"Oh it's an Edexcel paper. That'll be why I got an E instead of an A"
Davido
the last 3 months into writing this article...
=====================================
"Oh it's an Edexcel paper. That'll be why I got an E instead of an A"
Why our education system is now in a state of chaos.
Written on 12th August 2002, days before A Level results were
released...
The British education system at one time was considered as one of the
world's finest, admired and emulated by nations spanning several
continents. Now it is in a state of disarray, reduced to nothing less
than a complete shambles and plagued with corruption thanks to the
implementation of the so-called Curriculum 2000. "Luck of the draw" is
becoming an increasingly influential factor in today's exam lottery.
This article's title draws on the sarcasm of a Warwick undergraduate
contributing to the A Level newsgroup. Having been fortunate enough to
take his A Levels back in the good old days when Edexcel was a
reputable name, he was sceptical about the validity of students'
current grievances. But the present state of the exam system means
that come results day, such seemingly bizarre statements could be
taken seriously.
In all fairness, Edexcel were made the scapegoats [or "escape goats"
as Jade from Big Brother would say] after a minor error by their
printing company for a Maths paper resulted in disastrous consequences
back in January. The media blitz that followed had everyone jumping on
the bandwagon, venting all their fury at the exam board.
Following the Yarm School head teacher's reporting of the unanswerable
Maths question to the Beeb, suddenly allegations against poor old
Edexcel reached new heights as they were blamed for more farcical
errors. But with a sudden exponential increase in exam papers, these
mistakes were inevitable. In fact such cock-ups had begun the previous
summer, when in a much less publicised event, Question 1 in an AQA
Physics A Level paper was impossible as it lacked essential data.
From personal experience AQA's shoddy marking and virtually
non-existent customer service means they deserve as much if not more
criticism than Edexcel, with over 1 in 3 teachers finding their
marking quality unsatisfactory last year for some subjects. However,
neither is at fault as much as the government, recklessly implementing
these changes so that 24 million scripts had to be marked when teacher
shortages.are clear.
So why has Curriculum 2000 resulted in the introduction of these
primary-school errors? Maybe because the endless module combinations
and numerous resit opportunities have meant exam boards cannot
sufficiently check through each and every one of the hundreds of
different exam papers. AQA's report for January's A Level Literature
paper casually mentioned how some of the options set had not been
attempted by any candidates. Last summer many papers costing thousands
of pounds to produce were sat by only two or three students.
The inconsistent success rates between different exam boards should
certainly be a cause for concern. Take last summer's AS Level results
for example - over 40% of OCR Maths students achieved an A in the M1
module compared to 23% of Edexcel's; so a student who could manage an
A with them may only scrape a C with Edexcel. What is even more
alarming is that the same is true of vagaries between different
syllabi within the same exam board - the system could easily be made
more efficient and fairer by pruning these needless papers.
The difference between a syllabus with 40% coursework and one with nil
for the same subject can be the difference of a couple of grades,
potentially costing a university place. Whilst I was irate at having
to take a 0% coursework syllabus for A Level Literature, I met someone
from "down South" taking an alternative syllabus, gleefully boasting
of how her teacher had kept returning her coursework until it had
reached Grade A standard.
Whilst measures have been taken in the last decade to drastically
reduce the number of exam boards to just three main ones, this is
still two too many. As Michael Liebreich said in a petition against
Edexcel, "Having multiple exam boards is a recipe for grade inflation
as schools seek easier boards." A single exam board, controlled by the
government as opposed to independent "non profit organisations" who
battle it out to lure the most colleges, would significantly reduce
the gross inconsistencies that have been greatly evident. This is
currently being campaigned for online by CONE [Campaign for One
National Exam Board], but this great effort will probably be
completely futile thanks to a stubborn government who refuse to listen
to us "young people" - emailing the Education department simply
results in an automated response with Estelle Morris praising AS
Levels.
The QCA seem to be failing to ensure that exam standards remain
consistent - the June paper for Edexcel's P1 Maths was unanimously
considered as far too demanding; at BBC's AS Guru the very best
students were doubtful about if they had achieved 50%, even though the
equivalent January paper was "sooo much easier", as a student
proclaimed on the message board.
With such fiascos and controversies continuing to abound, students
taking action was inevitable. Cue Edexhell, a website designed by
disgruntled student Jonathan Higgs after his Grade D for compositions
in Edexcel Music was re-marked as a Grade B, months after he had
applied to universities. But feedback from visitors of this site has
seen even more startling cases, with students claiming that they were
forced to resit exams after Edexcel lost their papers, and Melissa
Johnson claiming that her E at AS was re-marked as an A months later,
potentially costing her a prestigious Cambridge place. Teacher and
university admissions tutors in the A Level newsgroup were startled
that such incidents were taking place.
