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So today was A-level results day and for the first time in 32 years pass rate are down.

Got A's in Biology and Maths, B in Chemistry and a b in AS Physics, so how did the rest of you Dakkanaughts do?

Overall pass rate is down but apparently the rate of A* grades is up. IDK what that means.

My daughter took Japanese part 2 as a single. We haven't bothered to ring the school and will wait for the certificate to be posted. It isn't her final year so it is nothing crucial.

A in History and General Studies, B in English Lit and D in physics but I was never going to pursue that anyway.

What's interesting is that results are apparently 'down' but the are a record number of people being granted Uni places. All peer to them, of course, but the numbers don't really add up.

Congratulations to anyone on here that completed A-levels this year and for luck to those doing them now.

 gianlucafiorentini123 wrote:
So today was A-level results day and for the first time in 32 years pass rate are down.

Got A's in Biology and Maths, B in Chemistry and a b in AS Physics, so how did the rest of you Dakkanaughts do?

Every other Dakkanaut is an unqualified labourer, unable to hold down a 'proper jon' due to a plastic crack addiction.

 Kilkrazy wrote:
Overall pass rate is down but apparently the rate of A* grades is up. IDK what that means.

My daughter took Japanese part 2 as a single. We haven't bothered to ring the school and will wait for the certificate to be posted. It isn't her final year so it is nothing crucial.

Can you clarify, what is this?

 Frazzled wrote:

 Kilkrazy wrote:
Overall pass rate is down but apparently the rate of A* grades is up. IDK what that means.

My daughter took Japanese part 2 as a single. We haven't bothered to ring the school and will wait for the certificate to be posted. It isn't her final year so it is nothing crucial.

Can you clarify, what is this?

The smart get smarter the dumb get dumber?
(Japanese as an A Level sounds intense)

Yeah what is this anyway?

 hotsauceman1 wrote:
Yeah what is this anyway?

What we're saying is, what is A Level Results Day?

Yeah, Is it the thing that cause all those Japanese students to commit suicide?

 Kilkrazy wrote:
Overall pass rate is down but apparently the rate of A* grades is up. IDK what that means.

Wouldn't that imply that the disparity between "really good" and "really bad" is widening and that the middle-ground is somehow left out? Like an academic version of "rich get richer, poor get poorer, what is happening to the middle-class?"

 Frazzled wrote:

 hotsauceman1 wrote:
Yeah what is this anyway?

What we're saying is, what is A Level Results Day?

A levels are the final qualifications you undertake in highschool. They were traditionally made up of two parts, an "AS" which was done at age 17, and an "A2" which was done at 18.

Results day is when the results are given to the students. Typically for 18 year olds it is when they find out if they got the grades for the university they applied to.

They have now been changed so upcoming students have to pick at 16 whether they will do the full 2 year qualification (to get an "A level") or if they will do the 1 year course to get an AS level as they are being changed from modular examinations to end of course examinations.

 SilverMK2 wrote:

 Frazzled wrote:

 hotsauceman1 wrote:
Yeah what is this anyway?

What we're saying is, what is A Level Results Day?

A levels are the final qualifications you undertake in highschool. They were traditionally made up of two parts, an "AS" which was done at age 17, and an "A2" which was done at 18.

Results day is when the results are given to the students. Typically for 18 year olds it is when they find out if they got the grades for the university they applied to.

They have now been changed so upcoming students have to pick at 16 whether they will do the full 2 year qualification (to get an "A level") or if they will do the 1 year course to get an AS level as they are being changed from modular examinations to end of course examinations.

So when people say "I got an A-level in English" will they major in English when they get to the university?

I guess never taking any tests and going straight to Jr College I never knew about it.

 d-usa wrote:

 SilverMK2 wrote:

 Frazzled wrote:

 hotsauceman1 wrote:
Yeah what is this anyway?

What we're saying is, what is A Level Results Day?

A levels are the final qualifications you undertake in highschool. They were traditionally made up of two parts, an "AS" which was done at age 17, and an "A2" which was done at 18.

Results day is when the results are given to the students. Typically for 18 year olds it is when they find out if they got the grades for the university they applied to.

They have now been changed so upcoming students have to pick at 16 whether they will do the full 2 year qualification (to get an "A level") or if they will do the 1 year course to get an AS level as they are being changed from modular examinations to end of course examinations.

So when people say "I got an A-level in English" will they major in English when they get to the university?

