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A-levels you cannot fail
Tim Ross, Education Correspondent14.08.08
Exam chiefs today backed A-levels that will become almost impossible to fail as teenagers scored recordbreaking grades.
Only 2.8 per cent of exams were failed as the pass rate rose for the 26th year in a row.
The numbers of pupils awarded grade As reached a new high and for the first time, more than half scored at least a grade B.
The record results meant top universities were forced to turn away thousands of teenagers who scored three As. More pupils than ever are taking four subjects to make themselves attractive to the best colleges.
The figures fuelled concerns that A-levels have become easier. But exam boards insisted that the record pass rate of 97.2 per cent showed the system was working better than ever.
Greg Watson, chief executive of the Oxford, Cambridge & RSA Examination Board, said teenagers were dropping subjects they struggled with after the first year of their courses at AS-level. They then went on to score better grades in their best subjects at the end of the two-year A-level course, he said. Mr Watson welcomed the fact that the pass rate at full-A-level was creeping towards 100 per cent as a result.
"I'm certainly not concerned," he said. "I think that is a perfectly healthy way for the system to operate."
About one in 10 sixth-formers is " saved" from fol lowing a full two-year course which they would fail, Mr Watson added.
John Dunford, from the Association of School and College Leaders, agreed, saying: "If we continue to get near to 100 per cent, it would suggest that schools' and colleges' guidance programmes are improving. Students are being guided onto courses they are most likely to succeed in." This year, Oxford expects to turn away about 5,000 candidates with straight As.
The university's director of admissions Mike Nicholson said: "There are a lot of students who will apply to us who will get As who we will not make offers to."
However, he stressed that many would be accepted by other "equally competitive universities". Cambridge University admissions chief Geoff Parks said fewer pupils had missed their offers this year than in the past.
This gives Cambridge colleges less flexibility to consider those candidates who have fallen slightly short of their offers.
Mr Parks said: "It will give us no room for manoeuvre for people who have missed their results because of illness or family issues or other discretionary issues.
"We could be up for record numbers of student who get three As who are turned down. On that measure yes, it's tougher on the students."
Competition for places through the annual clearing process is also expected to be tougher than ever as a result of the soaring pass rates.
Pupils were entered for a record 828,000 A-levels. Exam chiefs said there were signs of a revival in more difficult subjects such as maths and French this year, while socalled "soft" courses were starting to lose their appeal.
As 250,000 pupils received their results across the country, the figures showed the proportion awarded top grades has risen every year for the past decade. However, government plans will mean teenagers starting their A-levels next month will face tougher questions and a new A* grade designed to make it easier to distinguish between bright students.
Ambitious parents were credited with driving up school standards in the capital. Schools across the South-East increased the number of A-grades they scored faster than anywhere else in the country as divisions between richer and poorer areas widened.
Official figures showed how private schools and selective grammars have increasingly outshone state comprehensives since 2002.
Mr Dunford said: "There is nothing like parental aspirations for improving children's A-level results. The lesson here must be that parents have a huge role to play in raising the aspirations of children.
"Schools have a much bigger job to do in getting good A-level results where parental aspirations are lower."
Figures from exam chiefs at the Joint Council for Qualifications showed:
• In London, the proportion of students scoring As rose from 22.3 in 2002 to 28.3 per cent this year.
• Schools saw a similar improvement of six points across the South-East region, where this year 29.1 per cent of exams were awarded As.
• The national average was 25.9 per cent. In the North-East, which was the worst-performing region of England,only 19.8 per cent achieved A-grades.
Dr Dunford said he believed the figures reflected long-standing class and wealth divisions across different regions of the country.
The results also confirmed the dominance of grammars and private schools over the top grades at A-level.
While only seven per cent of children are privately educated, independent schools account for about a quarter of all A-level results, headteachers said.
The figures showed the proportion of As awarded to private school pupils jumped by nine percentage points between 2002 and this year. For comprehensives, the increase was just four points.
Reader views (15)
Talking of self-deception,do you really think that if you had sat one of OUR A-level papers that you would have passed? How dare you disparage our achievements when you can ask any A-level student or their parents and they could tell you what they had sacrificed by way of a social life to attain such grades.
