A Levels today

[PTR]

I think the point the teachers were making was that kids ramp up for the final exam.
If we still had AS mid-point exams and modular assessments, then there would be assessments to work off.
But these were done away with under Michael Gove who wanted a rigourous final exam assessment, just like he did umpteen years ago.

Yeah, I totally get the "ramping up for the real thing" stuff. My average GSCE grade went up by about 1.5 grades between the mocks and the real thing, because I didn't take the mocks seriously. As I think loads of people also do.

I hadn't realised AS and modular A levels had been scrapped. They were, in many cases, a much better idea. And would have been an ideal solution here.

One thing that gets me about all of this though - these kids haven't actually done a full A Level course have they? As in, they haven't actually learned the entire course material - they've left with about 20% completely un touched? Or did they work "as normal" from home? I really don't know.

Feel free not to answer, its a rhetorical question as much as anything, but if its an easy answer I'd be glad to hear it. Cheers.

 

[Roker SOL]

Yeah, I totally get the "ramping up for the real thing" stuff. My average GSCE grade went up by about 1.5 grades between the mocks and the real thing, because I didn't take the mocks seriously. As I think loads of people also do.

I hadn't realised AS and modular A levels had been scrapped. They were, in many cases, a much better idea. And would have been an ideal solution here.

One thing that gets me about all of this though - these kids haven't actually done a full A Level course have they? As in, they haven't actually learned the entire course material - they've left with about 20% completely un touched? Or did they work "as normal" from home? I really don't know.

Feel free not to answer, its a rhetorical question as much as anything, but if its an easy answer I'd be glad to hear it. Cheers.

I understand and the dedicated pupils will have continued to work, if only to ensure a foundation for when they started degrees or other work. Late March would have made it more like 10% work lost as after Easter, it SHOULD be revision work though that doesn't always work out (I've a teacher friend).

Michael Gove made the decision to turn the clock back to final exams only, thinking this was more rigourous and dismissing the weaknesses I've pointed out in another post above. It was because "one-off" was the way he did his A Levels years ago.

He literally turned the clock back years in doing that, not taking on board that one-off exams do not allow for practical assessment of application of knowledge or actual practical ability as I've already pointed out that is possible in modular systems.

 

[PTR]

He literally turned the clock back years in doing that, not taking on board that one-off exams do not allow for practical assessment of application of knowledge or actual practical ability as I've already pointed out that is possible in modular systems.

Thanks for that.

And yeah, seems bonkers. I did a mix of final exam and modular A levels. The teachers picked the way that was best for their course. Maths made complete sense to learn a module and then do the test - it was set up perfectly for it.
Whereas Physics, I didn't "get it" until about a week before the final exam, and then it just clicked - just like the teacher said it would - because in physics, almost everything is related and understanding one thing is often to understand another.

But Tories don't care, they just ignore everyone, always.

 

[Sidewinder2]

I see your logic, however, as I commented above there was no firm foundation for people to work off. In the absence of such then teachers, who actually knew the pupils, and their opinions were the best option IMHO.

The AS Levels and the modular system offered that.

I did one-off exams as you did and I knew to expect them as you did. I was the last year before GCSEs. However, it doesn't mean I think they're right for the simple reason everyone has a bad day. A single exam should not define an entire person's future. And I had a bad run at A level where certain teachers, knowing we were last 6th form (County Durham reformed tertiary education in the mid-to-late 1980s to only have A Levels done in local colleges), just wanted us gone.

I knew with the modular system (BTEC HND) if I had a bad day, I could recover or have a good set of other data to prove my ability. And my HND still had mid-point and end exams for each module, satisfying at least in part the desire for traditional de rigour exams some people still think should be applied.

I do think some exams should occur to emulate pressure situations, but in science subjects how on earth do you assess practical laboratory ability in a one-off exam situation? In art, how does a one-off exam assess months of work when that work is not directly assessed? One-off exams only assess knowledge of a subject in a pressure situation, not day-to-day use or ability to apply that knowledge in a laboratory situation.

Modular systems are not the cop out I think you're implying as I still found the work demanding. Apologies if I've misunderstood you.

Not at all mate.

I agree that modular systems are not a cop out. What I am saying is the a levels are exam based, don't take them then demand they are charged to modular, when the modular option is already available.

 

[YorkMackem]

The grade slips are because they cannot handle the pressure. So you say even though it happens every year it shouldn't apply?

It's a fact anyone looking at 2020 qualifications will be sceptical.

What next you want the driving test to be modular done over 3 weeks??

The grades were abitrary man, thats the issue

 

[Roker SOL]

Not at all mate.

I agree that modular systems are not a cop out. What I am saying is the a levels are exam based, don't take them then demand they are charged to modular, when the modular option is already available.

I understand where you're coming from and that is a valid point of view.

Therefore looking at the options of the GCSE and A Level route as exam-based and BTEC as modular, the BTEC route needs to be sold as a viable alternative and not a poor relation to the GCSE, A-Level and Degree conveyor belt being "the done thing". Someone taking the BTEC route can do a degree later with decent grades and that needs to be made clearer to pupils at GCSE stage - it wasn't clearly explained to me or others from memory. I was able to enter a degree on it's second year as a result of BTEC HND.

I think it's more the politics that concerns me, traditionalist versus reformer. I've seen the goalposts changed a few times since I sat school exams, Talking A Levels as an example, they were almost solely exam-based back in and before the 80s, then went to a form of modular system with an AS exam halfway, then back to exam-based five-to-seven years ago with the AS mid-point exam scrapped. Also, A Levels in Wales and Northern Ireland are still structured differently to those in England and in Scotland you have Highers.

If the GCSE and A-Level route is to be locked down as entirely or almost entirely exam-based, this needs to be done so it's not changed yet again if we find ourselves with another flavour of government. This is how it is, this is how it stays and it is locked down in law.

That said, a mid-point AS exam is useful if only to have a measure should a pandemic-style situation in the future prevent final exams being taken if only as guide to ability to predict results and to show pupils and students where they need to improve in their second year.