17th June 2010 9:00
By Blue Tutors
One of the main problems for students when starting a new qualification is the jump in level. Obviously students are used to studying in a particular way, and answering questions at a particular level, and it can take some time to adjust when asked to become more sophisticated when answering a question, or go into more depth.
When is this effect at its worst? It always used to be more true between GCSEs and A-levels, and still is to some extent. Students are generally asked to work more quickly, and the ideas involved do require an increased maturity, and sometimes a different approach. However, over time the gap between GCSEs and A-levels has become less of a shock. This could be seen as a good thing, if we had worked hard to streamline the transition and help students to adjust more quickly, without detriment to the qualifications themselves, but unfortunately this isn’t the case.
The content of most A-levels hasn’t changed, but the exams have. The difference is quite subtle to the casual observer, but when looking more closely at what each student is asked to do it becomes clear that the existing exams are more leading; they hold students’ hands and take them through each part of a question, rather than genuinely testing understanding.
An obvious problem with this is that A-level students aren’t at the same level they were at in the past, and this creates problems as soon as they reach university. Well, we say university, it actually creates problems for those students reaching the upper tiers of university. The universities with the lowest entry requirements will cater for students who didn’t perform so well, but for others the transition between A-levels and a degree level of study is much more difficult than it is between GCSEs and A-levels.
Is there a solution? Well English students don’t have to look very far to find a system which handles the transition issue in a much better way. In Scotland students take Standard grades (similar to GCSEs), Highers (similar to A-levels, but probably slightly easier, a bit like an AS-level), and have the option of studying Advanced Highers between Highers and University. These Advanced Highers take students beyond the level of academic ability needed for A-levels, and provide an excellent bridge between school and university. Scottish students have the choice whether to study Advanced Highers or not, and generally choose to if they’re considering attended one of the top universities.
Scotland is understandably proud of their education system, and the fact that they have stuck with it, rather than conforming to the English system, which would be administrationally easier, might send a message to those who set English qualifications, and suggest that while we continue to make A-levels easier, we’re not adequately bridging the gap for our most gifted students to study at university.