Reply to: A-level day

[Sysman]

Surprisingly strong showing from The Grauniad's image server

They didn't offer A levels in levitation in my day!

[BoredBloke]

Overall only 3% failed the A-levels. That isn't an exam. How can you set an exam where you are virtually guaranteed to pass? How thick must you be to me in the bottom 3%

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/6949084.stm

[bobhope]

Last year 24.1% were awarded the top A grade - up 1.3 percentage points and an improvement for the 24th year in a row.

I could buy gradual improvement over time (maybe) but every single year no drops without fail.

It's stretching credibility a little bit.

[Gonzo]

That's what they used to do. However, it is true to say that makes comparison between years difficult and/or meaningless.

I think using the standard distribution approach should be fine. If there are easier papers some years than the others then the better people will just do better. How well anyone does at A Level is surely a combination of brains, effort and personality? Saying that the distribution of those is going to be different between people born in different years in my book is akin to believing in Chinese horoscopes.









Oh yeah, I was born in the year of the pig, and I think that I have all the "pig characteristics"

[Ardesco]

Whoever told you life was fair was lying.

I think you missed the point of my post

[TheFaQQer]

Ah but that is not fair because the top 5% one year may not be a good as the top 50% were the previous year!!!

Whoever told you life was fair was lying.

Because you should be measured against a set standard, not everybody else in your year.

I managed to get an B at GCSE English this way, but I still start sentences with "Because".

Why?

It seems to work OK for a lot of university degrees, where the mark on a curve - if it's good enough for Harvard, why not for A levels and GCSEs?

[TheFaQQer]

"Melanie Slade, footballer Theo Walcott's girlfriend, scored two Bs and a C"

Are those her grades or does it mean Theos' balls and cock?

[richard-af]

From the article

"Melanie Slade, footballer Theo Walcott's girlfriend, scored two Bs and a C"

That's a 2 C.S.E. Grade 3s and an unplaced, for us old-timers.

[BoredBloke]

From the article

"Melanie Slade, footballer Theo Walcott's girlfriend, scored two Bs and a C"

Are those her grades or does it mean Theos' balls and cock? Fnaarrr fnarrr!

"That's what they used to do. However, it is true to say that makes comparison between years difficult and/or meaningless. "

No it doesn't. Those in the top 5% will always be in the top 5%. The problem here is that this lot wanted to show an improvement, so they had to change the way the grades were set and effectively degrade all other a levels in the process. We now have some a levels where 96% pass the exam. How thick do you have to be to be in the bottom 4%?

[richard-af]

Nice effort by Reuters:

http://uk.reuters.com/article/domest...26401120070815

Naughty Reuters! That's an old piccy. Obviously brought back out from under the mattress for today's superb achievements.

[richard-af]

Torygraph offering a bit of competition:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main...ults&HBX_OU=50

[VectraMan]

That's what they used to do. However, it is true to say that makes comparison between years difficult and/or meaningless.

That's partly true anyway, as it's a different exam every year.

[NickFitz]

Surprisingly strong showing from The Grauniad's image server

[Spartacus]

I don't understand why they don't just mark on a grade curve, i.e. the top 5% get an A, next 10% get a B etc. etc. That way, the best always stand out.

That's what they used to do. However, it is true to say that makes comparison between years difficult and/or meaningless.

[Moscow Mule]

I don't understand why they don't just mark on a grade curve, i.e. the top 5% get an A, next 10% get a B etc. etc. That way, the best always stand out.

Because you should be measured against a set standard, not everybody else in your year.

I managed to get an B at GCSE English this way, but I still start sentences with "Because".