Are exam results actually getting better?

Question

i understand that each year the grades at GCSE improve, but does this mean that the students are actually more able at their subjects?

Answer 1

Its a combination of easier exams, and a much greater emphasis on course work.

Answer 2

Hi Lawrence

yes exam results are getting better and this means the pupils are answering the questions to an acceptable standard.

However, you might want to consider if the classwork is getting easier. I have seen science dumbed down over the last several years. This is not a reflection on the ability of pupils rather a government trend ( in most subjects ).

The result is an exam based on lower levels of work than several years ago, giving higher pass grades.

Second issue is that achievable grades for passing at A/B/C etc are actually lower so you only need score 44% in some exams to gain an A pass. These details are available on examining body web sites if you search hard enough.

Hope this helps

Answer 3

Exams must be getting easier..it's the only way to explain how the pass rate increases every year..before long there will be a 100% pass rate..will this mean that everyone is clever? of course not.To anyone who disputes the fact that exams are getting easier,I set a challenge..Sit a 1971 (Maths or science or similar academic subject) paper, then a 2006 GCSE paper and compare the results.Some of the kids today would n't be able to read the 1971 papers let alone answer them.There used to be long intricate questions these are now largely replaced by short,even one-word answers.

Answer 4

I think that examination standards maybe getting less vigilant BUT this isn't the only reason why GCSE grades improve. Teachers are under more pressure now, than they were in 1971, to produce good results. Nowadays, if you go to most 'high achieving' schools you won't find places of learning, you will find the educational equivalent of a 'battery farm'.

Answer 5

Simple. Teachers forced to "teach to the test." (Actually, a lot easier than really "teaching")

Brought about by school administrators knuckling under to state and federal government mandates that require schools "to improve" or lose funding, and states exerting similar pressure by threatening withdrawal of funding and "take over" of local school districts that fail to "achieve."

Plus, parental insistence (pressure) that their "child" should actually be considered for MENSA membership when, in fact, the child is nearly at the "special needs" level.

And school board members that should know better, but have never actually done so.

Sorry, but 'tis the truth.

Answer 6

no it means the governement are fiddling with the results.