55% gets you an A grade in British schools

[Eldorado]

"Details of A-level grade boundaries for all papers set by two exam boards have been leaked on social media a day before the results are published.

"The documents reveal that A-level maths candidates needed little more than half marks to get a grade A in papers set by both Pearson/Edexcel and OCR.

"Exam boards send marking schemes to schools in confidence ahead of the results to help them prepare students."

Full report at the BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-49347539

"Students who got almost half of the answers wrong in their Maths A-level this summer will get a grade A, it has emerged."

At the UK Telegraph (pay-walled premium content) : https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/08/14/first-ever-level-getting-almost-half-answers-wrong-will-get/

And at the UK Daily Mail: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7356413/Just-55-needed-pass-level-maths-year-leaked-documents-show.html

Edited August 14, 2019 by Eldorado
fix link

[Commander CMG]

The future of the country is looking pretty "THICK"... 

[L.A.T.1961]

Allowing competition among exam boards for business from schools is not a good way to improve standards. 

[Setton]

It doesn't mean the students are thick. It means the exam was too hard. Exam boards don't just lower the grade boundaries however they like. It depends on how students achieve. E. G. Only top 20% get As. If that means an A is 55%, the exam was too hard. 

This is what happens when an idiotic government thinks the best way to raise standards is just to make exams harder. You get the exact same kids at the end but with zero confidence. 

Edited August 14, 2019 by Setton

[freetoroam]

1 hour ago, Setton said:

It doesn't mean the students are thick. It means the exam was too hard.

I am not sure about that. We get a lot of students through our doors at work for work placements, and simple maths seems to be a challenge for many of them. 

Unless they are taking maths as a subject, many can not see the point in it, and I will quote what one said "I have a calculator on my phone". I suppose he had a point, but that was not the point.

[Setton]

2 minutes ago, freetoroam said:

I am not sure about that.

You might not believe it but that doesn't change how exams work. 

Quote

We get a lot of students through our doors at work for work placements, and simple maths seems to be a challenge for many of them. Unless they are taking maths as a subject, many can not see the point in it, and I will quote what one said "I have a calculator on my phone". I suppose he had a point, but that was not the point.

So what's your point? Because you work with people who aren't good at maths, must mean all young people are incapable? 

I'd love to give you a current A level maths paper. Or even GCSE. 

[freetoroam]

Just now, Setton said:

So what's your point? Because you work with people who aren't good at maths, must mean all young people are incapable? 

I'd love to give you a current A level maths paper. Or even GCSE. 

Actually a lot of the young people are capable, my point is a lot can not be bothered or see the point in it as - they have calculators.

Get them on a till and they have no problems at all, but there is no maths involved, until.a customer gives the odd change with a note after the assistant has put the amount into the til and that is where the lack of basic maths comes out. Many can not work out that if the sale came to £5.45 and the customer gives them £10 and then offers 45p after £10 was inputted, that it is simply £5 change. 

One thing which is for sure, many rely on their phones and a few do not get that they can not bring their phones to the shop floor. 

 

[freetoroam]

18 minutes ago, Setton said:

I'd love to give you a current A level maths paper. Or even GCSE. 

I would be interested in seeing one, to see how it has changed from my exam days.

Do they still have the times tables in schools? 

[Scholar4Truth]

I have a feeling the USA will soon go that way. We already have a problem with the no child left behind, and we even give kids certificates of completion when they leave High School instead of a diploma.

[Commander CMG]

Half of UK children can’t identify stinging nettles, study finds....  Link

THICK.... 

[freetoroam]

16 minutes ago, Iilaa'mpuul'xem said:

Half of UK children can’t identify stinging nettles, study finds....  Link

THICK.... 

I put the blame on the parents. 

Quote

A quarter of parents say their children have little to no interest in the natural world and one in three said spending too much time sitting in front of a screen was to blame, according to the study.

Here we go ^^^.

How about taking the child outside  instead of letting them.sit infront of the tv?  

Parents works in the past too, so working is no excuse. Wonder how many of the parents in the study were full time workers? 

Many children are allowed to spend hours on end on their computers because it gets them out of the patents way.

Quote

One in four children also don't know what a badger or robin looks like, according to researchers who showed pictures of British wildlife and plants to 1,000 children between the age of five and 16.

?

I grew up in south London and yet as kids we still knew about wild life, but my parents took me places and bought me books. 

As kids we did not have 100's of tv channels or the internet, we made our own entertainment, much of it outside. 

Edited August 14, 2019 by freetoroam

[Commander CMG]

8 minutes ago, freetoroam said:

I put the blame on the parents. 

