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New A-level grade to be introduced for elite students
Last updated at 09:25am on 17.08.07A new A grade is to be introduced for A-levels after record results showed that one in 10 candidates scored straight As.
The new grade will be introduced for the first time for the 2010 A-level results to identify the brightest students who achieve 90 per cent in their exams.
For the first time, more than a quarter of all A-level entries were awarded A-grades this summer, fuelling the debate over whether the "gold standard" exams have been dumbed down.
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And the exam boards said that one in 10 candidates scored at least three As - which would put them in contention for a place at Oxford or Cambridge.
Top universities have complained that so many candidates now achieve straight As that it is impossible to sort the truly outstanding students from the merely very good.
However, the exam boards stressed that the reforms to A-levels to be introduced from 2008 would not make it any harder for students to score top grades.
Dr Mike Cresswell, director general of the AQA exam board, said one in 10 students scored three As in their A-levels this year.
He added that it was possible that a new A-grade would eventually be required.
"The A is an eminently sensible response to what is essentially a problem of success," he said.
"More and more students are doing better and getting grade A."
The huge gulf between A-level standards achieved by comprehensives and selective schools has also been revealed.
New figures show for the first time the stark difference in achievement, with almost half of A-level entries from grammar and private schools scoring an A, compared with just one in five from comprehensives.
The data, published by Britain's main exam boards, came as this year's results showed one in four A-levels sat this summer was graded A up from 20 per cent just five years ago.
It is the 10th consecutive year that the percentage of entries awarded the top grade has risen.
An analysis by the Joint Council for Qualifications showed that much of the improvement is thanks to pupils in private and grammar schools, many of which are located in London.
It looks certain to reignite the row over whether more grammar schools should be created after Tory leader David Cameron rejected a return to a national 11-plus.
This year, 47.8 per cent of entries from privately educated students scored an A, compared with 19.4 per cent from comprehensives and about 37.1 per cent of Alevel entries from grammar schools were awarded the top grade, compared with just 10.1 per cent from secondary moderns.
Selective schools have also improved at twice the rate of comprehensives and secondary moderns since 2002, the JCQ said.
Mike Cresswell, chief executive of AQA, the UK's largest exam boards said the gap could be explained by differences in teaching, learning, management and the students themselves between selective and non-selective schools, although he refused to highlight a particular reason.
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The gap between pupils from grammar and private schools compared with those from comprehensives, remains large
He added: "There are so many factors which determine how well a school is doing, that I wouldn't want to speculate."
Many selective schools state and private are single sex.
The head of one of London's top independent schools said single-sex education was particularly beneficial for girls.
Clarissa Farr, High Mistress of Saint Paul's Girls' School said: "The two factors of being single sex and being selective are inextricably linked
"One significant factor is, in a single-sex school, students are really able to choose the subjects theyenjoy without fear of any gender stereotypes. For example, Maths is our most popular A-level here."
As nearly 260,000 candidates received their results today, the headline figures showed:
●Entries dipped slightly below last year's record high.
● Girls stayed ahead of boys in every major subject except for Further Maths and foreign languages.
●The number of students sitting English fell for the first time in five years, although it remained the most popular A-level subject.
● The overall pass rate saw boys cutting the girls' lead for the second year running.
● Maths continued its recovery after reforms aimed to make the jump from AS-level to A-level less steep.
● Biology, History and Geography all suffered declines, while Media Studies continued to rise.
Jim Sinclair, director of the Joint Council for Qualifications, which represents the main exam boards, said: "The improvement of the results at A-level reflects how well pupils have done this year. Candidates who have worked hard are getting the results they deserve."
But leading universities are increasingly turning to other tests to determine which of the thousands of pupils who now score three or more straight As are the best.
Schools minister Jim Knight dismissed calls for a review of A-levels as onehad been carried out three years ago. He said that it was a "real shame" that the annual debate about standards undermined pupils' performances.
Mr Knight added that the introduction of an A* grade next year would help "stretch and reward" the most able.
Today's data from the JCQ shows that the total number of A-level entries fell slightly from 805,698 to 805,657 and about 26.5 per cent of girls' A-levels were awarded As, compared with 23.9 per cent of entries from boys.
