The A* level results were out today to the inevitable and entirely predictable refrain about grade inflation…. “When I did A levels in 1732, they were far harder…yada yada yada.”
I am not going to comment on grade inflation, pressure-cooking students to pass exams etc etc….. but I did enjoy this article from The Spectator blog…
The Tories tone down their rhetoric on A-levels
I don’t really need to add anything !
Apart from this quote… Willetts is down with da kids? (Surely not? – Ed)
Speaking this morning about standards, David Willetts said:
“I really do hate that debate … Young people work incredibly hard … I think we should stop being down on young people and we should celebrate what they achieve.”[Come off it…. not even a hoodie flicking V signs is going to be taken in by such a wonderfully paternal and patronising statement]
oh come on charon! willetts understands young people. after all, he has eaten a great many of them.
… er … why is he called “two brains”? He is a politician after all !!
SW – And pronounced them quite delicious but possibly would be improved with a few subtle spices…
Isn’t all the fuss about ‘grade inflation’ the product of awarding grades by mark achieved as opposed to allocating a grade to a certain percentage of candidates? Why is it assumed in certain circles (aka D Willets) that the latter is self evidently ‘better’ and less compromised etc than the former?
There is certainly grade inflation at lower levels in education, though I can’t comment re A levels. But from far-too-long experience I think it’s all tosh, because either you don’t really know exactly what to test and how, or if you do, it’s for a body of knowledge that’s probably going to be irrelevant. Human creativity is infinite – the Chinese had a saying, “Man is greater than anything he produces”. Once the b*gg*rs can read, write and reckon up the rest is down to serendipity and initiative, which is why so many top entrepreneurs either didn’t go to university or if they did they used the time to develop contacts.