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From The Times

August 17, 2007

New grades will raise the bar for best performers

Giulia Mazzola (left) and Alice Hare celebrate their A level exam results outside St Pauls Girls School in Hammersmith

Alexandra Frean, Education Editor

The top performing state schools at A level

A levels by subject

Getting top marks in A-level examinations could become harder after the introduction of a new A* and an A** grade, exam chiefs suggested yesterday, after record results showed that more than a quarter of all A-level entries were awarded an A.

The pass rate rose for the 25th year in succession, with nearly three in ten candidates achieving three A grades, traditionally enough to secure them a place at a top university.

The results meant that a record 316,549 pupils were able to confirm their university places on results day, up from 294,567 last year, the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas) said.

Ministers and teaching unions congratulated students on their results, attributing the rises to improved teaching and learning and a greater awareness of the importance of mastering exam techniques.

Examination boards insisted that the A level remained the gold standard examination and denied that the number of A grades achieved, which accounted for 25.3 per cent of all marks, was a result of grade inflation.

There was no escaping the fact, however, that rising grades have made it more difficult for many bright pupils to get into their university of choice. Whereas once a B grade was regarded as a respectable score, it spelled failure for the academic plans of some pupils yesterday.

Most exam boards do accept that the introduction of a new A* grade for the 2010 exams would help universities and employers to identify the very brightest students from among those qualifying for an A.

The A* will be awarded to students who achieve 90 per cent in their exams.

Mike Cresswell, director general of AQA, England’s biggest exam board, went further. He accepted that a new A** could eventually be required as more pupils get the new top A* grade.

“The A* is an eminently sensible response to what is essentially a problem of success,” he said.

“More and more students are doing better and getting grade A. You can see why a small number of universities at the moment have a problem differentiating between the very, very, very best and the very best.

“Were one to find oneself in a situation at some point in the future where things had improved to such an extent that there was now a similar difficulty with an A*, the sensible thing to do would be to repeat the medici

Alan Smithers, Professor of Education at the University of Buckingham, described the idea of a possible A** as “just plain daft”, saying it would amount to an admission of failure.

“For the A* to work it must be based on tougher questions which will sort out those with real understanding of the subject,” he said.

Jim Knight, the Schools Minister, said he thought it would be an extraordinary achievement for any student to get three A*s and said the need for an extra top grade at A level was “a long way away”.

He pointed out that, from this year, universities will be given the percentage mark of all pupils in every A level module to help them to distinguish between those who have scraped through with an A and those who had passed with flying colours.

Michael Gove, the Shadow Children, Schools and Families Secretary, said that he agreed that it was important to allow the new A* to bed down before thinking of reforming A levels again.

The results for the 310,000 students sitting 806,000 A levels were released yesterday by the Joint Council for Qualifications, representing the exam boards. The pass rate was 96.6 per cent.

Girls continued to score better grades than boys in every major subject apart from further maths and foreign languages, although boys did manage to narrow the gap overall by 0.3 per cent.

The grade A problem

The line between success and failure at the highest level is very thin. Lisa Pickett, 18, is a pupil at Brighton College in Sussex, which scored record results this year.

She was devastated with her two Bs and an A, which were not enough to get her into her chosen university, Nottingham, to study English. The disappointment was all the harder to bear because her twin sister, Jenny, achieved two As and a B, enough to secure her a place to study Spanish at the University of Exeter. “I’m immensely disappointed,” Lisa said. “I don’t understand why my marks in English were low when all I have scored is As in English throughout the A-level course.”

