Students from across Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin have achieved record results in their A-levels again this year as the national pass rate today soared above 97 per cent for the first time.
See also: Region’s A-level students celebrate record results
The proportion of students awarded A grades also rose again nationally with more than one in four gaining the top marks. But predictions that the number would hit 26 per cent were just wide of the mark.
The number of candidates awarded A was 25.9 per cent up from 25.3 per cent last year.
At Shrewsbury Sixth Form College - Shropshire’s biggest A-level centre - the overall pass rate was 98 per cent, with 50 per cent of exams taken graded A or B. Eight of the college’s students have gained places at Oxford or Cambridge universities.
New principal, Martin Ward, said: “Yet again it is an outstanding achievement.”
Shrewsbury Girls’ High School is celebrating seven consecutive years of a 100 per cent pass rate with 82.6 per cent graded A or B, and 97.2 per cent A to C.
Consistent
Delighted headteacher Marilyn Cass said: “Shrewsbury High School continues to deliver a consistent high performance in our sixth form.”
At Walford and North Shropshire College the number of higher grade passes has risen for the second year running.
The overall pass rate 99.2 per cent with the percentage of higher grades at 77 per cent, an increase of 11 per cent since 2006.
New College, Wellington - the largest provider of sixth form courses in Telford & Wrekin - has scored an overall 97 per cent pass rate across the 37 subjects taken. There was a 100 per cent pass rate in 21 subjects.
Newport High School is also celebrating its best ever results with an overall pass rate of 100 per cent. At Shropshire’s international school, Concord College near Shrewsbury, 91.5 per cent of exams taken were awarded A or B grades.
Figures from the exam boards show traditional subjects are still firm favourites with English and maths the top choices. Students are once again taking greater interest in science with increased entries in biology, chemistry and physics.
By Education Correspondent Dave Morris
25 Comments
We used to have exams that were as hard as today’s ‘A’ levels when I was at school.
They were called ‘O’ levels…
Is there ever a point when people will stop getting at young adults?
What about ‘well done’?
The standards have been set by adults for these students to pass and they have passed so stop moaning and give a bit of positivity. We were all young once and actually there’s nothing worse than a bitter adult whingeing about ‘the youth of today’. They are not all bad in fact the majority are great and will be good members of society, especially if they are congratulated when they do well.
I hope that Peter was standing up when he made the comment the comment about A and O levels, as he will find it so much easier when he talks out of his bottom.
A levels continue to be the god standard. Pupils are much more motivated to getting good grades then they ever were in my day.
The real difference is in the 1970’s only 5% went to University, Now it is 50%. It is the high A level grade that enable the differentiation to be made.
The tragedy is that pupils with A levels at lower grades are encouraged to believe they can succeeded at University, (as they are now revenue collecting organisations) they can’t and leave with a mountain of debt.
“We used to have exams that were as hard as today’s ‘A’ levels when I was at school.
They were called ‘O’ levels…”
You’ve presumably sat an A-Level exam then? Or are you just taking the usual bah-humbug line without any evidence?
Well most of the youngsters I see and talk to don’t seem to be able to spell or do basic arithmetic without the use of their laptop.
Exams have been dummed down over the years.
I seems you now need a degree to get a job in Burger King.
Totally agree with Parent of Teens comment.
As an example of mine, a young friend of ours, Harry Reece, who is currently chair of Wem Young Farmers, completed with other members from Wem YF a sponsored walk across Hadrians Wall, coast to coast in aid of cancer research.
I should like to see the whinging adults get off their backsides and do something as worthwhile.
I do have A’ Levels and also have good solid factual reasons to conclude that they are becoming easier.
When I took mine 10 years ago, it was accepted that three A’ Levels were to be taken by all students. Very few gifted students were even allowed the opportunity to take four, and I never heard of anyone taking more! Now four A’ levels is the standard offering.
Another thing, the subtle changes made a few years ago where A levels were made entirely modular. This means that if you fail an exam you have the opportunity to try again, this means its much more difficult to fail completely and much easier to increase the grade artificially (if taken in direct comparison).
Modular changes also means that if a student ‘drops out’ after the first year they are granted an As Level. Previously As levels were a shorter version of the A’ level taken over a 12 month period, they were not part of an A’ level but a separate qualification. So, 10 years ago if you chose to not continue your education, you left with nothing.
So, is the content becoming easier or is the examination structure becoming more lenient to benefit the results tables?
I offer my sincere congratulation to the students that got their results today and apologise if this appears to be negative towards them.
