Geared towards employers and school leavers. (Are 'A' levels still the educational gold standard?)

Name: shuttlex

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Product:	Are 'A' levels still the educational gold standard?
Date:	06/09/06 (228 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Encourages more students to enter university

Disadvantages: Prevents universities from selecting stronger candidates

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 just being given away for free. This has a negative effect on everyone involved including the students, schools, teachers, universities, education system and the employers.

With the ever increasing rise in grades, universities have difficulties selecting the stronger candidates. The common complaint amongst lecturers and admission tutors is that they are forced to waste their time teaching first year students material that should have been taught during A Level. Unless a student plans to study at some unknown red brick university that is struggling to find students, the standard of A Levels is just too low for the university prerequisite.

Ideally, universities should be setting their own exams as this would be the fairest and easiest way of determining the most suitable candidates. Unfortunately, since employers are obsessed with their influence over the education system this is unlikely to ever happen. A graduate may achieve a first class degree yet that insignificant A-level C grade allows the recruiter to simply dismiss the potential candidate. A-levels are geared towards employers and school leavers, other than this they frustrate the universities and create more confusion amongst students.

Summary: Universities should be setting their own exams