Not always. As you have to be in education until 18 in the UK many people do A levels (or other courses/qualifications such as BTEC) with no intention of going to university.

A levels are also graded (with A* being the highest and I think G the lowest (with U being a fail)) - if applying to university, you will be given a certain set of grades to achieve, possibly in certain subjects.

For example, I have A levels in maths, physics and biology, and AS levels in chemistry and IT. The entry requirements for the university course I applied for (biomedical engineering) was ABB, with those grades being in maths and a science. Because of the mix of subjects I was doing, my actual offer was BBB - this was because my subjects were a good fit for the course so they lowered the entry requirements in my case to make it easier for me to get accepted onto the course.

Other subjects will have a grade requirement but may not specify any subjects. Picking something random and entirely making up the details: a degree in politics may require 3 C's in any subject, while a degree in English may require 3 C's with at least one C in English literature or English language.

Also, UK universities do not have major and minors - you just do everything relating to your main degree area. Some institutes do offer dual degrees, but they are typically fixed subjects at the time of application (such as business and French, management and economics, etc).

So, think "OWLs", and we've got it about right, eh?

So I was looking at some of the A-Level physics papers just now and I have to say, I am shocked at how terrible the paper is, your universities actually accept people having done this type of examination?
There is virtually no mathematics in a physics paper, this is quite disappointing Britain, disappointing indeed

Still if you got good grades in other subjects, good on you.

 Krellnus wrote:
So I was looking at some of the A-Level physics papers just now and I have to say, I am shocked at how terrible the paper is, your universities actually accept people having done this type of examination?
There is virtually no mathematics in a physics paper, this is quite disappointing Britain, disappointing indeed

Still if you got good grades in other subjects, good on you.

It might depend on which physics paper you lool at - as the course is modular some sections will have more maths than others.

But no, physics does not have loads of maths in it. There is (or at least when I did it many moons ago) no calculus for example.

 Frazzled wrote:

 Kilkrazy wrote:
Overall pass rate is down but apparently the rate of A* grades is up. IDK what that means.

My daughter took Japanese part 2 as a single. We haven't bothered to ring the school and will wait for the certificate to be posted. It isn't her final year so it is nothing crucial.

Can you clarify, what is this?

A Levels currently are done in two parts in following years at the age of 17 and 18 usually, and you take three of four of them to get into university.

She is only 14 and took Japanese last year and this, and no other exams. Being bilingual it is easy for her. The universities won't count it as part of her overall points score, but it will look nice on the CV in the long term.

Obviously it is much easier to take one A level in a year than three or four.

 SilverMK2 wrote:

 Krellnus wrote:
So I was looking at some of the A-Level physics papers just now and I have to say, I am shocked at how terrible the paper is, your universities actually accept people having done this type of examination?
There is virtually no mathematics in a physics paper, this is quite disappointing Britain, disappointing indeed

Still if you got good grades in other subjects, good on you.

It might depend on which physics paper you lool at - as the course is modular some sections will have more maths than others.

But no, physics does not have loads of maths in it. There is (or at least when I did it many moons ago) no calculus for example.

But then how are they supposed to be prepared for the real deal as it were in university? Hell in my final examination in high school, I needed basic calculus for projectile motion for example.

 Paradigm wrote:

What's interesting is that results are apparently 'down' but the are a record number of people being granted Uni places. All peer to them, of course, but the numbers don't really add up.

That's because the University sector has become a money-spinning industry filled with management lobbying to get as many students in as possible. There's more middle/upper management on vast salariesthan ever before, 123 universities where the bottom 40 are a waste of space that get few of their graduates jobs, fewer and fewer academic staff, etc, etc.

Ever since New Labour aimed to get 50% of the population to University, the result has been the birth of an education industry that contributes little to the economy in exchange for a vast drag on the exchequer. The University sector is now a financially voracious self-perpetuating monster, and as combating it would be political suicide, nobody bothers. So everyone goes to University regardless of whether their results are any good, and whether or not they actually have any capabilities in that direction.

To illustrate my point, my older brother went to London South Bank university (4th worst university in the country) to do a degree in 'Arts Management'. He'd gotten a single D at A level. He graduated three years later with a worthless 2:2 in a mostly imaginary subject, at the cost of about £14,000 solely to the public purse, and a further £21,000 to himself in debt which he'll probably never repay (which means the public will cover it).

His footsteps will be followed this year by many, many thousands of people.

 Krellnus wrote:
But then how are they supposed to be prepared for the real deal as it were in university? Hell in my final examination in high school, I needed basic calculus for projectile motion for example.