The blame as far as I can see is down to simple and harsh politics. Improved results look good for the respective government, but this can only backfire when people learn to effectively interpret the statistics.
They must have been allowed to use text language - as there are a lot of kids that can’t spell properly. How can they pass an English paper without spelling…
Why so surprised? Education is now a business. The colleges do well out of it, the banks rake in the interest and the government can hide their miserable unemployment figures. Jobs a good un!
Theres a ‘b’ in dumbed Sid.
Every year, year on year impovements in results!
must be evolution!!!
As someone who has taken (and passed) 8 ‘O’ levels, 2 ‘O-A’ levels and 3 ‘A’ levels nearly 30 years ago, I agree with Peter totally. Of course the exams are easier now, that much is totally obvious to me every time I interview a young person for a job. They have A grades in Maths and English, but they can’t add up without a calculator and they certainly can’t spell.
I am also the parent of teens, as such I can see very clearly the work they are required to do, and it is far far easier than it used to be. My children are given very little homework to do, and at the last parents evening we were assured they were both doing exceptionally well, and that the eldest was certain of getting excellent grades in his exams due to the coursework he had already completed !
The standards have been set by adults, yes this is true. Those adults however have a vested interest in the pupils doing well, is it any surprise that year on year they are dumming down the exams. Good results reflect well on the teachers, the schools, the school inspectors, and the Government. Unfortunately it does nothing to help the actual children who are constantly told how wonderful they are, only to walk out into the big wide World and find the pieces of paper they have are virtually useless as they are the same as everyone else.
If the above is ‘bah humbug’, perhaps someone would like to explain how us employers are supposed to choose prospective employees when only 3% fail at A level. Or do we interview them all???
NH - Yes, I sat ‘A’ levels as well as ‘O’ levels, over 30 years ago now, and in ‘proper’ subjects too - physics, maths etc.
In those days they did represent a high standard. Now, all the evidence is that they are getting progressively easier.
And ‘Parent of Teens’ - this isn’t about getting at young adults- I’ve got children too. This is about my concerns that for many years, under a variety of regimes, we have been lowering standards for political ends.
I don’t dispute that many young people will have worked hard for their results, but the fact that 97% of people now pass ‘A’ levels tells me that this is no longer an exam that is capable of separating the genuinely bright from the rest. 25 percent of those who sit their ‘A’ levels now get the top grade - which in itself shows that we are dumbing down.
Many top academic institutions now require further tests to differentiate between the huge numbers of supposed ‘A’ grade students, and a study by the University of Durham indicates that an ‘A’ grade pass now is the equivalent of a ‘C’ grade only 20 years ago. We’ve also seen a pilot of a new ‘A*’ grade to restore the differential that the marking system used to give before the rot set in.
As a result, I do genuinely doubt that some of todays supposed ‘A’ grade ‘A’ level students could achieve the same grade in a 1970s ‘O’ level in the same subjects and I regret that, because I think in lowering the standards for our young people we are short-changing them in the long term.
And Rupert, do you really believe that young people are getting measurably more intelligent with each year? Unlikely from an evolutionary perspective I should have thought. If that were true, then by the time I retire they’ll have developed the ability to communicate using telepathy!
as a bright young lad i was lucky that i excelled at exams, but i know lots of people especially ladies who were brighter than me but did not perform under pressure and thus got less good exam results, i think as such the move to modular degrees and a levels is certainly fairer, you get a longer assessment period not just a snap shot, however modular is sometimes easier because, you gradually ‘bank’ your grades over the year(s) and if you mess up one section you can excel in another and it averages out, i applaud the young pepole of today, and the government who have invested so much in education to make this happen, but i do think for all our sakes we should ensure the standards are vigourous and that a balance is struck between coursework / modular and one off exams, i mean you wouldnt give some one a driving license just becuase they have been doing well in lessons for a while would you? At some point you do have to do a one off test under pressure
i only took and passed O levels when at school 50 years ago in ludlow but i have nothing but praise for those who go on to take A levels and go on to university. A levels have improved each year for the past 26 years, so on this issue anyone who tries to make political points must be hard up for points to score. well done to all our clever students and a hearty floreat salopia to them all. the most important results are record passes in maths science and particularly chemistry. science in the future is alive and well
Devon Salopian, I’m sure no one that posted above has any criticism for the students as it is not their fault that changes in structure and format of gradings has changed.
To prevent all of this when such significant changes such as the modular structure were introduced a few years ago it would have been more beneficial to change the name of the qualification all together.
