A-Levels

What are A-Levels?

A-Levels are properly referred to as the Advanced General Certificate of Education. They are one of the types of principal examination course studied by pupils in England, Wales and Northern Ireland immediately after the conclusion of compulsory education, usually between the ages of 17 and 18, and are the principal entry requirements for most higher education courses. Scotland has a different system altogether, with examinations called Higher grades and Advanced Higher grades.

A-Levels demand more individual, in-depth study than GCSEs and place greater emphasis on traditional academic and study skills.

A-Levels are typically studied for in Further Education Colleges, Sixth Form Colleges or school sixth forms, although adult learners can undertake A-Level courses in a variety of other settings. Most educational institutions set certain GCSE (or equivalent) qualifications as entry requirements to study for A-Levels.

The A-Level today comprises two elements: the Advanced Subsidary (AS), which is a qualification in its own right, and the A2, which is not. AS examinations are taken (usually) after a year of study by all students, and then those who wish to move on to the more demanding A2 exams after a second year of study. The current system was introduced in order to broaden the range of subjects studied by students, which had long been recognised as a weakness of A-Level.

There are about 80 AS and A level subjects available, many of which are not offered at GCSE level (for example law). A-Level syllabuses are set, examinations administered and certificates awarded by a number of "awarding bodies" or Examination Boards (AQA, EDEXCEL, and OCR). The awarding bodies are regulated and scrutinised by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority.

Students' results are graded from A to E (with U being an "unclassified" fail grade). Assessment is on either formal examination or coursework, or a mixture of the two.

Background

GCE A-Level and O-Level examinations were first sat in 1951, on the premise that students took one or the other. Until 1953, A-Level exams were graded only as a pass or fail, at which point a "distinction" grade was introduced. In 1963, a five grade scheme was introduced, with quotas for the allocation of grades: 10 per cent of candidates would receive an A grade, 15 per cent a B, 10 per cent a C, 15 per cent a D, 20 per cent an E, and a further 20 per cent would receive an O Level pass.

This arrangement persisted until the 1980s, with ongoing concern being voiced about the narrowness of many grade boundaries brought about by the quota system: in 1982, some subjects saw a B and a D separated by a margin of just 8 marks. Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, a campaign to switch the system to a mark-boundary grading system was waged, which was finally successful in 1987. The O-Level pass grade was dropped this year, and replaced by the considerably narrower "N" grade, which signified a "near miss".

1989 saw the introduction of the Advanced Supplementary or AS Level - not to be confused with the Advanced Subsidiary AS of today - in response to longstanding concerns that students were not receiving a sufficiently broad education in concentrating entirely on a few (typically three) A-Level subjects. AS was intended as a qualification of equal difficulty to A Level, taken at 18, but with half the content (and as such half the "value" for university admissions purposes). However, AS never really took off, a situation acknowledged in the 1996 Dearing Report, which proposed the current Advanced Subsidiary and A2 system.

In 2000, the Government published the outcome of its "Curriculum 2000" review programme, proposing a substantial overhaul of the existing A-Level system. In order to address concerns about the breadth of the curriculum, a new modular approach was introduced under which most students study four subjects with three "assessment units" each in their first year of study.

Completion of this AS stage can be a qualification in its own right, or else it constitutes 50 per cent of the marks towards the full A-Level. A2 units, undertaken in the second year of study, reflect the harder elements of the old A-Level syllabuses and contribute the remaining 50 per cent of the marks.

Controversies

A-Levels have, since the 1950s, been held up as representing the "gold standard" of school educational attainment. As with GCSEs, continually rising pass rates - topping 95 per cent in 2003 for the first time - have led to claims that that gold standard has been devalued and that courses are becoming easier.

It is also alleged in many quarters, that some courses are clearly easier than others, and that this has led to a migration of students away from "difficult" subjects, such as mathematics, physics and modern languages, towards subjects that are perceived as easier. Official figures certainly show a trend of fewer candidates taking those courses that are regarded as "harder".

In recent years, the upheavals associated with reforming the structure of A-Levels, and the speed with which this took place, have had serious implications for students. Pass rates for the first AS students were alarmingly low, reflecting poor understanding of the curriculum's demands on the part of schools. Early years of the new system also saw timetabling clashes, as exam boards struggled to co-ordinate properly.

Recent years have also seen scandals erupt in the administration of A-Levels, considerably undermining public confidence in the system. It was alleged in 2002 that exam boards had manipulated grades in order to ensure that the introduction of Curriculum 2000 was not seen to have led to "grade inflation".

A review, headed by Mike Tomlinson, the former Chief Inspector of Schools, ordered a review of grade boundaries - which required reconsideration of 90,000 students' results. At the time, Ron McLone of the OCR board complained that neither the DfES nor the QCA had given advice on how much harder A2 had to be than AS until the last minute. In the end, only a relatively small number of students had their results upgraded, but some did lose out on university places as a result of the problems, and confidence in the system was shaken. The crisis led to the sacking of the head of the QCA, Sir William Stubbs and the resignation of the Education Secretary Estelle Morris.

In response to the difficulties experienced with A-Levels in recent years, the Government set up the Tomlinson Review of 14-19 education. The final Tomlinson Report was published in October 2004 and recommended that A-Levels and GCSEs should be subsumed within a 14-19 diploma model education system. It proposed a four-level diploma system with students taking exams whenever they are ready. At the advanced diploma level there would be extra questions designed to stretch the very brightest and allow universities to distinguish between the top students.

Speaking immediately after the Tomlinson Report Prime Minister Tony Blair insisted that A-Levels were here to stay.

