exam yet both brats get credited with the same score. That sucks.

fast bloke

I didn't say they are p!ss easy. I said they are not as hard as they used to be. The same was true for students passing A levels in 1989. An 'average' A level student would get three grade c's or better. My brother in law did his A levels in 1971. He got the best grades in the school (same school as me) one C and two D's. This was enough to get him into veterinary medicine with no trouble. In 1989, the requirement for veterinary medicine was 4 A's. Now 4 A's probably wouldn't even get you an interview.
I agree that most people work their nads off for two years to get a string of A's, but I would suggest that I worked as hard to get a B and two C's and my bro-in-law worked harder to get his grades.

Senior_AP

I don't think anybody has said that.

I did A-levels and I have the self confidence to admit they are getting easier. I've no complex about it. Not my choice but I'm not blind to the facts.

Any grade at A-level shows intelligence. They're getting less hard does not mean they are a generic "piece of ****".

angrynorth

There is something wrong if only 4% fail.

suprabeast

of course the other flip is that students are taking generally easier subjects... media studies, being a relatively new subject is easier than say physics... therefore in the past a student may have left school at 16 because the thought of doing maths and english at a level is a bit scary..

Whereas nowadays, they can take media and psychology and do relatively well.

weapon69

IMO they are getting easier in the way they take them. I did my a levels before they introduced a/s then a level and so 2 years work was crammed into 4 exams or whatever at the end of 2years. Now they learn 9months of stuff, take an exam, forget about all that and do another 9months and then take an exam to make the A Level. I took an a/s level and found it easier than doing what i had to do before. But the point is, they still have to learn and study you can't just turn up once in a blue moon then get an A grade!

messiah

I think that the exams are getting easier but I also think that older folk that did exmas years ago are just griping that the younger generation have done better than they did.

Brendan Hughes

"I remember when all this were fails...."

davegtt

ever thought that the level of schooling/teaching has got better?

its something else to consider rather than looking at either

a. Students and
b. the actual exam

Senior_AP

I am not 'old' by any means. A mere 4 years difference between me and my older bro. I looked at his coursework and appreciated it was harder.

My grades mean less, quite possibly, they still hold value...I hope so. My exams were easier.....yes.

Amen to being a realist.

unclebuck

But I thought that's what *exams* were supposed to do.

FFS is there no end to New Labour's twisting and turning and spinning and lieing. Where will it all end??

UB

darts_aint_sport

If yours were much easier, how did you do?

Andrew Dixon

Haven't grades been improving year-on-year for the past 20 or so years? I didn't realise NL's 'influence' was so powerful as to be able to travel back through time!

unclebuck

You're missing the point. The exams are now so dumbed down that they no longer indicate students levels of ability. Therefore an extra unmarked paper will be written by students to determine their ability. This *is* a New Labour invention. You can't pin this on Thatcher. You will just *have* to take some responsibility for once.

fast bloke

Jeez - UB - I thought you must have been sick today or something

The exams have been getting easier to get higher grades in for at least 30 years, but I would have to agree with UB about the spin applied to this

Senior_AP

Teachers spend more time dealing with f$ckwits instead of actual teaching.

This whole thread relates to the "slipping standards" poll I did, to which a massive majority 92%) agreed that things are getting worse.

Exams are les tough, maybe the curriculum itself. In this day and age everyone must "be seen" to be doing well irrespective of whether they are or not.

Andrew Dixon

I think you're confusing me with Tony Blair there ..

What was it you were referring to as a New Labour invention? The additional exam papers?

Is this whole thing not also something to do with the change in the way grades are awarded (not sure when this actually happened). In the past it was percentage based - no matter how good (or bad) a year performed, only a certain percentage would get each grade - whereas now it is based on getting above a certain mark - which is why we are now seeing lots more grade As? Is this a fairer system?

darts_aint_sport

All three of the lines you just wrote are unproven and speculation.

If standards were higher before your time AP, how did you do at A level?

Senior_AP

You'll disagree irrespective of what I say.

Listen, one final time....You cannot quantify or substantiate EVERYTHING you say with evidence. I got 2 C's at A-Level in Politics and Economics. I did minimal revision (lazy). My brother, 4 years my senior got a 'B' in Sports Science and a 'C' in economics. I looked at his coursework in economics (our shared subject) and was alot tougher. So, I speak from personal experience. ok????

White is white.....no it aint, Darts_aint_sport will disagree just for the sake of it.