That kind of "calculus" is included - I was referring to actual calculus with differentiation and integration. Projectiles can use VUSAT and energy equations to describe motion where the differentiation is essentially already done in the terms used.

And my definition of "loads of maths" is probably skewed by quite a number of years at various institutions studying engineering

But to go on from there, typically the first year of many degrees (especially scientific) has elements of "this is what you have to know in order to do this degree" style courses. For example, as I progressed through my engineering degree I had a number of "maths for engineers" courses run by people from the maths department. These courses went from elementary maths (fractions, percentages, algebra) through calculus and other specialised maths typically found in electrical, mechanical and systems engineering. I am sure that if I were doing a maths degree this would have all been done within the first few months of the degree as a higher level of mathematical ability would be expected.

 SilverMK2 wrote:

 Krellnus wrote:
But then how are they supposed to be prepared for the real deal as it were in university? Hell in my final examination in high school, I needed basic calculus for projectile motion for example.

That kind of "calculus" is included - I was referring to actual calculus with differentiation and integration. Projectiles can use VUSAT and energy equations to describe motion where the differentiation is essentially already done in the terms used.

I was referring to actual calculus with integration and differentiation, we were basically told, here is a projectile, launched at angle x with some initial velocity v, we then had to use calculus and algebra to determine things like, range, time of flight, derive an equation acceleration over the course of the flight, etc

 SilverMK2 wrote:
And my definition of "loads of maths" is probably skewed by quite a number of years at various institutions studying engineering

But to go on from there, typically the first year of many degrees (especially scientific) has elements of "this is what you have to know in order to do this degree" style courses. For example, as I progressed through my engineering degree I had a number of "maths for engineers" courses run by people from the maths department. These courses went from elementary maths (fractions, percentages, algebra) through calculus and other specialised maths typically found in electrical, mechanical and systems engineering. I am sure that if I were doing a maths degree this would have all been done within the first few months of the degree as a higher level of mathematical ability would be expected.

Yeah I'm doing a B.Sc with a mathematics major and a stats sub-major, so a high-school maths textbook probably has no maths compared to what am, have been and will be doing

I will be honest, in my first year I did kinda find what you are saying, this was especially prominent in the two physics units I did where instead of using calculus the lecturer just derived it algebraicilly for us unless absolutely necessary which I found to a rather roundabout way of doing when the calculus equivalent is just snapping your fingers in comparison, maybe I'm being a bit harsh, but when you are getting 2 marks in a paper for things like "State Hooke's Law" I'm not very impressed tbh.

A* in Maths (full A-level), A in D.T., Physics, Chemistry and General Studies (all AS, doing the A2 next year, as well as Further Maths A-level). I'm happy with that.

As for physics, there's quite a lot of maths in the forces and motion section, but it's basically everything up to differentiation and integration. We do some work on differential equations this year when we learn about capacitors, but most universities have a compulsory maths course in their first year for physics, to make up for the lack of it the A-level.

 Ketara wrote:
That's because the University sector has become a money-spinning industry filled with management lobbying to get as many students in as possible. There's more middle/upper management on vast salariesthan ever before, 123 universities where the bottom 40 are a waste of space that get few of their graduates jobs, fewer and fewer academic staff, etc, etc.

Ever since New Labour aimed to get 50% of the population to University, the result has been the birth of an education industry that contributes little to the economy in exchange for a vast drag on the exchequer. The University sector is now a financially voracious self-perpetuating monster, and as combating it would be political suicide, nobody bothers. So everyone goes to University regardless of whether their results are any good, and whether or not they actually have any capabilities in that direction.

To illustrate my point, my older brother went to London South Bank university (4th worst university in the country) to do a degree in 'Arts Management'. He'd gotten a single D at A level. He graduated three years later with a worthless 2:2 in a mostly imaginary subject, at the cost of about £14,000 solely to the public purse, and a further £21,000 to himself in debt which he'll probably never repay (which means the public will cover it).

His footsteps will be followed this year by many, many thousands of people.

As a junior college student aspiring to transfer to a 4-year College someday and not yet having an idea of what I want to major in, this is depressing to read. ;_;

Crazy_Carnifex wrote:So, think "OWLs", and we've got it about right, eh?

More like NEWTs, I believe. GCSEs would equate to OWLs.

