And now the A levels....

Where to start?

Clearly there is something wrong when 27% of all A levels are awarded an A grade. Add in the B grades and you reach half. There is a problem, whatever the cause. How can universities decide who are the students most likely to perform well on a degree course if most applicants have one of the top two qualifications? Whatever the future of the A level, and the Government seems to recognise the problem, something must change, - the international baccalaureate, one or two or three stars to grade A, universities setting their own entrance exams, or even the diploma being developed by the Government.

The question should be asked, why have there been improvements for so many consecutive years?

It is probably a mixture of several things:

Modularisation - Learning is now in short lumps, which can then be forgotten as a new area is started. For previous generations all depended on the examination at the end of two years study, involving examination of any material over the two years.

Re-sits - A large number of students now resit module examinations almost routinely, improving marks until satisfied. This, to some extent, obviously reduces the advantage of modularity, as students have to carry forward material on modules no longer studied.

The ability of students is increasing - This may contribute, but probably does little to explain the annual increases.

Improved teaching- Educational technology and method may have made a contribution.

The reduction in conceptual content - This overlaps with the the familiar accusation of "dumbing down". The suggestion is that changes have made the content of courses less conceptually demanding. There is research evidence for this. Durham University research came to the conclusion in terms of conceptual difficulty there is at least a two grade difference between papers now and those of 20 years ago. In mathematics the difference is more like 3.5 grades.
(This is not a new thing. Until the late 1980s I was a lecturer in higher education. We frequently had to revise the content of our course because topics were being omitted from "O" and "A" level subjects, and students were thus less well prepared for the degree course we taught.)

The Durham research is supported by that undertaken by King College London educationalists on even younger students. They found in 2004 11 year-olds were 2 to 3 years behind their counterparts in 1990, in terms of conceptual understanding.

The subjects studied - including the popular media studies, sports studies and even business studies, which are multi-discipline subjects, are probably also less demanding - requiring breadth rather than depth of study.


Perhaps the most worrying thing is the findings of employers, - many graduates are bordering on the illiterate and innumerate , and their readiness to employ eastern European immigrants who often have a better command of English!