Stories of Grade Es being re-marked as As are numerous and several
boards have been the culprits; Welsh student Sian Warrilow dropped AQA
History after receiving an E, upgraded to an A months later, and in
one case a Grade C was upgraded to 100%. In some cases these
unbelievable incidents are due to administrative errors, but usually
they are in fact a result of insufficient and over-generalised mark
schemes that leave examiners stumped and frustrated.
An example of how luck can carry more weight than effort is when it
comes to exam timetabling - when literally thousands of papers are
scheduled to be sat in a few weeks, unreasonable demands are frequent.
The AS was introduced to promote diversity, but often those who did
take a mix of art and science subjects as the government desired
suffered the most, for example having to sustain seven hours of exams
in a single day. A Level students at college one day had their
History, Maths and Literature papers [all AQA] running at the same
time. Regardless of how able a student is and/or how much effort they
have put in, few if any can work to their full potential under such
conditions - no wonder a student reportedly had a mental breakdown
during a day of five exams.
Why the Key Skills shambles still exists is beyond me. For the guinea
pigs in my year, people worked for these qualifications only to hear
months later that they are regarded as worthless not only by the best
but by virtually all universities, and unknown to most employers.
Hopefully my A* in GCSE IT, a website that gets over 700 hits daily
and IT based employment for various clients won't be counterbalanced
by the fact that I failed the Key Skills IT paper.
Edexcel at present boast about their new costly "21st century"
certificates that conveniently cannot be photocopied. But more to the
point, will the validity of the grades be worth the paper they will be
printed on? Well, we will see come Thursday whether their Operations
and Assessment Director Jerry Jarvis was correct in ensuring the
Edexhell webmaster that the mistakes of the last year "cannot possibly
be repeated"...
=======================
For the sceptics among you, here are some links to the stories from
BBC Online to prove they're not the cock-and-bull you see on S-cool:
Grade E becomes A in AQA History:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/wales/newsid_1777000/1777362.stm
Grade E becomes A in Edexcel Literature:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/northern_ireland/1575406.stm
Question 1 of AQA Physics paper impossible:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/education/newsid_1390000/1390034.stm
Davido
Chris Stubbings, head of the CONE campaign and an A Level examiner
himself, believes that I am pulling my punches too much, not
highlighting the gross corruption in the system - namely cheating and
hiring private tutors to write coursework. As examination papers are
written 18 months in advance, he says that the errors are "gross
negligence by the Chief Examiner and his high status coterie. Nothing
more, nothing less". Exam board greed is the reason for these problems
as opposed to government incompetence. He also states that examiners
are at fault for some terrible marking incidents, and moderation is
"virtually non-existent".
Rachel Berry
> Response to this article:
where did you publish it ?
Gordon Craib
"Davido" <elg...@europe.com> wrote in message
news:b74f6c67.02081...@posting.google.com...
> I've tried to put together all my AUA rants, moans and whinges over
> the last 3 months into writing this article...
>
> =====================================
>
> The British education system at one time was considered as one of the
> world's finest, admired and emulated by nations spanning several
> continents. Now it is in a state of disarray, reduced to nothing less
> than a complete shambles and plagued with corruption thanks to the
> implementation of the so-called Curriculum 2000. "Luck of the draw" is
> becoming an increasingly influential factor in today's exam lottery.
It might be increasing, but I still think it's a tiny factor
> From personal experience AQA's shoddy marking and virtually
> non-existent customer service means they deserve as much if not more
> criticism than Edexcel, with over 1 in 3 teachers finding their
> marking quality unsatisfactory last year for some subjects. However,
> neither is at fault as much as the government, recklessly implementing
> these changes so that 24 million scripts had to be marked when teacher
> shortages.are clear.
Well the teachers have an incentive to complain- oh, my class should have
got straight As but the marking was unsatisfactory
> The inconsistent success rates between different exam boards should
> certainly be a cause for concern. Take last summer's AS Level results
> for example - over 40% of OCR Maths students achieved an A in the M1
> module compared to 23% of Edexcel's; so a student who could manage an
> A with them may only scrape a C with Edexcel. What is even more
> alarming is that the same is true of vagaries between different
> syllabi within the same exam board - the system could easily be made
> more efficient and fairer by pruning these needless papers.
