A'level results day.

[Scrag Meister]

A levels, I got a D and an E, so I really have no backup to telling my son to work hard to get somewhere.

Then I was at Polytechnic, studying Cobol and Pascal on VAX VMS machines, with tape drives and huge hard drives, running Unix.

Then I left and went straight into a PC software house running DOS and writing programs in Basic, which I did on my Commodore 64 before I even did O levels!

Still trying to think if I learnt anything at Poly that I used in the commercial world.

[Mich the Tester]

No comment;

[SofaKingdom]

All sorted, UCAS confirmed. Unconditional Firm Offer from Cardiff.

Nice one

[TimberWolf]

That was the case yes, however it will actually hide talent. A bright student who happens to be in a year group with an unusually large number of other bright students will find themselves struggling to get the top grade when if they were born a few months earlier/later they could have achieved it.
Similarly if an exam paper is found to be much easier than anticipated a student who had expected to be in the top 10% could suffer when suddenly even 95% isn't enough for an A
By setting the grades to match actual score attained it levels the playing field, however it does introduce the other issue of exam boards having to set exam papers in a consistent manner.

Also with the prevailance of higher education these days, A-levels are becoming merely a stepping stone qualification. I'm not sure that many pupils will be going straight from A-level to work.

With ten's of thousands taking the exam in any one year, it's statistically unlikely to have a year of exceptionally brighter people.

What about the people born in August. Almost a year younger than their peers come exam day, which does demonstrably affect ones exam (and presumably career) prospects. Perhaps exams should be taken on ones birthday.

[Mich the Tester]

With ten's of thousands taking the exam in any one year, it's statistically unlikely to have a year of exceptionally brighter people.

Which makes it statistically, erm, a bit more unlikely to have 28 consecutive years of brighter people.

[Spacecadet]

<lights fuse>
This might be the real reason why many people became contractors.
<retreats to safe distance>

Might explain some of the knobs who post on here

[Moscow Mule]

The one flaw in your post is that a lot of jobs stipulate a degree and some even specify the minimum 2.1

But not all of them?

As a genuine example, a guy I knew at school left at 16 and went to work in the city as a runner.

I lost touch with him, but I'm pretty sure he made it to the trading floor and makes far more money than I do.

This is obviously an extreme example, but I'm not sure I'd want to slog my guts out at uni for a 2:1, only to get a job as a runner.

Do graduate trainee schemes even exist any more? I know client co packed theirs in 5-6 years ago.

[Moscow Mule]

Perhaps exams should be taken on ones birthday.

Might be a bit difficult to arrange the academic year around individuals...

[Mich the Tester]

Might explain some of the knobs who post on here

Mich the Tester BSc (turd, no hons, from a poly)

[Spacecadet]

But not all of them?

As a genuine example, a guy I knew at school left at 16 and went to work in the city as a runner.

How long ago was that?

Prospects for graduates have been declining as A-level results have been going up.