Are 'A' levels still the educational gold standard?

I often end up extremely frustrated when I hear people saying how A levels are getting easier and exams should be harder. What irritates me even more, is that often these people have not taken the exams in recent years or have never taken them at all. I fail to see how they can therefore speak about them in such negative terms. I do agree that pass rates are increasing; it is impossible to deny this, but this does not mean that exams are getting any easier. Some A levels ARE easier than others. Many Universities black list certain subjects as being to simple and not worthwhile, but many other subjects are still considered highly by Universities such as ...  Read the complete review

Increasingly the standard of A-levels is going further and further down. This is reflected by the ever rising increase in grades. Today, a staggering 43% of students taking A Level Mathematics achieve grade A. Grade inflation continues to take place as the government aims to encourage more young people to go into further education and university. More students enter university enrolling in an ever increasing number of useless degrees, while building up huge debts and then leaving on minimum salary or unemployed and still in debt. Unfortunately there are those who will always be in denial defending their achievement of precious A grades. These are practically ...  Read the complete review

According to the BBC news website 67.79% think that they are getting easier (you can vote at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/2189325.stm) The pass rate for this year's A-levels has shot up by 4.5% to 94.3%. The high pass rate has, once again, led to accusations that the "gold standard" exam is getting easier. Having just sat my A-levels this year I can vouch for the fact that it’s not getting any easier. Of course I never sat my A-levels in the 70’s but I have heard from numerous mature students who studied my courses for the past two years who all say the same thing. A-levels have changed but they’ve ...  Read the complete review

Personally, I would have to say “No”. A-levels alone are simply not worthwhile and I don’t think they ever have been. They are and always have been the entry exams for further education. This doesn’t mean that they’re irrelevant once you get to university though. I know that a lot of recruiters see them as entry examinations; however, this means that should you have a degree, your average blue-chip company is taking your spotty-faced late adolescent efforts more seriously than you realise. I’ve heard many a recruiter, manager etc. say that A-levels are the quickest way to gauge an applicant’s intelligence. People ...  Read the complete review

I am doing my last year of the A levels at the moment and the exams are about to start, this is what made me think of what I am about to say. I dont know what the A levels started out as because I am a little young to remember, but I am sure that back then there was not such a huge gap between amounts of work that was needed. I am doing 4 A levels at the moment, Physics, computers and 2 in maths. THe difference in the work loads is unbelievable, how could such a gap be explained. It ranges from 3 leaver arch files in maths per A level down to half a ring binder file for computers per A level!!!!! It does not stop there, its not like the maths work is easier so ...  Read the complete review