A-Levels getting easier... shocker!

[stez]

i'm so glad i was too thick to do A levels, however, national diplomas in horticulture are far easier, nower days, than they were in the mid-90s

[AoWW]

Why the hell not? I suppose you'd rather have just 1% get A grades then you'd have the opportunity to moan about how thick all the young people in the country are. No-one aged 18 or under can do a thing right in this country.

Rubbish! They're all great at getting ASBOs.

[Guest ttfn]

As someone who took the IB just a few years ago in a school where A-Levels were being taken by many of my friends as well, I wholeheartedly agree with the statement that not only are A-Levels getting easier, they are actually piss easy in comparison the IB.

Just to put this into context, I ended up getting 33 points in the IB, slightly disappointing as I hoping for more, but nevertheless it was fine for getting into the course at University I'm doing. The A-Level equivalent of those 33 point is AAAB if not AAAA.

During the IB course, we HAVE to take 6 subjects for the entire 2 years, we have TOK (Theory of Knowledge) and CAS (Community, Action, Service), two parts of the course that require a lot of extra time and work to be put into them and over the course of a 2 week period, we would have approximately 9-10 free periods.

In comparison, the A-Level bunch take 4 subjects for the first year, can drop one for the final year, have MASSES of free periods, nowhere NEAR as much work to do and by the sounds of it, their exams are a hell of a lot easier as well.

University's though, still fail to recognise that the IB is harder, still ask ridiculous minimum points and accept any old dross that has achieved an average amount in their A-Levels... an example being my friend who is light-years behind me in terms of intelligence, I'm no genius I'll accept that, but this person is nowhere near as good as me, yet because he got fairly average to good marks in his A-Levels, he managed to get straight into a law course, a course that asks 38 points in the IB, equivalent to AAAAA at A-Level.

Well done to anyone who's got good A-Level grades in the past or this year but I'm sorry because regardless of how much anyone argues that they are just as difficult or challenging, they are completely and utterly wrong.

Just to wade in on the IB debate, I went to a school where IB was offered. No way was 33 points equivalent to 4 A's. The people who got 33 points at IB were getting maybe a couple of A*s at GCSE. No way they would have got 4 A's at A Level.

Not to put a downer on your achievement...

[Webbo]

i'm so glad i was too thick to do A levels, however, national diplomas in horticulture are far easier, nower days, than they were in the mid-90s

Pfft. City and Guilds is where it's at.

[stez]

Pfft. City and Guilds is were it's at.

been there, done that. 35 quid a week to massage maggies (or john major's, i've forgotten who it was, like i've forgotten most of what i was taught at school ) unemployment figures.

[lcfc_jme]

This country is absolutely ridiculous. Honestly, young people get such a raw deal; they can never do anything right and nothing they do is ever good enough. It's laughable, they get lamented for doing badly and behaving like vermin, but they don't exactly have their praises sung when they try to do the right thing and achieve either.

Congratulations to everybody who has had their results back today, ignore the gloom merchants you'll no doubt encounter in the next couple of days.

[stez]

This country is absolutely ridiculous. Honestly, young people get such a raw deal; they can never do anything right and nothing they do is ever good enough. It's laughable, they get lamented for doing badly and behaving like vermin, but they don't exactly have their praises sung when they try to do the right thing and achieve either.

Congratulations to everybody who has had their results back today, ignore the gloom merchants you'll no doubt encounter in the next couple of days.

to be honest jamie, it's like that for, pretty much, everybody.

[Shrenchel]

They were pretty fvcking easy when I did them 5 years ago, can't imagine they've got much harder since then, probably worse. I hope you all passed your taking a bus module.

[Guest]

Why the hell not? I suppose you'd rather have just 1% get A grades then you'd have the opportunity to moan about how thick all the young people in the country are. No-one aged 18 or under can do a thing right in this country.

Well, considering that you have the five grade passes, an unclassified and then a fail, it does look like a statistical anomaly. If there is still the N 'near miss' grade, then even more so.

This could get quite political but with schools being judged on exam grades, it does look a little odd.

BTW, well done to everyone who has passed and hope that those of you who didn't get the grades they wanted don't get too down. University is still an option, and if you can't get in through clearing now, you will be able to at a later date. You know have an opportunity to travel and see the world, gain valuable work experience or whatever, and although I can remember how gutting it is, I have actually benefited from not going to uni at 18.

[lavrentis]

Whoever says they are easy either took Media studies, got straight A's or never did them at all.

[Matt]

Congrats anyone who did them, Tax Dodgers

I was too "thick" to do them, No-one actually said that, and I didn't want to do them anyway, but still doubt i'd do any good.

Now go and get yourselves in debt

all that is tongue in cheek - Apart from the middle bit, it's all true though.

[Shrenchel]

Whoever says they are easy either took Media studies, got straight A's or never did them at all.

Bollocks. I know a lot of people that have done them in recent years admit that the final year exams are a bit of a joke considering you've apparently been specialising yourself in that subject for two years. They're still like fvcking GCSEs in the sense that it's just regurgitating information with quite low levels of real analysis needed. Anyone with a good memory and the discipline to apply themselves a bit could knock out a C grade in pretty much any A level apart from the probably the sciences, maths and languages.

