Why do PPL keep saying A-levels are easier? Maybe the teaching is improving & pupils are getting smarter?

Answer 1

The old GCE exams that parents sat are the equivilent to todays A levels, their A level exams were even harder...Thats why most adults will tell you they have gotton easier..Ive seen old A level papers and believe me, we have it easy now compared to them!

Answer 2

I took O'levels and A'levels and it was a well know fact that the results were weighted. Quite simply they knew that not everyone was a genius nor where they stupid but everyone fitted somewhere inbetween, with a few exeptions. This meant is everyone got over 70% then the exam must have been too easy so the pass marks were raised so that only the top 5% (I can not remember the exact figure) would achieve an A grade.

Conversly, if the exam was too hard the pass marks were dropped so that the right quota was met. This meant that if you got a C then you were Average. If you got an A then you were exceptional. Whereas now, the average pass is A.

The other difference in the teaching seems to be what you are taught. Originally, you were taught what was considered essential knowledge for that subject matter based on a syllabus that covered that criteria. Now you seem to be taught based on what the exam might cover. In otherword you are now taught to pass an exam, NOT to know the subject.

The other difference is that the old A'levels and O'level were based purely on the exam and did not include 'homework' assements in the final grade.

In terms of content I belive that has changed dramatically, as I help a friend take her maths GCSE and after looking at her first book I asked what her other books were like and she told me that that was all she needed to know. To my mind this was only a fraction of what I was taught at O'level and it was presented in kindergarden text.

Previously, A levels had a high regard amongst colleges, university and work places. All of these establishments are saying that the current A levels are not producing the calibre of person that is expected. In other words, the very reason that students are taking the exams (to get a job or go onto further education) are telling the students that the exams they are getting are becoming worthless.

I know from personal experience that Universities are now spending the first year getting the students 'up to speed' to complete their degree courses rather than studying degree material, which can not be right. This also means that the student have to complete more work in their second and third years to cover the material.

The poblem is not with the students as they are in a system not of their making. But rather it is a product of the 'non-competitive', 'everyone a winner' liberal/left approach to the education system.

It is major problem because in effect students/parent are being brided because the other option is that their son or daughter might actually leave school with C grades.

But the system we have at the moment means that everyone looses instead of wins. Company's are now looking overseas and to europe to employ highly educated people.

The bright pupils are fighting in the market place with the average and stupid pupils, who all have high expectations - that will not be realised.

Science subjects were considered the domain of the 'brainy' kids are now being dropped because they are considered too hard. Is it any wonder when 'brains' in this country is paid poorly, while while the likes of 'fat cat managers' and big brother contestant and other celebrities are paid a fortune for what?

What is the point of going the extra yard anymore?

And as long as our society decides to keep this attitude, of something for nothing, then it will be a continual spiral downwards.

Answer 3

This is the answer I gave to a similar question:-
There are two reasons.
Firstly, the examinations used to be norm-referenced but are now criterion-referenced. In the former system a Normal Distribution was applied to the results of a year's examination which automatically restricted the number of A Grades to the top 10% (approx.). Marking schemes were much less rigid. Many people remember this time when A Grades were rare.
Secondly, criterion-referencing demands that very specific things are taught and that answers can be rigidly assessed. Consequently teaching and learning is easier though the level of difficulty remains much the same. Teachers can indeed 'teach to the test' and with a little practise get very good at it. There cannot be any restriction (as there was with norm-referencing) on the number of A Grades achieved at each sitting.
Teaching is now more straightforward - gone are the cryptic syllabus booklets which required a fair degree of skill and experience to interpret, welcome the volumes of criterion-referenced tomes which specify exactly what is to be taught. Gone are the brief questions (e.g. 'Liver. Discuss') replaced by graded questions that occupy several pages.
Teachers work very hard. Pupils work hard. Then as now.
Old A-Levels are just different to current A-Levels - there is no comparison. However it remains true that it was very much harder to get an A-Grade using the old norm-referenced system.

Answer 4

I've compared my children's AP Courses and Honors Courses, their Textbooks, and their assignments with the assignments and courses and textbooks I had from over 3 decades ago -- and can DEFINITELY STATE that the courses are easier, there is a LOT that is downright scary (so much left out, so much wrong, and history -- well, it is being rewritten because the folks doing the textbooks have no longer the individuals who LIVED through the events to tell what it was REALLY LIKE) -- and that is just the beginning. I also have experience dealing with VERY POOR instructors -- the old saying is true "Those who can, do -- Those who can't, Teach -- Those who can't do or teach, Administrate".

Pupils are NOT getting smarter. The teaching is poorer, the textbooks and course requirements are shadows of what we dealt with during our formative school years, and everything is so watered down, there is no wonder anymore why even clerks can't make change properly for purchases!

Answer 5

People say they are getting easier because the fact is that often the grade boundaries are lowered. I remember the year I got my A-Levels there was a story in the news that for one subject you only needed 60% to gain an A grade.
Yes its disheartening for pupils and teachers BUT I bet if people were faced with the exams given fifteen years ago there would be a significant drop in the number of A-grades.

Also as a teacher I know that mostly now pupils are "taught to test" which obviously helps improve results.

Answer 6

Im a mature student at university (biology). I did three Scottish Highers in2004 without having the standard grades - piece of cake. I resat Higher English and found it amazingly easy. Not because I am particularly brainy, but in comparison to the O Grade I sat in 1984, it was much easier. The old O Grade exams - (equivelent to standard grade today) exams took all day with a morning and afternoon paper - the new Highers are over with in 2 hours and if a candidate has done the work they cannot fail. I got A1 in Higher Human Bio and it took me 45 minutes to finish - so yes I think they are easier to increase the pass rates, and this is a terrible shame for all who then enter University and realise that the volume and content here has not been dumbed down.

Answer 7

I sincerely doubt that the intelligence of our youth has been increasing steadily, year after year for the last twenty-six years or so.

Clearly, it is a combination of the examinations becoming easier in conjunction with teachers becoming more expert at drilling the correct way to answer questions into their pupils.

It is quite disappointing that schools no longer concentrate upon educating its pupils in a more broader sense; such as that of a sense of morality, culture, history and their place in society. Instead, facts and figures are crammed into minds that they will soon forget after leaving the examination hall.

This is not to denigrate those who sat these exams, by the way. Pupils can only benefit from the education system that is offered to them; this is the fault of the government for allowing this situation to develop.

Answer 8

I find it hard to reconcile the notion of Kids getting smarter with the appalling ignorance I encounter amongst the 16-19 year olds I work with.

I did my A levels in 1980, scraping by with mediocre grades. I read through some current sample papers and have to say I found them easy-peasy. Maybe I've got smarter!

Answer 9

I don't think A levels are getting easier, I completed mine last year and they were probably some of the hardest exams I have ever sat in my life. I still came out with good grades but that was only down to my hard work and determination to get the grades I needed to get into the uni that I wanted to go to.

Answer 10

I don't think it's the exams that are getting easier, I think it's mainly to do with the fact that we have much better resources today i.e. Internet, revision programmes on T.V and revision guides. According to other people I've talked to teaching has improved greatly too.Of course it's also due to the fact that we have access to past exam papers and if you notice (and every one has) you can see that they repeat the same questions over and over again so it's easy to learn answers for them.