Teenagers To Find Out A-Level Results

[mikey4444]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-40952125

What are the chances that we get the usual response, from the usual quarters today, that "A Levels were much harder in my day ", instead of congratulating these kids on their wonderful achievements ?

[EDDIE51]

FF that is a valid point , I was sure that it would favour Corbyn as soon as I heard it. But I was not going to mention it as it is beside the point of this thread.

[Islay]

Martin Lewis again said that very few ever repay what they 'borrow' to attend university and actually encouraged them to borrow more as they will never have to repay it!

[Tilly2]

Students have been used as guinea pigs this year.

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/aug/17/a-level-grades-will-be-fair-uk-exam-regulator-tells-students

[mallyh]

our granddaughter studied all through her dads illness and passing and managed to get an A ,Distinction star and a C, so so proud of her xx

[jim360]

Most exams are still done with pen and paper, so I'm not immediately sure where the technology comes into it. Once you walk into the exam room you're in essentially the same boat as before.

What bothers me a little with the "exams are easier" argument is that, while mostly true, it does seem to be attached to something along the lines of "and therefore young people today are less deserving of what they achieve afterwards", which isn't fair at all.

The greater attendance at university today isn't because standards are lower, it's because more courses are available. Some such courses perhaps shouldn't be offered by a university -- because it's not clear, for example, why one would need specifically a BA in Fashion (a course offered at Edinburgh University) -- but that's a separate argument.

[EDDIE51]

Islay, then surely that proves that Corbyn's policy to write off student loans just formalises a policy that already exists? At least 75% of student loans are never repaid now and there is the added cost of administering them and trying to collect repayment. Far from needing a 'Magic Money Tree' it seems to me Corbyn's policy will actually be cheaper?

[fiction-factory]

yes, but for most students now they amount of debt is irrelevant- what they pay back will depend on their income- it's a 9& tax on earnings over something like £21000. Someone earning £30000 a year will repay 9% of £9000 = £810 a year. After 25 years it's written off by which time they'll have repaid only £20250 so the £50000 (plus a huge amount of interest ) is not relevant.
Of it course if the student earns maybe £40000 a year they may get close to repaying it but that aint a bad salary .
http://blog.moneysavingexpert.com/2017/05/02/will-student-loan-written-off/

[Tilly2]

Malala's been accepted at Oxford. :-)

[fiction-factory]

Sorry, but it seems you completely misunderstand this mikey. I'll try to find a link to Martin Lewis's sarticle on radio 5 on Monday this week. Just because at least 75% are never repaid doesn't mean the governement loses all that money! Of these students some will pay 95%, some 90%, some 80%.... some 50%.... some 10%, some 0%. And of course the governemnt gets money back from repayments of the interest. Overall the governement gets back a fair chunk (don't know the exact figure- I don't think anyone can say yet given the long time scales.
The real problem is we are encouraging universities to offer too many courses/places and encouraging too many people to go to university.

[fiction-factory]

worth a listen
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05ccq2d

[Tilly2]

Back to A levels...

'Students have complained of extra stress from sitting new, untested qualifications this summer for which many felt ill prepared, with no past papers, no mark schemes and no clarity about grade boundaries.' The Guardian.

So, it will be interesting to see what the overall results are like.

[jno]

and therefore young people today are less deserving of what they achieve afterwards

jim, I think they're just saying "my A level is bigger than yours".

[fiction-factory]

sorry mikey- in my post at 9;36 I mentioned your name when I meant to type EDDIE 51.

EDDIE needs to listen to this which explains it fully
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05ccq2d

[fiction-factory]

EDDIE- just to clarify, the figure you referred to is 77% of student loans (plus interest) are not repaid IN FULL. Maybe you misunderstood this to mean that 77% are never repaid at all. There is a huge difference between the two.

[Islay]

Eddie you are yet again not understanding the concept of student loans and the repayments - I am not going to discuss the political content of them

[jno]

looks like A* and A grades are slightly up

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-40952125

[pixie374]

I'm always a bit wary if these "getting easier" arguments, by adults looking back at them.
The same was said about GCSE and O Levels. I did the second year that GCSEs came out, so we only had O Level past papers and the mocks were O Levels, so i'm probably one of a few that did both O Levels and GCSEs in the same year, at the same age.
The main difference wasn't the difficulty, it was the extra coursework with GCSE- you couldn't just cram it in in the last minute.
I got the same grades in the mock O Levels and the actual GCSE, except history where my O Level grade was higher.
It's hard to compare. I think it's good that there are a lot more choices now. All our A Levels choices were academic subjects, and although I did them, I can't say they have been any particular use.
My daughter has delayed her university place by a year, because of money.

[ummmm]

Pixie...you must be the same age as me. I was the 2nd year of GCSE.

I do prefer the GCSE system of a % exam and a % coursework. I have a little sponge who will study any subject in depth. That is perfect for coursework.

[pixie374]

I did them in '88-'90

[jim360]

Coursework is a much maligned way of assessing skills. Which is sad, really, because it's rather closer to how real life works than an exam is.