And there are still people failing, as much as you hear of the top grades. Mostly the syllabus content is the same, but better resources and teaching, coupled with the modular format and the option to retake mean that you can identify areas of weakness and rectify them. A-levels are no joke, and you deserve an excellent grade if you put in the hours. Additionally, it would appear to me that the British public get more and more fickle each year. If the standards drop, the government and education system is failing us, if they rise, then everything must be easy. Why is it so hard to accept that people are doing well? Maybe there is some unresolved jealously about your grades that need to be addressed. If so,there are always retakes...good luck!
- Uloma, Ilford
It’s not surprising that there is an extremely high pass rate for the students. When my son wanted to take a particular A Level exam he was told that he would not be entered for it as he probably won’t pass. The pass rates must be very high if the teachers only enter students who they think will pass. It all comes down to the school rankings in the end.
- Richard, Thame
in my day...... about 15 years ago, working in university admissions - the constant complaint was about the fall in standards of A Level students. 15 years on - its almost a cacophony of universities and employers exclaiming that graduates and post A level employees are simply not up to scratch.
Certainly I find now with young people they find it hard to accept two things:
- the level of basic work that is required to perform well in a work environment - a disproportionate sense of entitlement and secondly
- real difficulty in coping with criticism, set backs and on occasion - failure.
And my work environment is one where we encourage/support all to step up to the challenge.
We have big problems ahead with our society and it is not just New Labour's fault - it is all our responsibility and I think it all started off with the lady who said she had "killed society".
- Jc, se1
Jean from London is STOOPIDZ.
- John, London
With the number of negative remarks teenagers have to deal with in today's society, why can't we give them credit for their hard earned success for once!
- Ronke, kent.. London.
Welcome to the club. We have been running our education system this way for years. It has led to a generation of undereducated know nothings.
- Ray, Gurnee, USA
I have just watched channel 5 news, they gave three students who had received A GRADE A levels at maths to sit a maths paper set 15 years ago and they used calculators yet one student got E grade another got F grade and the third was ungraded...what does that tell you! it is a farce! Of course they are easier probably none of these kids could pass the 11plus,which I did even at age the age they are now!
- Jean, London England
The most dangerous form of deception is self deception. Unfortunately, these students really do believe they deserve these grades. The problems start when they find out the real world is very different. Here's a question for them: " Which has inflated to the more unreal and ridiculous level under Labour? A) A level results or B) House prices?
Britain is in serious trouble going forward...
- Kr, London UK
Is it not the case that, in todays society, more teenagers are seeing a good university place as a necessity? Why can't we just give credit when credit's due. This country is getting very sad...
- Andy, Crouch End
Every year at this time we get children apparently expressing great delight at passing an exam that it now seems impossible to fail. Something isn't right. Who would have guessed that within a few decades the population would have become so much more intelligent? The solution is easy: the government must no longer be involved in education. Would we have tiny, 3rd generation mobile phones if the government run GPO monopoly were still in existence? Of course not, we all know it. Yet we trust these people with the education of our children and the provision of our health care.
- John, Bangkok, Thailand
I do not wish to engage in the debate as to whether A Level examinations are now easier.
However, as a Director of a large company which recruits both graduates and direct entry from school after A level, employees I have the following observation.
Many graduates and others have a limited grasp of the English language in so far as grammar and spelling are concerned.
They are unable to put together a reasoned document or even a fairly simple letter.
Their knowledge of basic maths is poor.
They have little conception of what is required to earn a living in the real world outside academia.
Quite what they are taught in University or School I do not know.
Where possible, my company recruit graduates from the Far East or India. Sadly, their education is superior to that obtained in the U.K.
- Charles, Stanmore. London
Well they are obviously far more able than when I took my A levels in the early eighties ; why you only have to look around, engage a teenager in conversation or read a CV from one to know how very very well educated and hard-working they are. Some of them can even spell.
- Squiz, Islington
Question 1 in an English A Level:
Form these random words into a sentence "they get easier every year A Levels are worthless as", it's worth 80% allegedly.
- Rod N Birch, London
It's increasingly ridiculous. They might as well forget the whole process and buy some rubber stamps.
- John, London
Here we go: Come on, someone say it! You know you want to! Go on! It's inevitable, it's almost obligatory..."In my day..."
- Kieran, London, UK