Maybe the students taking the OCR exam were better on average.
>
> The difference between a syllabus with 40% coursework and one with nil
> for the same subject can be the difference of a couple of grades,
> potentially costing a university place. Whilst I was irate at having
> to take a 0% coursework syllabus for A Level Literature, I met someone
> from "down South" taking an alternative syllabus, gleefully boasting
> of how her teacher had kept returning her coursework until it had
> reached Grade A standard.
I think this is the exception rather than the rule. Although I know there is
a coursework section in English Lit. at my school, I know they cant keep on
getting it back.
> Whilst measures have been taken in the last decade to drastically
> reduce the number of exam boards to just three main ones, this is
> still two too many. As Michael Liebreich said in a petition against
> Edexcel, "Having multiple exam boards is a recipe for grade inflation
> as schools seek easier boards." A single exam board, controlled by the
> government as opposed to independent "non profit organisations" who
> battle it out to lure the most colleges, would significantly reduce
> the gross inconsistencies that have been greatly evident. This is
> currently being campaigned for online by CONE [Campaign for One
> National Exam Board], but this great effort will probably be
> completely futile thanks to a stubborn government who refuse to listen
> to us "young people" - emailing the Education department simply
> results in an automated response with Estelle Morris praising AS
> Levels.
Yes, but once an examing board gets a reputation for setting easier papers,
its grades will be devalued.
> The QCA seem to be failing to ensure that exam standards remain
> consistent - the June paper for Edexcel's P1 Maths was unanimously
> considered as far too demanding; at BBC's AS Guru the very best
> students were doubtful about if they had achieved 50%, even though the
> equivalent January paper was "sooo much easier", as a student
> proclaimed on the message board.
Yes, but if everyone does badly, the grade boundaries (in terms of raw
marks) will be lower.
> With such fiascos and controversies continuing to abound, students
> taking action was inevitable. Cue Edexhell, a website designed by
> disgruntled student Jonathan Higgs after his Grade D for compositions
> in Edexcel Music was re-marked as a Grade B, months after he had
> applied to universities. But feedback from visitors of this site has
> seen even more startling cases, with students claiming that they were
> forced to resit exams after Edexcel lost their papers, and Melissa
> Johnson claiming that her E at AS was re-marked as an A months later,
> potentially costing her a prestigious Cambridge place. Teacher and
> university admissions tutors in the A Level newsgroup were startled
> that such incidents were taking place.
>
> Stories of Grade Es being re-marked as As are numerous and several
> boards have been the culprits; Welsh student Sian Warrilow dropped AQA
> History after receiving an E, upgraded to an A months later, and in
> one case a Grade C was upgraded to 100%. In some cases these
> unbelievable incidents are due to administrative errors, but usually
> they are in fact a result of insufficient and over-generalised mark
> schemes that leave examiners stumped and frustrated.
There are lots of papers taken. Only a very very very small portion are
remarked to much higher grades.
> An example of how luck can carry more weight than effort is when it
> comes to exam timetabling - when literally thousands of papers are
> scheduled to be sat in a few weeks, unreasonable demands are frequent.
> The AS was introduced to promote diversity, but often those who did
> take a mix of art and science subjects as the government desired
> suffered the most, for example having to sustain seven hours of exams
> in a single day. A Level students at college one day had their
> History, Maths and Literature papers [all AQA] running at the same
> time. Regardless of how able a student is and/or how much effort they
> have put in, few if any can work to their full potential under such
> conditions - no wonder a student reportedly had a mental breakdown
> during a day of five exams.
Although 7 hours of exams are tough, its not that tough. Ive had to take
that many exams in the past and I personally don't think its /that/ bad.
(Although, I must admit that I didn't have any 7 hour days this year- maybe
I would think differently if I did have).
> Why the Key Skills shambles still exists is beyond me. For the guinea
> pigs in my year, people worked for these qualifications only to hear
> months later that they are regarded as worthless not only by the best
> but by virtually all universities, and unknown to most employers.
> Hopefully my A* in GCSE IT, a website that gets over 700 hits daily
> and IT based employment for various clients won't be counterbalanced
> by the fact that I failed the Key Skills IT paper.
Don't take Key Skills papers. We didn't have to at my school.
> Edexcel at present boast about their new costly "21st century"
> certificates that conveniently cannot be photocopied. But more to the
> point, will the validity of the grades be worth the paper they will be
> printed on? Well, we will see come Thursday whether their Operations
> and Assessment Director Jerry Jarvis was correct in ensuring the
> Edexhell webmaster that the mistakes of the last year "cannot possibly
> be repeated"...
