Okehampton exam results break records - again!
By DickWilson | Thursday, August 25, 2011, 11:58
Well, well. Another record crop of exam results in Okehampton (and Devon and England). Now there's a surprise! The whole business is getting like the emperor's new clothes. You don't need to have taken 'O' or 'A' levels in the 60s or 70s (or even be a grumpy old man) to know that the present system is quite different and that standards have changed dramatically, devaluing the very worth of these exams.
On the one hand we read about this educational miracle, while on the next page of the newspaper employers are bemoaning the low levels of literacy not just of school leavers but of university graduates. Could it just be that successive governments have allowed education to be dumbed down in order to try and convince voters with these annual statistics that the system is ever improving?
It's always been the case that the easiest way to improve grades is to lower the threshold mark for each grade. (In the 60s the same percentage were allowed to pass each year - which they achieved by varying the pass mark.)
Please don't be offended if you've just had your results - As or GCSEs - the fault is in the system, not yours: I'm sure you worked hard for your grades. But in my opinion the standards of today's exams are infinitely lower than those in the past, and as has been reported, many subjects really shouldn't qualify as serious academic qualifications at all.
That might just put the cat among the proverbial pigeons. What does anyone else think?
Comments
Don't get me wrong AnnieLeela. I'm not knocking Okehampton College. I, too, have reason to be very grateful for the good work done there. It's the whole system which needs upgrading - and not by politicians but by teachers. Everything now is about scores and league tables, which stop schools giving kids a proper education and forces them to train their pupils to pass exams - two very different things. Here's just two articles written today... http://tinyurl.com/3h3b3q4 http://tinyurl.com/3tgqf46
By DickWilson at 11:30 on 26/08/11
ReportI agree with everything you have said AnnieLeela, and it makes me so angry when these narrow minded, media influenced individuals take away, and insult the hard work that our youngsters put into achieving these well deserved grades. If Dickwilson would like to put his theory to the test and go and sit a few of these A levels and GCSE then he may see how misleading his opinion and the media hype is.
By Debz97 at 22:36 on 25/08/11
ReportHow could you possibly know this - have you personally compared exams each year over the years or just made some very broad assumptions? Life has changed so much - why dismiss non-academic topics when today's generation need different skills to enter the job market. I employed the brightest graduates in Europe in my previous career and we weren't looking for academics - we were looking for people who could work well in teams, could apply their intelligence across a range of jobs within our company and across the globe, who were technically competent - not people who hid behind their academic brilliance. I am so proud of Okehampton College and the results they achieve across the broad range of children who attend this very large school. My daughter has had great results today - the standards she achieves in, for example writing and analytical skills, compared to my 1970s O-level capability, far outstretch what I and my friends achieved then. In addition she and all her friends are confident, polite, hard working and can operate six different technical gadgets at once - and no, they don't hide behind a virtual world either - they are out and about in the world talking face to face as well as chatting over Facebook etc. They are so positive about what life has to offer that articles like your's, Dick, make me very cross indeed! Cynicism is not necessary when this generation are really going to struggle to find interesting careers in the UK to match their talents and abilities - shame on you!
By AnnieLeela at 21:59 on 25/08/11
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