There is no enthusiasm in todays children to hit the woods, you can't blame the parents, my parents never took me out, having said that, I was one of the few kids that would get up in the morning and spend my day in the woods eating what I caught. 

Kids today are lazy, lack basic common sense. 

[Gwynbleidd]

4 hours ago, Iilaa'mpuul'xem said:

There is no enthusiasm in todays children to hit the woods, you can't blame the parents, my parents never took me out, having said that, I was one of the few kids that would get up in the morning and spend my day in the woods eating what I caught. 

Kids today are lazy, lack basic common sense. 

I've seen a lot of parents today use a tech gadget of some kind as entertainment for their kids.  I see Mum's in shopping centres with their toddlers in strollers holding a phone and pressing buttons.  Admittedly, we started our kids on laptops at 2, but that was to teach them eye/hand coordination, and it was monitored.  But that said, in the city, they're scared to go down to the local park to play by themselves (alone not with each other) as the fear of pedophiles has been drilled into them. 

However, at our other property about an hour away, we have a place where there's a stream with fresh water, trout fishing, lots of trees, forests, sticks and dirt to play with and they have a ball.  I feel bad for kids now as parent's want to keep them safe, but social media scares the living daylights out of people for just about anything and it spreads like wildfire.  Before you know it, everyone's phobic about something. 

I used to play in a creek near my home and catch tadpoles in a container.  Gosh they were fun times.  But today, unless you live somewhere rural, it's unheard of.  I know I do it myself sometimes, wrapping them up in cotton wool to protect them.  It's true as they won't learn any common sense that way and laziness is definitely an issue.  Personally I think it's because they haven't gone out and been let to run about learning things on their own.  Sad times we're living in. 

[Gwynbleidd]

5 hours ago, freetoroam said:

I would be interested in seeing one, to see how it has changed from my exam days.

Do they still have the times tables in schools? 

LOL yes they do!  But I teach my kids the old fashioned way by reciting them till they learn them off by heart.  The weird way they teach kids maths now does my head in.  I don't get it.   

[Gwynbleidd]

9 hours ago, Iilaa'mpuul'xem said:

The future of the country is looking pretty "THICK"... 

That totally made me think of that movie Idiocracy from 2006.  If you haven't seen it, check the trailer here (I found one in HD)

Plus the worst part is, the Director feels like it's actually come true now and basically turned his original movie into a documentary!  

https://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/entry/idiocracy-writer-film-came-true_n_56ce7692e4b03260bf75856e

Quote

'Idiocracy' Writer Says Satirical Film About Dumbed-Down America Has Become A 'Documentary'

When Joe awakens from 500 years of cryogenic sleep, he enters a world of total and utter idiocy. Intellectual curiosity is dead, as is social responsibility. “The intelligent,” the narrator explains, have become an “endangered species.”

This was the plot of the 2006 cult comedy “Idiocracy,” a satirical movie that poked fun at an imagined dystopian version of America, where everyone -- including lawmakers and government officials -- were morons. But this week, the film’s writer said the world of “Idiocracy” had become all too real.

“I never expected 'Idiocracy' to become a documentary,” Etan Cohen, who co-wrote the film, posted on Twitter on Wednesday.

“I thought the worst thing that would come true was everyone wearing Crocs,” Cohen added.

 

It has an awesome cast too.  Check it out here on IMDB.  

Edited August 15, 2019 by pixiii

[Imaginarynumber1]

5 hours ago, Scholar4Truth said:

I have a feeling the USA will soon go that way. We already have a problem with the no child left behind, and we even give kids certificates of completion when they leave High School instead of a diploma.

Yeah, but a certificate says you completed high school without meeting the qualifications for graduation. It is not a substitute for a diploma and does confer the same advantages. 

['Walt' E. Kurtz]

9 hours ago, Iilaa'mpuul'xem said:

Half of UK children can’t identify stinging nettles, study finds....  Link

THICK.... 

Thick as a brick

[Gwynbleidd]

Do you remember when Jamie Oliver started that show on doing the school lunches at British schools?  I'm not sure what it began filming or what area, but I remember watching it and being shocked as hell because some kids had no idea what certain vegetables where when he held one up.  It was things like zucchini's or broccoli, or cauliflower, or tomatos or onions.  Really everyday type vegetables.  It made me wonder what on earth their parents were dishing them up.  Probably chicken nuggets if I remember what Jamie Oliver said back then.  What is happening to people?  Idiocracy I tell you!  

