10th November 2011 9:00
By Blue Tutors
The jump between A Levels and undergraduate work is a difficult one, but it can be more difficult for some students than others, and many independent schools are increasingly preparing their students for university, rather than just making sure they get into one.
Of course, one may argue that the whole point of A Levels is to prepare a student for university, and this is true to some extent, but universities react to the skill and knowledge of their first year students, and if a large proportion of them can breeze through certain areas of the first year work then the university will dedicate less time and resources to that work, both during, and outside of, lectures.
This isn’t a massive issue for arts students, because it’s unusual for a lack of understanding or knowledge to be as apparent as for sciences. However, many science courses will require a number of disciplines, and students who haven’t studied 4 or 5 A Levels, and received A*s in each, can suddenly find that they have to catch up even before lectures begin.
It’s difficult to pinpoint why there can be such a difference between students on the same course at the same university. There is the chance that some students have a background which is simply better suited to the subject they have chosen at university, but often it’s that a student’s school has prepared them better for the rigours of an undergraduate course, and taught them beyond the A Level syllabus.
As tutors it’s difficult to pick up on this. We tend to teach to help students understand as deeply as possible, but often students receiving tuition don’t want extra classes to push them beyond the syllabus; the student is generally paying to just reach the highest attainable grade.
The solution for struggling university students? Well a popular way to help would be to make A Levels less formulaic (something the government has pledged to do). This would force able students to stretch themselves, and would mean that state schools can no longer teach to a minimum level, and be confident that students will get the highest grade. We really need a smoother jump between A Levels and undergraduate level, which probably means harder A Levels.