I think they will be worth the paper they are printed on. 0.01% of grades
might be wrong, but that won't mean that results are disregarded.
BTW, if you are going to have this printed, there is a mistake in the last
sentence (I think)- should be 'assuring' not 'ensuring'.
Ray Pang
before. This I shall spare everybody the boredom of reading it all again, so
here's my take:
>"This article's title draws on the sarcasm of a Warwick >undergraduate
>contributing to the A Level newsgroup. Having been >fortunate enough to
>take his A Levels back in the good old days when >Edexcel was a
>reputable name, he was sceptical about the validity of >students'
>current grievances. But the present state of the exam >system means
>that come results day, such seemingly bizarre statements >could be
>taken seriously."
I was not being sarcastic.
Davido
and a lot of London's best schools use the Edexcel board.
> Yes, but if everyone does badly, the grade boundaries (in terms of raw
> marks) will be lower.
Even so, the problem was highlighted in the "P1 too tough" thread -
for this June's paper, people who got 50/75 and those who got 75/75
will be awarded the same, 100 UMS.
> There are lots of papers taken. Only a very very very small portion are
> remarked to much higher grades.
Even if it's "very very very small", note that for those affected,
albeit a few, their prospects can be blighted. I think the number of
people who've had papers re-marked and upgraded is higher than one may
think, about half our college have had AS module marks upped on
re-mark.
>
> Although 7 hours of exams are tough, its not that tough. Ive had to take
> that many exams in the past and I personally don't think its /that/ bad.
> (Although, I must admit that I didn't have any 7 hour days this year- maybe
> I would think differently if I did have).
Was tough for me, spending an hour scribbling away an essay for
Literature, hand aching badly, only to be given the next paper
immediately with no break. And the one after that... For papers which
don't require as much writing eg Maths, Physics... it's bearable. For
essay papers in English, Sociology, Geography... it isn't.
>
> Don't take Key Skills papers. We didn't have to at my school.
Like I said when I took it we were given the [false] impression that
it would be greatly valued by unis.
>
> I think they will be worth the paper they are printed on. 0.01% of grades
> might be wrong, but that won't mean that results are disregarded.
Yeah I wasn't being totally serious with that comment. Much much
higher than 0.01% though - I remember reading a Sunday Times article
that 1 in 5 students get a wrong grade in at least 1 module...
>
> BTW, if you are going to have this printed, there is a mistake in the last
> sentence (I think)- should be 'assuring' not 'ensuring'.
Thanks. I doubt it's good enough to be printed, I've just e-mailed it
to a few people who might be interested eg the founder of the CONE
campaign [Chris Stubbings].
Davido
> before.
article, to then send it to people not familiar with this newsgroup.
> I was not being sarcastic.
Well I meant when you said people will start saying "Oh it's an
Edexcel paper..." it was in a mocking tone maybe? if not sarcastic...
Davido
I very much doubt it's worthy of being published, I just e-mailed it
to a few people such as my MP and the Beeb. And
tony....@poptel.org.uk just for the sake of it.
Richard Magrath
<gna...@hotmail.com> writes:
[note: I wrote this reply a while ago, but had trouble posting it via
AOL -Rich]
>I got bored reading this post about half way through, as it's all
been said
>before.
Yes, it is a bit old hat, though I got the impression that Davido was
intending to send this to somewhere to put in print/online, and wanted
to see if we had any terrible objections to it.
This I shall spare everybody the boredom of reading it all again, so
>here's my take:
>
>>"This article's title draws on the sarcasm of a Warwick
>undergraduate
Didn't Timmy Mallet go to Warwick?
>>contributing to the A Level newsgroup. Having been >fortunate enough
to
>>take his A Levels back in the good old days when >Edexcel was a
>>reputable name, he was sceptical about the validity of >students'
>>current grievances. But the present state of the exam >system means
>>that come results day, such seemingly bizarre statements >could be
>>taken seriously."
>
>I was not being sarcastic.
>
With regard to the CONE (Campaign for One Something-or-Other), has
Chris Stubbins thought about sending information of his campaign to
Private Eye (*cough* rather than us)? They might even do a special on
it - it's not really in the same league as MMR or Lockerbie, but it
*does* deal with alleged government incompetence.
Rich
Rich
Davido
> intending to send this to somewhere to put in print/online, and wanted
> to see if we had any terrible objections to it.
