I was the first academic year to take the newer style A/S A2 levels in 2001-2002 & I really do think this system has made it easier to get better grades. There is more opportunities for resits and because you don't take all you exams in one go, ie at the end of 2 years it means you have more opportunity to bring up lower grades. However this means that there is very little scope for learning a subject in any depth because you are doing exams so often. 2 out of 4 of my subjects had exams in January aswell as June which meant you were doing sets of exams 4 times over the course instead of once. The extra time spent on revision and doing practice papers takes away from time spent learning new material about the subject. The problem is it creates young people who are good at taking exams but haven't learnt a subject to a required depth or are lacking in other skills. The introduction of the A* at A Level next year is an outright admission that it is getting easier to get higher grades but it also means that my own A Level grades are being devalued. I also don't understand why at GCSE and A Level there can't be one nationwide exam board instead of different ones setting different syllabuses and papers.
8 months ago via web

The problem with the general increases in grade attainment across the board is the devaluation of said qualification. The issues lie within a question. Do we care about educating the population or do we really just want pigeonhole children into life roles? 8 months ago via web

I have to say I get annoyed when after each set of GCSE or A level results comes out the papers are filled with people complaining about how easy it is to get an A now. Can't they just praise the students who have worked hard for their grades and the teachers who taught them so well? Some criticism is warranted but why all this incessant harping on? 8 months ago via web