26th April 2012 13:06
By Blue Tutors
Ofqual report backs final exam A-levels
A report by England's qualifications watchdog, Ofqual, says academics are losing faith in first-year undergraduate students. Students, according to 71 academics interviewed by Ofqual, lack basic skills in English and Maths, as well as the knowledge to write essays, conduct research, reference properly.
Yet, I think this is at odds with what the report on the BBC Education website says today (04/04/2012). Academics are complaining students don’t have the abilities which they ought to be gaining through coursework submission, yet they seem to be backing the return to more "linear" A-levels, where pupils sit their exams at the end of their two-year course, rather than modular courses in which pupils sit exams in "bite-size" chunks or units throughout.
While more linear A levels may address the problem of the shallowness of subject knowledge, as opposed to breadth, of which academics also complain, the return to a final exam at the end of the 2 year course will not assist with teaching students the skills needed at undergraduate level. Surely this is for the University tutors to teach? A levels require one set of skills, undergraduate study, another, and postgraduate study another type altogether. It is good if students can acquire the skills necessary in advance but surely not a prerequisite? Soon they’ll be asking for ‘research A levels’.
The Ofqual report backs up a study by Cambridge Assessment - which runs the OCR exam board - which suggested universities wanted A-levels to be more intellectually stretching and with less spoon-feeding from teachers. This is fine for some students, for whom the A level system is not stretching enough, but I can assure you I have several students who find the current A level syllabi extremely testing and would not cope with increased demands.