In November 2006, the government announced plans to introduce an A* grade for A-levels from 2010. The government said it would also provide funding to ensure that one state school in each education authority offered the International Baccalaureate.

The year 2007 marked a quarter century of improving A Level grades - reopening the debate on grade inflation. The government rejected claims that "exams were getting easier", insisting this devalued the hard work of teachers and students. Independent research, however, has found students' core skills are failing to improve in-line with rising exam grades. Higher education institutions have also been increasingly vocal in criticising the poor quality of many first year students.

Subsequently new A2 exams were designed to "stretch and challenge" the brightest students and the new A* grade first awarded in August 2010 requires candidates to achieve both a grade A on the A Level overall and at least 90% or more across the A2 units.

A further concern has been an apparent increasing gap which has emerged between students at state schools and private schools and by 2007 this stood at its widest for more than a decade. The Assessment and Qualifications Alliance reported that A Level results at comprehensive schools had remained relatively static, while private schools had made improvements. 15.7 per cent of all A Level papers were awarded a grade A, but this rose to 31.7 per cent of private school entries.

The controversy was fuelled further by the introduction of the new A* grade with exam results in 2010 suggesting that pupils in the independent sector were three times more likely to achieve an A* than their comprehensive counterparts.

Statistics

A-level results show no change at grade A, a rise in science and maths, and a boost to boys’ performance.

Results published today show that the percentage of students achieving grade A or better at A level remains unchanged at 27.0 per cent compared with 2010.

At A*, boys close the gap with girls. The number of A* grades issued to boys increases from 7.9 per cent to 8.2 per cent. Girls’ performance dips slightly from 8.3 per cent to 8.2 per cent.
In this, the second year of A* being awarded at A-level, there is a marginal increase of 0.1 percentage points in the number of awards made at the highest grade, from 8.1 per cent to 8.2 per cent.
Overall, the cumulative percentage of A-level grades A*-E increases very marginally by 0.2 percentage points, from 97.6 per cent to 97.8 per cent.
Between 2010 and 2011, the size of the 18-year-old cohort decreased slightly by 2.5 per cent. Despite this, the number of A-level grades issued is up 1.6 per cent (from 853,933 in 2010 to 867,317 in 2011).
The sciences and mathematics continue to see significant increases in entries. Mathematics (including Further Maths) increases by 7.4 per cent and Biology, Chemistry and Physics see increases of 7.2 per cent, 9.2 per cent and 6.1 per cent respectively. In these subjects, the rate of improvement for boys is greater than that for girls. The overall gap in performance between boys and girls at grade A in these subjects has reduced from 0.9 to 0.3 percentage points and at grade E from 0.9 to 0.7 percentage points.
Traditional modern foreign languages continue to decline. Entries for Spanish are down (0.2 per cent), halting a year on year increase since 2002. French and German continue their downward trend, down 4.7 per cent and 6.9 per cent respectively.

AS
The number of grades issued for AS increases by 17.9 per cent (1,197,490 in 2010 to 1,411,919 in 2011). The dramatic increase was expected and is explained by a change to the funding rules in England, which came into force this year.
Despite this overall increase, the number of grades issued for AS Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and Physics rose by considerably more (25.2 per cent, 22.9 per cent, 28.4 per cent and 27.8 per cent respectively).

Extended Project
Today’s results show the number of grades issued for the Level 3 Extended Project increases by 51.0 per cent, from 15,958 in 2010 to 24,099 in 2011. This is the third year in which results for the Extended Project have been published. The cumulative percentage of grades A*-E increases by 1.2 percentage points to 91.8.

Applied AS and A-level
This is the fifth year in which Applied A-levels have been awarded and there continues to be a decline in entries. There is a 22.4 per cent drop in the number of students receiving grades for the Applied A-level Double Award (from 9,576 in 2010 to 7,434 in 2011) and a 5.7 per cent drop in the Applied A-level Single Award (from 36,810 in 2010 to 34,728 in 2011).
The number of grades issued for Applied AS Double Award rises by 3.2 per cent (from 8,565 in 2010 to 8,839 in 2011). The Applied AS Single Award also has an increase in entries of 8.5 per cent (from 50,766 in 2010 to 55,098 in 2011). These rises are probably also linked to funding issues.

Source: Joint Council for Qualifications – August 2011
 

Quotes

“As this year’s results demonstrate, sustained increases in investment in education over the last decade are paying off in terms of increasingly high standards of learning and achievement.
“There will inevitably be the same, tired accusations of ‘dumbing down’ that have to be suffered every year, but the real danger threatening to overshadow this year’s success is the uncertainty facing the higher education sector."

Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT, comenting on A Level results - August 2011

“Students across the country can be proud of their achievements and should be congratulated. Today’s results have been well-earned and are the product of many years’ hard work and commitment to their education. The increase in the number of students taking maths and the sciences suggest that young people are listening to the repeated calls from industry for more people to study the STEM subjects."

Dr Jim Sinclair, Director, Joint Council for Qualifications – August 2011

"The NUT welcomes the increased take up and the overall high results achieved in the sciences and Mathematics, but continues to have grave concerns about the declining entry for Modern Foreign Languages. I urge the Government to come up with a coherent policy for ensuring that all young people acquire at least one Modern Foreign Language. The dismantling of MFL as an entitlement in secondary education was a disastrous decision."

Christine Blower, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, commenting on A Level results – August 2011

"We want students to leave school with the skills to lead a successful and fulfilled life. Students have done their part by working conscientiously and taking the exams put in front of them. But now we in Government have to do our part to make sure our qualifications match the best in the world and keep pace with the demands of employers and universities."

Schools Minister Nick Gibb - August 2011