Speaking of results

"Whatever the usual grumpy old persons want to say about how it used to be much harder in their day, what we want to say is congratulations to the students"

Mike Cresswell, director general of the AQA examination board

"There are undoubtedly A grades being awarded that would not have been awarded 18 years ago. Sadly, almost anything below a C grade is not university currency . . . There is a pressure for students to get B grades"

Elspeth Insch, Head of King Edward VI Handsworth School in Birmingham

"I suggest that critics go through the process and trying four Cambridge interviews and sitting five A levels. It’s making excuses for young people doing well"

Kathryn Mason, from Robert Clack school in Dagenham, who scored 5 As at A level, and is to study history at Cambridge

"I didn’t really think about the results until four days ago, then I got stressed out. (On Wednesday) going out was impossible. You’d say something about the exams and there’d be this shocked silence or you’d get hit. It was like mentioning the unmentionable"

Lena Koolman, who is to read psychology at Oxford

"I did find them really hard and had a lot of distraction over the last two years so I’m really pleased."

Mel Slade, 18, girlfriend of the Arsenal striker Theo Walcott and World Cup WAG, who achieved 2 Bs and a C

"It’s like going into labour. You are hoping for a good result but you are not sure if you are going to get one"

Susie Beer, of Brighton, waiting for her daughter Charlotte, 18, to receive her A-level results

"I want to show people that having a baby at a young age does not stop you from progressing in further education"

Hannah White, who gave birth to her daughter while sitting her GCSE exams, gained four A levels yesterday, as well as a place at the University of Lancaster

"I worked really hard, I went to all the extra lessons but I guess the exams just weren’t for me. I want to be a surgeon, it just doesn’t look like it will happen now"

Felicia Patel, of Haberdashers’ Aske’s Hatcham College, New Cross, who gained two A levels and two AS levels

"I wish everyone else who has done A levels the best of luck for the future"

Hammasa Kohistani, 20, the former Miss England, gained A levels in media studies and sociology and an AS level in politics at Uxbridge College in Middlesex

Like Stephen Greatley from Liverpool London said, if you have the grade boudaries higher, then it may solve the problem, but then it may be a problem because the boudaries are so close together that if you answer one question wrong, you've dropped a few grades already. It really depends a lot on how the day is and what sort of questions you get on the exam paper.

However, if you just keep pushing new A* grades, it just becomes unacheivable, and you will start getting what other countries such as China have, where the children are pushed to their limits and have no social life. Is it not better to encourage them to think rather than just to memorise an entire book and get brilliant grades? Because if we keep pushing them in the memorising, then their intuition and imagination will start to take its hold. We want clever students, but ones with a spark, not just a book worm.

Jennifer Barlow, Suffolk, UK

Stephen Greatley has no sense in the art of perceptive reason. He also feels that people should have AAAAAA to get into all universities.

Name Withheld, Liverpool, UK

What I say is, seeing as universities don't really want to know if you have anything below a grade B (or shall we say C?), then rather than introducing new grades, why don't we just raise the boundaries for the existing ones? Normalising would work, but wouldn't be fair on a particularly intelligent year/crop of students, where people who didn't make the top 10% to gain an A grade miss out, even though they may still be cleverer than someone who did the year before.

Currently, you need 40% of the marks to gain an E grade. No one wants to know if you got that, so why not make it 55% (important, as it's more than half the marks) for an E, 65% for a D, 75% for a C, 85% for a B and 95% for an A.

If this were in place, it would solve the problem of the ridiculously high pass rate, which makes them achievable by anyone, and would also restore credibility to B and C grades. It would also reduce the number of people gaining A grades, and make it a real achievement.

Stephen Greatley, Liverpool, UK

Using the same logic used by this idiotic Government, I am now searching for a new amplifier for my stereo. My old one has a volume switch from 1 to 10. I want a louder one that goes from 1 to 11..

...apologies to Spinal Tap..

Mark, Birmingham, UK

If A-level grades continue to rise after the introduction of the A* will the lower grades E, D, C, eventually become a thing of the past with B being considered a below average grade and most students receiving grades A, A*, A**, A***. Wait if I understood your story correctly many universities already consider a B grade reason for rejection.

Michele, New York, NY

On Thursday my results slip read A A A A and I am going on to read law in September. This year, I managed 100% in all 3 modules in law. Newspapers on Thursday were concerned with excuses rather than praise. What these articles need to do is congratulate students, make them feel that they have achieved, encourage them.

