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Friday 21 August 2009

Are A-levels getting easier?

I know I have discussed this before but I found an interesting BBC magazine piece that I think bears wider coverage. BBC's John Hand took an A-level in Italian and concludes
"I outperformed my 1989 D grade for English Language Studies, based on a couple of hours of Italian study each week.

If I had the full six hours of classroom time each week, maybe I too would be in possession of an A grade. "
Two hours of study a week and he got a C at A-level, does that not seem a little "dumbed down"?

Somehow I think John Hand feels conflicted by this finding as he is keen to pint out first that:
"as a journalist, I am well versed in the art of gaining short-term knowledge of a subject."
and second that to fit in with "the narrative" on exam results:
"having seen the range of skills needed to gain top marks, it is important to value the efforts of those 18-year-olds who have done well today."

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I found the article confusing in that he didnt seem to be consistant.

Why not just get a 1989 paper, and compare it to a 2009 paper, instead of all this convoluted bs.