A-level grades 'are worth less than thirty years ago'

A-LEVEL examinations are getting easier, a study of results from thousands of sixth-formers has concluded.

Students are achieving up to three grades higher in their exams compared with teenagers of similar ability in the 1980s. The research, by Durham University, also found evidence of grade inflation at GCSE.

Robert Coe, who compared the results of 200,000 students since 1988, said: ?If grades are interpreted as indicating general academic ability, then they are worth less.?

The study compared A-level grades in six subjects for students of similar ability, based on their GCSE results at 16 or their scores in Durham?s tests of verbal and mathematical reasoning. Dr Coe examined how students of average ability who had scored 50 per cent in the tests fared in their A levels two years later.

He found that candidates who were awarded an F grade in mathematics in 1988 would have gained a C grade if they had taken their A level last year.

Students of average ability in 1988 gained E grades in geography and biology and Ds in English literature, history and French. In 2005, teenagers of similar ability were awarded C grades in all six subjects.

Dr Coe said the findings showed that the A level was no longer ?fit for purpose? for bright students because it did not represent their abilities accurately. Universities could not distinguish the most able from the mass of applicants predicted to achieve A grades.

There was little evidence to support arguments that improved grades were the result of better teaching and learning. The same grade was more likely to represent a lower level of ability now than in the past. ?The level of ability that a particular grade denotes is less. It is pretty hard to deny that,? said Dr Coe, who is director of secondary projects at Durham?s Curriculum, Evaluation and Management Centre.

A-level pass rates have gone up for 23 consecutive years to 96.2 per cent in 2005, prompting accusations of ?dumbing down? and grade inflation. Almost a quarter of candidates were awarded an A grade last summer, compared with one in 10 in the mid-1980s.

The Government and the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, which regulates the examining boards, insist that academic standards have been maintained over time.

The Department for Education and Skills said: ?Standards in our schools are rising year on year. The truth is that we are getting better as a country at getting the best from our young people.?

https://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2240835,00.html

Now I wish I was born in the 90s...

me too... but ive been saying this for years that the exams are too easy.... i saw a GCSE exam from lat year...

In 1066, what was the main reason for the battle...

WTF...

I'd like to think that whenever we find that recent years' questions are easier, it's simply because we're older (and hopefully wiser).

Sure, it would be useful to raise the bar to distinguish between the most skilled students, but let's not forget that there are still those who achieve mostly low grades. What would happen to them if the scale was moved up?

My brother is a history teacher. He says he really feels sorry for 5 year olds, coz when they sit there A-levels.. they will be sitting 11 plus exams.. the way its going!

It would be good if it was possible to maintain a certain 'level'... but as the world advances, I'm afraid that's next to impossible.

It is a shame.. a level must be maintained.. or one day all the machines will stop and we wont know how to fix them..

No wonder they're having problems with this, seeing as education has such a high priority in the politics of most countries.

What in thye name of Jeeze is an 'A'' level ???

I got half an '0' level in knittin and 'shaggy poodle shearin.'

I used to hate to do the 10years' series as a practice... because it seemed that the questions were a lot harder than what actually comes out during the exams.

Perhaps it's many were grousing over the lowered standards during our time, too. Just that they didn't have the net then.

its a exam that 18yr olds sit before they go to UNI...

Some schools here have done away with 'O' levels... which I think is a great idea, anyhow.

i did a Moch o level, in math in my degree. and the level was as high as my degree exam.... it annoyed me to think that i thought the engineering degree was supposed to put me on a level of education that of 30 years ago.. not 30 years future GCSEs...

Worked well in your favour though...