Healthy food = Brain Power  

Edited August 15, 2019 by pixiii

[ExpandMyMind]

5 minutes ago, pixiii said:

Do you remember when Jamie Oliver started that show on doing the school lunches at British schools?  I'm not sure what it began filming or what area, but I remember watching it and being shocked as hell because some kids had no idea what certain vegetables where when he held one up.  It was things like zucchini's or broccoli, or cauliflower, or tomatos or onions.  Really everyday type vegetables.  It made me wonder what on earth their parents were dishing them up.  Probably chicken nuggets if I remember what Jamie Oliver said back then.  What is happening to people?  Idiocracy I tell you!  

What's a vegetable?

[Tatetopa]

I don't know if it relates, but one of my  hardest physics tests in college was take home, use as much time as you want, use any reference books you want. There were only 3 problems.  Top grade in the class was in the mid 40%'s.  He said he spent about 50 hours. I got just over 30%, partial credit for 2 or the three problems.  Good thing I showed my work.  I started off on the right path anyway.

It is hard to gauge the difficulty of a test unless you see all of the scores.

 

 

[RoofGardener]

12 hours ago, Setton said:

It doesn't mean the students are thick. It means the exam was too hard. Exam boards don't just lower the grade boundaries however they like. It depends on how students achieve. E. G. Only top 20% get As. If that means an A is 55%, the exam was too hard. 

This is what happens when an idiotic government thinks the best way to raise standards is just to make exams harder. You get the exact same kids at the end but with zero confidence. 

I have my doubts about that, @Setton. There was a study done some time ago comparing current A level exams with those from the 1980's. Guess what... the modern exams where MUCH easier, and you STILL only needed a 60% pass (or thereabouts) to get an "A". In the 1980's, it was closer to 75%. So it is a double-whammy. 

[RAyMO]

41 minutes ago, ExpandMyMind said:

What's a vegetable?

When I was young - many moons ago. I had difficulties accepting Tomatoes were fruit. After all they were on the same plate as my salad, and never in the dessert bowl. But school told me they were a fruit. 

So I learned Tomatoes  = Fruit.

Then along comes my dog - who will eat anything, except fruit - never went to school a day in her life, but correctly classifies tomatoes as fruit and thus avoids at all costs.

weirdly it irked me that she 'got it' so easily.

[Gwynbleidd]

25 minutes ago, RoofGardener said:

I have my doubts about that, @Setton. There was a study done some time ago comparing current A level exams with those from the 1980's. Guess what... the modern exams where MUCH easier, and you STILL only needed a 60% pass (or thereabouts) to get an "A". In the 1980's, it was closer to 75%. So it is a double-whammy. 

I can only speak for my eldest son who is currently in Year 7 (first year of High School) and to get an A here it's got to be 90% or higher.  50% is the C or Competent Grading.  B is 70% to 89% and of course D is less than 50%.  It's all over the place here though, according to which school they go to.  My younger son who is only in Year 3 has strange grading where they're either competent or not competent.  No in between.  Then they show on some line where they are with their own knowledge in relation to other kids.  They do some strange annual testing called NAPLAN to compare schools and how they rate, smarter kids go to such and such and dumber kids attend such and such etc.  It's really silly imo and puts a lot of stress on the children.

[Duke Wellington]

14 hours ago, Eldorado said:

"Details of A-level grade boundaries for all papers set by two exam boards have been leaked on social media a day before the results are published.

"The documents reveal that A-level maths candidates needed little more than half marks to get a grade A in papers set by both Pearson/Edexcel and OCR.

"Exam boards send marking schemes to schools in confidence ahead of the results to help them prepare students."

Full report at the BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-49347539

"Students who got almost half of the answers wrong in their Maths A-level this summer will get a grade A, it has emerged."

At the UK Telegraph (pay-walled premium content) : https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/08/14/first-ever-level-getting-almost-half-answers-wrong-will-get/

And at the UK Daily Mail: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7356413/Just-55-needed-pass-level-maths-year-leaked-documents-show.html

Thats not right.

When I was a young man most universities in the UK required 70% for a first class pass, and with some elitist ones it was 85%. Are we going to water that down too? If so then how can my grades be compared to those gained by a young whippersnapper?

Did they get their 1st off 55%? Thats pathetic, thats barely a pass.

[itsnotoutthere]

Seems the 'Selfie generation' need a helping hand.

Actually it's quite a clever scam. First you make it easier for hundreds of thousands of kids to get into university, that means hundreds of thousands owing billions of pounds to government for the rest of their lives. My daughter & most of her friends (now teachers) owe about £55,000 each. (thats before they even start to think about a mortgage).

 

Edited August 15, 2019 by itsnotoutthere