6th August 2010 9:00
By Harriet Boulding
As a private tutor it is very important to keep informed as to changes in the exam system and university requirements. These days it seems that new initiatives and trends are emerging all the time. Once, 3 A grades was enough to gain a place at a top university, and now we are looking for students to achieve A* grades. In times past a gap year was an advantage, but now increasing numbers of students fewer places makes this rite of passage a risky strategy.
A new reform in the works at the moment is Michael Gove’s plans to reform A’levels in order to make them tougher and more traditional. These have been met with mixed reactions. Interestingly, top universities have expressed concerns that the new-old A levels will damage participation from student from disadvantaged backgrounds. Now, this is something of a surprise to tutors of subjects such as English and Sociology who were welcoming the thought of A’levels which would allow students to express themselves rather than be constrained by narrow assessment objectives.
However, tutors of subjects such as maths and science are agreeing with universities who say that more difficult A’levels will undo much of the progress that has been made in encouraging pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds that they can study maths and science at A’level. Geoff Parks, head of Admissions at Cambridge University, commented that the leading institution had seen a huge surge in applications from students from disadvantaged backgrounds, which he puts down to the encouragement they got from increasing number of A grades since the As system was introduced.
From a tutor’s point of view, whilst we want students to feel encouraged, we also want them to be prepared for the rigour of a university course. I also have some reservations about being presented with 2 options in this debate; either we dumb down courses or we don’t encourage applications from disadvantaged students. I do not believe that this is a choice that the government or universities have to make. It is necessary to find a midway between the current system and the system proposed by the government if we are to avoid doing a real disservice to our universities and our students entering higher education.