Looking at it from another perspective the improvement in grades should not really matter so long as students from one year only compete for jobs against students from the same or similar years. The chances of someone my age (late 20’s) competing with an 18 year old is quite unlikely as experience and other qualifications are more likely to be considered.
A’ Levels have traditionally been used for little more than a gateway to university and as all students of the respective year should be of an equal standing (unless we get into different examination board comparisons).
Like I said above, I’m not trying to take anything away from the students but to effectively interpret the statistics we need to know the whole story. I’m pretty sure the content has got no easier, but the course structure and grading system certainly has!
big matty i accept all you say, and the way students has changed over the years, but it must be progress that maths, science and chemistry passes are at an all time high
A-levels ARE getting easier and rather than pretending that they are not why don’t we sort out the issue by either replacing them or improving the existing qualifications?
I took my A-levels about 4 years ago and we already were suffering from the “inflation” of higher grades back then, which only continues to this day. I say suffer because it is no use having a system of qualifications where so many come out with straight As or similar grades. It’s of no use to students or universities.
Merc, I failed then. Sorry
Devon Salopian, I’m reluctant there is any true improvement in the grades due to the fact that when I was studying A’ Level maths, if you failed the exams at the end then it was game over, now if you fail you get other opportunities to take the exam again. When I did mine, if i got a D grade for an exam then I had to accept it, now you could take the exam again to obtain a higher grade. This means that although the student would at a point know the content to the higher level, its not a fair representation of their long term ability to remember, recall and apply their knowledge. Its this reason that the grades although valid are somewhat misleading when you take into account all the information and background on the evolution of the A Level qualification.
What we must accept is that public education in many, if not most Western countries, has failed to do its job. In spite of bags of taxpayers’ money and the latest pedagogy, literacy standards as well as numeracy are low, and as many as 35% of students leaving school do not have the academic skills to obtain worthwhile employment or go on to university or college.
Indeed even those accepted by universities may find themselves in remedial courses in language and even basic arithmetic.
This is a bad situation and educators should be hanging their heads in shame - not gloating over the success of A level achievement when really it has taken 12 long years to get a student to this questionable level and, whatismore, using tens of thousands of taxpayers’ dollars in the process.
Public education has become little more than a public enterprise to provide well paid jobs to adults living in a protected and privileged environment.
Bah-humbug, bah-humbug indeed!
OUR EDUCATION SYSTEM IS THE BEST IN THE WORLD!
When will the public realise that, i’ts not that the exams are getting easier.
THE QUALITY OF OUR EDUCATION IS INCREASING!
Therefore, more hard working young adults are passing their ‘A’ levels.
Tony Lewis,
“Pedagogy , or paedagogy: the art or science of being a teacher. The term generally refers to strategies of instruction, or a style of instruction.”
twit
Dan,
On these forums your name is placed at the top of your posting, you dont need to sign it at the bottom.
Bobby,
A country or state models its public education system on its needs, culture and the local environment. To compare systems on an international basis is very difficult, though there are examinations and tests that try to do this.
Great Britain generally does badly in these tests.
You must admit that the standard of English on this forum is not the best and is an indication of just how poor your education system is. The use of slang, sloppy punctuation, poor grammar and may I ask you what has happened to the lowly apostrophe?
It is missing in places and then pops up where it shouldn’t be!
Obviously there is room for a great deal of improvement in your country’s schools.
Why not make a start by teaching children to read and to write?
Has it ever occurred to any of you that perhaps grades are improving because the standard of teaching in schools is improving? In addition pupils may be working harder as qualifications are now necessary to get a job. 30 years ago children could leave school at 15 with no qualifications and go to work in an industry or become a housewife. Manufacturing industries have declined due to Thatcher’s leadership strategies and thus this is no longer an option for the majority of students. Many young women also, due to changes in the value consensus etc, strive further than a domestic role and in order to achieve this they work hard.
I have just achieved 3 grade As at A-level and worked extremely hard for them. In response to ‘Big Matty’ - 4 A-levels are the norm?! I have never heard of a university giving an offer of 4 A-level grades. In addition only one girl in my year took 4 A-levels, which is very rare. Perhaps you should research your claims further instead of giving an unsupported and weak argument.
Furthermore, the first year in 6th form in which you didn’t have any exams, we have to take our AS levels, which make up half of our overall A-level grade. Thus I for example had to complete 3 exams in the January and 7 in June/July as well as 4 pieces of coursework. Therefore the need to perform highly is present throughout our time in sixth form and unlike members of your generation we do not get a year off.
Perhaps before you present ludicrous arguments in a forum such as this you should carry out your research correctly. Then you may not be shown up by an 18 year old!