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.

Students can study around 40 A-Level subjects, 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 schema 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 lead to claims that that gold standard has been devalued and that courses are becoming easier. The DfES maintains that this is not the case.

It is also alleged in many quarters, that some courses are clearly easier than others, and that this has lead 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 lead 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 lead 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.

The Government's formal response to the proposals is expected in the form of a white paper in the Spring of 2005, but 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.

2007 marked a quarter century of improving A Level grades – reopening the debate on grade inflation. The government rejects claims that "exams are getting easier", insisting this devalues 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.

An increasing gap 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 have remained relatively static, while private schools have made improvements. 15.7 per cent of all A Level papers are awarded a grade A, but this rises to 31.7 per cent of private school entries.

Statistics

The Uniform Mark Scale for A Level is: 100 to 80 - A; 79 to 70 - B; 69 to 60 - C; 59 to 50 - D; 49 to 30 - E

In 2007, there were 805,657 A-level entries (slightly down on 2006) and 1.11 million AS Level entrants.

In 2007, 96.9 per cent of students gained an A-E grade.

Entries for mathematics increased by 9.3 per cent and for further mathematics by 18 per cent.

Girls are more likely to gain A-grades than boys in every major subject except modern languages.

(Source: Department for Children, Schools and Families, 2007.)


Quotes

"Sustained progress in 'A' Level results over the last decade is down to high quality teaching and strong investment in our schools. Higher pass rates mean more young people are achieving advanced qualifications that will help them fulfil their ambitions - and this is something we should all celebrate."

Jim Knight MP, Schools Minister, August 2007

Robust evidence shows that A-levels cannot be taken as a valid measure of improvements in education...there has been an unambiguous trend towards students of the same ability gaining better A-level grades. In fact, on average, there has been a rise of one whole grade since 1996. This shows that students' general abilities are becoming increasingly detached from the A-level grades they achieve.

Civitas, August 2007

"The rise in interest in psychology is a consequence of what people are perceiving, that maths and physics are harder and they can get better grades in psychology. It is easy to show that psychology is an easier A-Level than maths. It is incredibly worrying because maths and modern languages are subjects that the country needs."

John Dunford, general secretary of the Secondary Heads Association, August 2003

"It must not become an elite qualification for entrance to elite universities introduced to satisfy the selfish arrogance of a small minority of schools."

John Bangs, NUT head of education, commenting on proposals for an International Baccalaureate to replace A Levels, September 2003