-Shrike- wrote:A* in Maths (full A-level), A in D.T., Physics, Chemistry and General Studies (all AS, doing the A2 next year, as well as Further Maths A-level). I'm happy with that.

As for physics, there's quite a lot of maths in the forces and motion section, but it's basically everything up to differentiation and integration. We do some work on differential equations this year when we learn about capacitors, but most universities have a compulsory maths course in their first year for physics, to make up for the lack of it the A-level.

Congratulations, those are excellent grades!

There will be a good degree more maths in the physics next year (assuming you're on OCR?) but nothing you can't handle if you're doing Further and have done well in Maths. There are some elements of the theory stuff, though, that will meet your brain and tear your soul. Capacitance and some of the astrophysics can be a nightmare.

 BlaxicanX wrote:


As a junior college student aspiring to transfer to a 4-year College someday and not yet having an idea of what I want to major in, this is depressing to read. ;_;

I believe the situation is somewhat different over in the US. Worse in some ways, better in others.

Over here in Britain, the last Tory Government under John Major rebranded all the Polytechnical Colleges (which always used to focus on more vocational courses like teacher training and various industrial qualifications) as Universities. This had the immediate effect that whilst there were twice as many Universities, some of them were geared up extensively for academia, and some of them were only geared up for vocational/practical qualifications.

It could be argued that Thatcher's Government(back in the eighties) made the polytechnics obsolete by pure virtue of the fact that she shut down a lot of heavy industry and production in this country (thus rendering many of the polytechnic qualifications redundant). Alternatively, you could pin it on the emergence of China and the rest of the major economic industrial powers in Asia undercutting us and killing off our production sector (thus forcing us to restructure around services and banking). Whichever position you take though, the fact remains that if people aren't in the services/financial sector these days, there's simply not enough work around of other types, meaning the polytechnics demise in their previous format was already almost guaranteed.

As a result, Labour subsequently shoved everyone into going to University as an alternative (50% of the population was the target), reasoning that people who went to University at the time generally got well-paid jobs, therefore if everyone went to University, everyone would get well paid jobs(social mobility aspects aside). Unfortunately, this wonderful piece of logic ignored the fact that there are only a finite number of well-paid graduate jobs around, and if you flood the market with poorly educated graduates, you just end up with a lot of unemployed poorly educated graduates, or poorly educated graduates working for a pittance in jobs that do not need degrees.

The result being that if you went to Oxbridge, you're sorted. If you went to a Russell Group (or similarly ranked) University, it's reasonably easy to get a job (as they network intensively). If you went to a Redbrick or Plate Glass University, you can usually nail a good job with a first, or a mediocre penpushing graduate job with a 2:1. If you did well at a good ex-polytechnic, you might be able to score one of these mediocre jobs if you push hard enough for long enough, but if you got a bad grade or went to a bad polytechnic, your qualification is usually worthless, and cost the country thirty thousand pounds to boot.

Such a waste of time and money on everybody's part.

 Krellnus wrote:
I was referring to actual calculus with integration and differentiation, we were basically told, here is a projectile, launched at angle x with some initial velocity v, we then had to use calculus and algebra to determine things like, range, time of flight, derive an equation acceleration over the course of the flight, etc

All of which can be done without calculus except perhaps the acceleration over the course of flight, unless you work out acceleration at several points and then derive an equation to fit the acceleration at each time t

I will be honest, in my first year I did kinda find what you are saying, this was especially prominent in the two physics units I did where instead of using calculus the lecturer just derived it algebraicilly for us unless absolutely necessary which I found to a rather roundabout way of doing when the calculus equivalent is just snapping your fingers in comparison, maybe I'm being a bit harsh, but when you are getting 2 marks in a paper for things like "State Hooke's Law" I'm not very impressed tbh.

It is moving to application of knowledge rather than recall now both at university and high school level.

This really shows how behind the US Highschool system really is..

We catch up at university level, but you only took courses like Calculus and Physics if you really wanted to. Even then, they don't really prepare you as well for the Uni versions.

 Ketara wrote:

 BlaxicanX wrote:


As a junior college student aspiring to transfer to a 4-year College someday and not yet having an idea of what I want to major in, this is depressing to read. ;_;

I believe the situation is somewhat different over in the US. Worse in some ways, better in others.

...
...

Such a waste of time and money on everybody's part.

I completely agree with the above.

In happier news, my daughter got an A for Japanese.

 Kilkrazy wrote:


I completely agree with the above.

In happier news, my daughter got an A for Japanese.

Well done there! You must be proud.