[Zingari]

Gordon Brown insists it's a 'testable fact' that A levels are getting easier , and he's not often wrong

[The Reverend]

As someone who took the IB just a few years ago in a school where A-Levels were being taken by many of my friends as well, I wholeheartedly agree with the statement that not only are A-Levels getting easier, they are actually piss easy in comparison the IB.

Just to put this into context, I ended up getting 33 points in the IB, slightly disappointing as I hoping for more, but nevertheless it was fine for getting into the course at University I'm doing. The A-Level equivalent of those 33 point is AAAB if not AAAA.

During the IB course, we HAVE to take 6 subjects for the entire 2 years, we have TOK (Theory of Knowledge) and CAS (Community, Action, Service), two parts of the course that require a lot of extra time and work to be put into them and over the course of a 2 week period, we would have approximately 9-10 free periods.

In comparison, the A-Level bunch take 4 subjects for the first year, can drop one for the final year, have MASSES of free periods, nowhere NEAR as much work to do and by the sounds of it, their exams are a hell of a lot easier as well.

University's though, still fail to recognise that the IB is harder, still ask ridiculous minimum points and accept any old dross that has achieved an average amount in their A-Levels... an example being my friend who is light-years behind me in terms of intelligence, I'm no genius I'll accept that, but this person is nowhere near as good as me, yet because he got fairly average to good marks in his A-Levels, he managed to get straight into a law course, a course that asks 38 points in the IB, equivalent to AAAAA at A-Level.

Well done to anyone who's got good A-Level grades in the past or this year but I'm sorry because regardless of how much anyone argues that they are just as difficult or challenging, they are completely and utterly wrong.

Just a thought....maybe you should of done A Levels if they are so much easier?

What even is an IB, i've never even heard of it?!

Well done everyone who did well today and those who didnt, dont worry - exams arent the be all and end all. Its perfectly possible to make something of yourself without exam results if you really want to.

Good luck.

[FilboFox]

Just to wade in on the IB debate, I went to a school where IB was offered. No way was 33 points equivalent to 4 A's. The people who got 33 points at IB were getting maybe a couple of A*s at GCSE. No way they would have got 4 A's at A Level.

Not to put a downer on your achievement...

I'm sorry but it's not up for debate what 33 points in the IB is equivalent to... just look at the tariff points table and you'll see that it is, in fact, AAAB.

[FilboFox]

Just a thought....maybe you should of done A Levels if they are so much easier?

What even is an IB, i've never even heard of it?!

Well done everyone who did well today and those who didnt, dont worry - exams arent the be all and end all. Its perfectly possible to make something of yourself without exam results if you really want to.

Good luck.

At the time of taking them it wasn't certain that I would be able to return to the UK to go to University and therefore taking the IB was a far more sensible alternative because it is more widely accepted around the world than A-Levels.

In hind sight, yes I would have taken A-Levels.

[Benji]

I agree with the varied comment on the first page.

This same crap was doing the rounds when I did them, and having studied 5 in the first year and 4 in the second including Maths, Biology, English and History I can confidently say I found them far from easy (and for the sake of the IB comparison, I got 7A*s and A's at GCSE).

Maybe across the board they might be getting easier, some of the newer subjects all have their own merits but there is only so much detail you can go into a non-core subject in 2 years and it is inevitable that they'll expect less than some others. Not only that, essay based subjects are a lot harder to reach the top marks compared to right/wrong closed questions or non-punished multiple choice. I never studied Chemistry but listening to people that did, I'd be very insulted to hear these kinds of stories if I'd done well in it. I remember recently reading that less and less students go to university with an A-Level in Maths and it was becoming some what of gold dust for employers.

Well done everyone that got their results. They are well earnt FURTHER education achievements and you should be proud whatever the results.

[Toby or not Toby]

I found that diploma's weren't difficult they just had a heavy workload due to the amount of coursework required, where as people who did A levels said they were difficult and certainly not easy. It is almost as if the people high up want to see youngsters fail.

[ACF]

Maybe people are just smarter

[Basingstoke Fox]

Just wondering, what was the results party in Leicesters Liquid like? Was there anyone famous there?

[Raj]

Peace of piss.

WAITING FOR THE CLEVER ****ER!

[Jon the Hat]

There really is not any debate about the fact A levels are easier now than in the past. For a start prior to 1987 they were graded on a system whereby approximately 10% of students got A, 10% B etc, regardless of what the actual marks required for those percentages were. The logic there is that no two exam papers can really be the same difficulty so if you assume the students are on average as smart each year, this is a fair way of balancing it.

Since that system was abolished, results have become more and more compacted in the top end. It is not grade infaltion becuase you cannot do better than an A, it is grade compaction, and this makes it harder to assess the really top drawer people. Now I think generally some subjects are much harder than others, sciences, maths etc, and to judge these as equivalent to some of the non core subjects is daft and is causing part of the problem. A system which graded the difficulty level of a subject based on the syllabus would be an massive improvement to the admissions process. We all know some are easier than others, including universities and employers, so why not formalise it.

Yes blah insulting to the people who passed them etc. Doesn;t change the facts, but these kids can only pass what is put in front of them.

[James.]

People still take the piss out of me for doing Sociology A Level. To be fair it was definitely easier than Maths.

[Alexikokopops]

People still take the piss out of me for doing Sociology A Level. To be fair it was definitely easier than Maths.

I did maths and further maths you thicko :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

[James.]

I did maths and further maths you thicko :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Stop fucking following me round the forum you rapist.