First fall in GCSE grades in exam's history

[sasguru]

Which raises an odd paradox considering that young people have always known better than their elders.

Really? You're amazingly ignorant aren't you?

[mudskipper]

GCSE's aren't needed in England as the current lot of kids can't leave education or some form of educational training until they 18.

So they may as well make them all do some sort of Bacalaureat then they may actually learn something rather than just how to pass exams.

My son's school is encouraging them to take subjects that will qualify them for the English Baccalaureate - as far as I understand they have to do English, Maths, Science, a foreign Language, and history or geography at GCSE - most schools insist on the former four at GCSE anyway.

[d000hg]

Really? You're amazingly ignorant aren't you?

Whoosh.

[Doggy Styles]

That's why it used to be graded using a bell curve.

Now it's a Cos wave.

[SupremeSpod]

What business course is that? Insolvency practitioner?

Funny you should say that.

One of the wealthiest blokes I know is Senior Partner of an IP.

[doomage]

Funny you should say that.

One of the wealthiest blokes I know is Senior Partner of an IP.

Agreed, good money in that game. I would expect a lot of business in Spain in the coming years, although probably plenty enough in the UK.

[MyUserName]

They were originally suppose to allow those who specialised in one area i.e. Sciences, Arts to be able to do a subject in a different area, or to allow people to expand their knowledge in an area i.e. maths.

Yeah, that is why I took the AS further maths. This makes sense.

Now they are used as a halfway point in A levels to work out the predicted grades of students going to university.

But they are not only for that - students can leave with just AS levels as stand alone qualifications ... what does that mean?

Does 4 AS levels at grade B mean you are clever or not? Does it mean you are good at your subject or just that you quit midway? A levels generally have the easier stuff at the beginning so a good AS level means you are good at the easy parts of an A level ... is that better than someone with a lower grade in a full A level?!?!??!?!

[d000hg]

I don't think A-levels get harder in year 2. If you hadn't done the first year then of course it looks that way, but it just builds on what you learned or is a different topic entirely depending if you're doing a science or art subject.
Viewing an AS as half an A-level is fine, but if someone only has AS levels that is weird.

[MyUserName]

I assumed it got harder as it went along because it was based on more of the A level standard stuff from previously on the course. You have to know and fully understand the subject in the first A level year of Maths to be able to do the second year.

It might not be the same with all subjects, I did not take them all but to be honest this is a minor point in my confusion over the point of AS levels as stand alone qualifications.

[d000hg]

I don't know, I did 2 A-levels and an AS in maths and it didn't really work that way. You had something like 16 modules altogether and an A-level was formed of 4 modules... clearly some modules had prerequisites but if anything it was the core modules which were hardest as they taught the new key concepts which you then used as tools throughout the later modules. I never felt anything got harder or easier, it was just different.

The same went for uni really...