Exam results

I work as the Exams Officer for my school. We have just recently got the exam results in for our A Level students and I have been doing some statistics based on the results and have been doing some thinking about these exams.

Most students do 3 subjects at A Level and use these to get into university. The media in the UK constantly undermine the progress of the students and claim that standards are getting lower. But are they? When I did my A Levels (15 years ago!) I did nothing in my Lower Sixth year and had 3 exams for each subject in Upper Sixth. These students have 6 exams to do spread over 2 years. I know that being able to resit certainly helps to pump up the grades but I dont know if I agree that standards are falling. Exams are different today. They focus on different things. They dont just aim to measure knowledge. They are measures of understanding and skills and values and connected thinking and learning.

I see the students nervously going into the exam hall. I know the work they need to do and the pressure of success - also knowing they now have to find the funds to go to a university course that will charge them £3,000 for tuition fees alone. So, they have got to be sure that they do the right course! When they achieve good results we should be celebrating with them.

Yea, exams were different in my day. But thats OK! If they were still the same and we had not moved on - how could we say that we have embraced the changes, the massive changes that have happened in the world in the same time. 15 years ago - who would have thought that my watch could store more information than the bulky and odd computer devices?

And . . . when we hear of improved grades, why can it not be because teachers are getting better? Can we not, for once, give credit to the idea that perhaps lots of teachers are working hard, harnessing this new technology for learning and that together - good resources and quality learning is driving the results higher and higher.

Well done to all my students at A2 and AVCE. I am proud of your success and proud to have been a small part of your learning!