ALL London branch |
Last update: 27/05/2012 |
Back to severe grading home page A* at A-level - 2011 reportALL has published a very helpful webpage and report on the A level results at http://www.all-languages.org.uk/news/news_list/alevel_results_day_updates_news_and_comment Report pasted below. Summary of situation re new A* at A-level - Sept 11Figures are for
· The serious issue regarding the number of A* awarded in Modern Language subjects especially French has continued. · The intake profile of French has more higher-attaining students (like other subjects such as Maths and Physics), and so they have had a higher percentage of students gaining grade A at A-level (e.g. 38.6% of entries in 2009 [the last pre-A* year] – German 40%, Maths 45%, Physics 32% etc compared with 26.7% for all subjects) · One would therefore expect to also have a higher than average percentage of students gaining A* in such subjects. However, given the definition of A*, it would seem plausible that the ratio of A* to A*+A students would be similar across a range of subjects · But this is not the case for French which has 39.1% of students with A or A*, but only 7.7% with A* - this gives a very low ratio of 20% of A* to A+A*. · The front page of TES on 13th August 2010 had the headline “Exam boards massage A* A-level marks, Ofqual admits” http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6054157; Geoff Lucas (Secretary to HMC) wrote a measured critique of the process of introducing the new A* grade in TES on 20th August 2010 · The situation in 2011 has deteriorated. The proportion of A* to A+A* is given below:
· There are some very technical issues regarding the process of assigning grade boundaries at A-level using the A/B boundary and the E/U boundary with subsequent interpolation (and now extrapolation for A*) which were raised at the Ofqual inter-subject comparability seminar in Oct’ 08, together with the “2% rule” referred to by Geoff Lucas.
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