I have spent the past 2 years with my nose in the books to achieve these results and it's a shame that people have to criticise them.

Tom, Caerphilly,

To suggest that the modular system of exams, which is common in many A -Levels today, is just as challenging as a linear one, where you get one shot at the end to sit two papers for each subject is nonsense. I congratulate all the students who have passed but is achieving 3 As really going to stand out when such a high proportion of other candidates do well? The fact is, 3 As would have been an exceptional set of grades 50 years ago and now it isn't. For admissions tutors and job interviewers this surely just muddies the waters.

Rob, Bristol,

The main issue is not whether or not the A level exams are easier now than 25 years ago.

The old A level was predominately exam based and the results were norm-reference graded, e.g., only 10% would ever attain an A grade. Whilst, the new A level is modular based with students being able to attain the majority of their marks before the final exam. Thus knowing that you already had 70% of the marks before the final exam would mean you already have an A grade without sitting the final exam, so students and teachers can control the final grade through coursework. This has led to 25% of students being able to attain an A grade. We are not comparing like-for-like as the exams are differently structured, assessed and graded.

The argument for the new A level was that the structure was more realistic of working life conditions. The main issue is that the new A level is not working. We cannot differentiate students abilities and they are not being equipped effectively for life.

Q, London, UK

I don't think it is necessary to introduce a new A* grade, when Advanced Extension Awards can be sat by students who are exceptional at a particular subject. They are graded with merit, distinction or failure and therefore clearly demonstrate those who have got to grip with the subject; they do not require any particular knowledge but are about one's level of understanding.

Francesca Bonner-Evans, Stratford-upon-Avon,

Both Paul from Leeds and C Rance have hit the nail on the head. A B & C used to mean exactly that. Today read A=C A*=B A**=A. It is time they stopped messing around with this 'star' stuff and gave good honest and staightforward grades. Time for re-evaluation and consistent exam setting standards by the exam boards don't you think?

CB, Essex,

Q, London, UK

And than A******++ and with a crown on the top

How stupid is that?
A-F system is simple and clear, if you need additional grades add G and H.

Michal, London,

No one is getting cleverer. The education system no longer educates, it just teaches kids how to pass exams so that the results look good. Trouble is it looks too good now and has blown it's cover.

Bob Reeve, Brighton,

I would not categorically say that A-Levels are getting easier; I think the key point is that people are learning how to pass them, without necessarily learning the subject to a greater extent. A similar analogy would be literacy; reading and writing have not gotten easier, there are just more mechanisms in place to get more people up to a certain standard.

Karl Chads, London, UK, UK

There is a simple solution. Award 'A' grades only to the top 10% of candidates in any one year, 'B' to the next 15%, 'C' to the next 25% and so on That would allow universities (and employers) to identify the best candidates in any year.

C Rance , Reading , berkshire

Can someone confirm my suspicions, didn't the grades for exams used to be normalised? For example, only the top 10% used to get an A grade, the next 15% received a B etc etc, so if an exam was easier one year, and the average mark was high, it didn't matter, as only the best 10% would get an A anyway. This did allow universities to see who was best at exams.

Paul, LEEDS,

Is it true A levels were harder 25 years ago?

I attended a grammar school that selected the top 10% of pupils via 11 plus exams and primary school head teacher recommendations. It had a teaching staff that was 75% plus from Oxford and Cambridge. Homework was at least 2 to 3 hours every night. As a school we sat internal exams in every subject, every term, and were given public class and year positions in every subject. The school's A level results were Top 10 in the country among state schools.

OUR A LEVEL GRADES WERE WORST THAN AN AVERAGE SCHOOL IN 2007.

It is laughable to suggest that an average teacher can take an average student and get better results than our best teachers could achieve with our most intelligent pupils 25 years ago. The exam is easier.

No disrespect to today's students - you can only sit the exam put in front of you. Well done on your results.

Richard Turner, London,

Well I got my 3 A's to get into Imperial so I am really chuffed!

Mike, London,