A-level results up again
This year’s A-level results have seen a modest rise in the pass rate with 96.2 per cent now achieving grades A to E, up from 96 per cent last summer.
Schools minister Andrew Adonis welcomed the results, in particular highlighting the increase in uptake of Maths, English, Science and Languages.
Among the more than 265,000 students who received their A-level results this morning, the number of A grades increased by 0.4 per cent on last year to 22.8 per cent – figures likely to do little to subdue the debate about the future of the qualifications.
Critics claim the ever increasing pass rate – it has now risen for 23 years in a row – has devalued A-levels, while the rising number of students obtaining As is making it more and more difficult to universities to distinguish the best candidates.
Lord Adonis has robustly rejected claims that A-levels are no longer the ‘gold standard’, saying today’s results are simply an “impressive achievement” and “a reflection of the hard work of our young people and the rising standards of teaching in our schools and colleges”.
Speaking yesterday, he admitted that changes had to be introduced to help university admissions tutors distinguish the best students, and would be making individual module marks available to them for this purpose.
The government would also be promoting the use of the Advanced Extension Award – a set of questions aimed at challenging the brightest pupils – and today’s results suggest this option is already becoming popular.
There was a 28 per cent increase in the number of students taking the award, compared to a 3.2 per cent increase in overall AS and A-level entries, to a record 1,863,444.
“We want to see the most able young people achieving as highly as they are capable,” said Lord Adonis.
“We intend to embed these harder questions within the A-level and we are committed to increasing stretch and challenge in the system. As part of our reforms we will make individual unit grades available to universities from 2007.”
The five most popular A-levels this year were English, General Studies, Biology, Maths and Psychology, while English, Maths, History, and sciences made up 40 per cent of all entries.
“I am particularly pleased to see a renaissance in traditional subjects, most notably the strong uptake in AS-level Mathematics and Further Maths,” Lord Adonis said.
“Maths and English are the bedrock of our education system and the growing popularity of these subjects is equipping our school leavers with the core skills demanded by employers and universities.
“I welcome the overall improvement in science entries, but the fall in numbers taking Physics is a concern and we will continue to work closely with employers, schools and experts in the field to improve uptake, not least by girls.”