Maths enjoyed a 7.3 per cent rise to 60,093 entries from 55,982 last year. Further maths, needed by students who want to do a maths degree, registered an 8.3 per cent increase to 7,872 from 7,270.
Media studies continued to grow in popularity and, with 31,942 entries, moved from 10th to ninth in the table of most popular subjects.
The number taking French A-level fell again, from 14,650 to 14,477.
But last year's revival of German and Spanish continued albeit at a slower rate with a 1.6 per cent increase in German entries to 6,303 and a 6.6 per cent rise in Spanish to 6,951.
Physics and Chemistry both recorded a rise, albeit small, of 0.4 per cent and 0.6 per cent respectively and Biology entries dropped from 54,890 to 54,563.
Reader views (11)
Whether you add the A* grade or not will not change the grade inflation. A-level can be made harder if the government wants it to be but the government is committed to more people getting a good education.
Even though some A-level papers look a lot easier than before, actually getting a good grade can be just as difficult because some able students are actually disarmed by these types of papers. Also, the constant sitting of modules may mean that not enough time is found to study these modules in depth and prepare properly for the exams.
So by changing these A-levels, nothing is gained: it is up to the teaching in each school, and that depends on head teachers and local authorities.
- Delia Hake, Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire, 17/08/2007 23:06
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I think that the exam papers are getting easier that's why many students got A's. I wish that the government would introduce A* grade this year from September 2007.
- Sarah, UK, 17/08/2007 17:28
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The sooner the change to the European Baccalaureate the better. Quite a few schools in the UK have changed to this exam. Not only is it recognised throughout Europe, but also in North America. Any student with this qualification would be able to go almost anywhere in the world and a prospective employer would know their level of education.
There again, perhaps the UK government would not be interested in this, as it would show how low the general level of education is in the UK. It's no use bringing in a new grade of A level when the exams have been dumbed down. It's not fair on the children who feel great when they get high results, but only later on find out how mediocre they really are!
- Paul Bradford, Monflanquin, France, 16/08/2007 21:00
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I got 10 grade As by collecting the tokens on my cereal boxes.
I'm now going to study for a degree in cycling at the University of Styrene (formerly Styrene Poly).
- John Daly, London, 16/08/2007 19:43
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New figures suggest grammar schools take the best pupils and get the best results. It doesn't take a grammar school pupil to work that one out.
- David, London, 16/08/2007 16:46
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If you can in this country you have to get private education. The state schools have become very bad over the last years!
- Michael, London NW1, 16/08/2007 16:08
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Until this government and the rotten cadre of civil servants they have corrupted are chucked out root and branch this farce will continue. As an employer of graduates I have had the misfortune to see just what the system is producing. Pretty mind boggling. Foreign graduates are increasingly making their way into the City of London despite having English as a second language because quite simply they are better all round, even in their written English!
- James, London, UK, 16/08/2007 15:27
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Only another 2 or 3 years and we'll be "achieving" 104% pass rates!
- Marianne, SW France, 16/08/2007 14:08
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This is rather strange as a few days ago there had been a large increase in children not achieving basic levels in the three 'R's! Yesterday evening I was talking to a youngster who is/was hopeing for 3 A's and a B. He had seen some papers from over 20 years ago and said my 2 A's and a B were a higher achievement, and that he would really have liked to be taking that level of exam to test himself!
- Michael, London, 16/08/2007 12:52
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New record A grades! What a surprise. I must be really thick by todays standards but I can still write and spell and do mental arithmetic which is more than I can say for some of the younger people it has been my misfortune to work with.
- Dan, Manchester, 16/08/2007 12:07
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"exam chiefs insisted that the "gold standard" exams were not getting easier but students were working harder."
Of course they are, which is why when given an exam paper from 20 years ago they can't answer the questions. Amazing then that the governments own statistics agency have actually stated that on average A-level grades for pupils of the same ability improved by two grades between 1988 and 2006. In maths the rise was far higher 3.5 grades. But of course there is absolutely no dumbing down at all.
- Pa, London, 16/08/2007 11:00
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