A-Level results improve once again

[bennydorano]

There's uproar every year when the results improve, if it went the other way there'd be whinging that the system is failing the childer.

[inisceithleann]

There's uproar every year when the results improve, if it went the other way there'd be whinging that the system is failing the childer.

Agree with that benny. So many people are going to uni these days, competition for places is more fierce than ever before. If you want to get into a top course at a top university you're looking at 3 As. As a result A level students are working a hell of a lot harder than in previous years.

[ziggysego]

Fair play to the wee cub from Newry that got 6 As. On top of that, he was getting radiotherapy for lukmeia.

[ONeill]

A Level examination questions are not getting any easier; it's the structure of the courses that helps today's students. Whereas I had to sit two big feckin exams at the end of two years of studying a subject, pupils will often sit 6 smaller exams over the two years, and can repeat these exams ad nauseum throughout the 2 years in order to get the desired result. I wish I had that system in my time, instead of trying to remember everything you'd been taught in the last 20 months.

Secondly teachers are more resource-aware now, making lessons more interesting and tailored to individual pupils. Interactive whiteboards, online pupil participation...all these things enhance the classroom experience for teachers and students. The Internet is a huge advantage for learners now as you can top up what you've been taught in the classroom.

Coursework is another notch in favour of today's pupils. You can earn up to 40% in some subjects before you sit an exam.

Teachers are under more pressure now to perform than ever before with parent scrutiny a much bigger issue than in 1957!

So all-in-all whereas examination questions are no easier than they were 50 years ago, pupils are better equipped now to achieve than ever before.

[inisceithleann]

Your dead right ONeill, I was part of the first year group to do AS Levels and it was a massive advantage. Took the pressure off big time in the final year. When it came to the A Levels you sometimes knew what you were getting save a massive disaster. But remember all pupils take advantage of this so everyone does better and therefore the competition for Uni becomes so fierce.

[GalwayBayBoy]

I done seven in my Leaving Cert thats a big difference from 3/4...

I did 8 subjects for mine. Lord help me. What a year.

I presume as you do less subjects in the A levels they are done in more detail while in the leaving cert you are examined in a much broader range of subjects.

[CiKe]

O'Neill you have a point about the structure making things easier but to argue that the level of difficulty of questions is no different is nonsense. Have three older siblings who went before me and all did additional maths GCSE and maths to A-Level, one of them doing further maths A-Level. I remember when doing my additional maths GCSE and looking at the past papers from my older brother and sister 10 years before and things were considerably more difficult - in fact a lot of it I covered later in A-Level.

In my year in college there were about 20 people got 3 Grade A's and 10 A's at GCSE, in my siblings years figures were less than half that.

Regarding the A-Level-Leaving Cert debate, it is clear that there are more subjects done for the leaving cert but at a SUBSTANTIALLY lower level (at least in the ones I can compare). I did French and Spanish to A-Level and then went to Dublin and the standard of people at college who had studied down south was by and large pretty crap - probably similar to a good GCSE student. If my experience of the way languages is taught down south is anything to go by, then there is no structure whatsoever to the way grammar is taught - the very building blocks of a language!

[inisceithleann]

O'Neill you have a point about the structure making things easier but to argue that the level of difficulty of questions is no different is nonsense. Have three older siblings who went before me and all did additional maths GCSE and maths to A-Level, one of them doing further maths A-Level. I remember when doing my additional maths GCSE and looking at the past papers from my older brother and sister 10 years before and things were considerably more difficult - in fact a lot of it I covered later in A-Level.

In my year in college there were about 20 people got 3 Grade A's and 10 A's at GCSE, in my siblings years figures were less than half that.

Regarding the A-Level-Leaving Cert debate, it is clear that there are more subjects done for the leaving cert but at a SUBSTANTIALLY lower level (at least in the ones I can compare). I did French and Spanish to A-Level and then went to Dublin and the standard of people at college who had studied down south was by and large pretty crap - probably similar to a good GCSE student. If my experience of the way languages is taught down south is anything to go by, then there is no structure whatsoever to the way grammar is taught - the very building blocks of a language!

I dunno about maths CiKe about i'd agree with you about languages. I only did french to AS Level but my Uni friends who were schooled in the south said that we had a much better grasp at grammar, but i did have a teacher who drilled it into us. i still remember most of it

[Armaghtothebone]

Tis all a loab of crap chaps.
When i did A levels two people out of 100 plus got 3 A's.Now 33% get an A Grade.
The proof that theyre getting easier is clear.
If everyone is now smarter/works harder then why dont they all get firsts at uni? 

[inisceithleann]

Tis all a loab of crap chaps.
When i did A levels two people out of 100 plus got 3 A's.Now 33% get an A Grade.
The proof that theyre getting easier is clear.
If everyone is now smarter/works harder then why dont they all get firsts at uni? 

Universities, especially those that set and mark their own exams mark them much harder than the A Levels are marked. If too many students get firsts then it takes away from the prestige of the course and university. I was once told that a university will only ever give a certain number of firsts regardless of the standard. Therefore getting 3 As at A Level will always be easier than getting a first class honours degree.

[ONeill]

O'Neill you have a point about the structure making things easier but to argue that the level of difficulty of questions is no different is nonsense. Have three older siblings who went before me and all did additional maths GCSE and maths to A-Level, one of them doing further maths A-Level. I remember when doing my additional maths GCSE and looking at the past papers from my older brother and sister 10 years before and things were considerably more difficult - in fact a lot of it I covered later in A-Level.

I wasn't talking about GCSE

[pintsofguinness]

f**k me, same oul shite every year. it must knock the bottom out of the youngsters who've sat the exams. anyone who knows anything about education will know the points outlined by oneill are spot on and that the same questions in various wordings have been asked for years. it's just a case of teachers knowing what to expect and preparing their students for it.

[Balboa]

My mate teaches Alevels and said the content is maybe only slightly easier than it was years ago. He said its just the structure now makes it easier, because of the AS's, in his words they "get a few rips at it".

[Bogball XV]

From what I hear the consensus is that A-Levels are approx 1.5 times the equivalent leaving cert subject.  I'd say they're probably a bit higher than that, since from what I can tell Leaving Cert is essentially rote learning (to such an extent that people have learned off essays prior to going in for certain subjects), whilst A-Levels tend to be more discursive (in my experience).
On the whole it's all a bit irrelevant as I expect most posters on here know, exams such as these are essentially a crude tool for colleges etc to streamline students.  The vast majority of knowledge learned is of little of no use in much of our everyday life nor does it help provide a rounded education, imo anyway.
As O'Neill points out, results have to get better each year, teachers have so much more know how in how to beat the system nowadays, that coupled with better resources mean that improvement should be expected.
Finally, how many of you even include them on your CV at this stage?  I know I don't as they have no relevance anymore, that pretty much ends after your first job.

[CiKe]

O'Neill i was also making the point that a good part of what i covered at A-level my older siblings had done at additional maths GCSE level - ie what they did at A-level was harder again, ie the difficulty level of individual questions is decreasing. The points you illustrate are valid and certainly explain some of the improvement but to say that the dificulty level in some subjects has not decreased is rubbish.

Maybe in order to differentiate to some extent they should have some sort of penalization for repeating like at University finals - fail first time around and pass second and all you get is a pass degree or something like that. With the number of people getting 3 A's these days, this is no longer enough to distinguish between students for the most sought after courses