>
> Didn't Timmy Mallet go to Warwick?
wackawackawacka..." heheheh
> With regard to the CONE (Campaign for One Something-or-Other), has
> Chris Stubbins thought about sending information of his campaign to
> Private Eye (*cough* rather than us)? They might even do a special on
> it - it's not really in the same league as MMR or Lockerbie, but it
> *does* deal with alleged government incompetence.
He's had/planned interviews with BBC and TES. May be worth Private
Eye, the Edexhell site was featured in it.
Craig Fothergill
I had my picture taken with him once.
Craig
Becky Loader
"Craig Fothergill" <i_am...@home.com> wrote in message
news:ajcljh$23u$1...@news7.svr.pol.co.uk...
> >Timmy Mallet
>
>
> I had my picture taken with him once.
I know the words to Mallett's Mallett, which is a word association game
where you mustn't pause, hesitate, repeat a word or say a word I don't like
otherwise you get a bash on the head like this...or like this...
Becky
Ray Pang
"Richard Magrath" <ltri...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:d7983a51.0208...@posting.google.com...
> In article <aj8s3c$19foec$1...@ID-33144.news.dfncis.de>, "Ray Pang"
> <gna...@hotmail.com> writes:
>
> [note: I wrote this reply a while ago, but had trouble posting it via
> AOL -Rich]
>
> >I got bored reading this post about half way through, as it's all
> been said
> >before.
>
> Yes, it is a bit old hat, though I got the impression that Davido was
> intending to send this to somewhere to put in print/online, and wanted
> to see if we had any terrible objections to it.
>
> This I shall spare everybody the boredom of reading it all again, so
> >here's my take:
> >
> >>"This article's title draws on the sarcasm of a Warwick
> >undergraduate
>
> Didn't Timmy Mallet go to Warwick?
>
Well actually he visited Warwick and 'performed' during Top Banana I think
it was. Not sure if he actually 'went' to Warwick or not.
Frank Skinner was at Warwick though. I think Germaine Greer still is.
Ray Pang
> <gna...@hotmail.com> writes:
>
> [note: I wrote this reply a while ago, but had trouble posting it via
> AOL -Rich]
>
> >I got bored reading this post about half way through, as it's all
> been said
> >before.
>
> Yes, it is a bit old hat, though I got the impression that Davido was
> intending to send this to somewhere to put in print/online, and wanted
> to see if we had any terrible objections to it.
>
> This I shall spare everybody the boredom of reading it all again, so
> >here's my take:
> >
> >>"This article's title draws on the sarcasm of a Warwick
> >undergraduate
>
> Didn't Timmy Mallet go to Warwick?
>
Unfortunately he did.
Rob Martin
Timmy Mallet was Corpus Christi, Oxford i think...
Rob
Alex Warren
> > > Didn't Timmy Mallet go to Warwick?
> >
> > Unfortunately he did.
>
> That's funny, in the prospectus I never saw him mentioned in the Alumni :-)
>
> But from http://www.unofficial-guides.com/guides/warwick.html :
>
> Famous Alumni:
> Jenny Bond - BBC Correspondant
> Timmy Mallet- Respected music and TV legend
> Frank Skinner- Comedian
> Steven Pile - Writer
> Sting - But only for half a year!!)
> Simon Mayo - Radio 1 DJ
> James King - BBC Radio 1 Film Critic
Interesting. Famous Imperial Almuni:
Mary Archer - Lord Archer痴 wife
Sir Roger Bannister - 4 minute mile
Alexander Fleming - Discovered Penicillin
Rajiv Gandhi - Former Indian Prime Miniser
David Irving - Historian
David Livingstone - Explorer
John Manzoni - Vice President of BP-Amoco
Brian May - Queen (the band that is...)
Trevor Phillips - TV Presenter
Simon Singh - 詮ermat痴 Last Theorem
HG Wells - Writer
Alex
James Gregory
"Alex Warren" <happy...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1hcnluc2enn98fvub...@4ax.com...
> Davido wrote:
>
> > > > Didn't Timmy Mallet go to Warwick?
> > >
> > > Unfortunately he did.
> >
> > That's funny, in the prospectus I never saw him mentioned in the Alumni
:-)
> >
> > But from http://www.unofficial-guides.com/guides/warwick.html :
> >
> > Famous Alumni:
> > Jenny Bond - BBC Correspondant
> > Timmy Mallet- Respected music and TV legend
> > Frank Skinner- Comedian
> > Steven Pile - Writer
> > Sting - But only for half a year!!)
> > Simon Mayo - Radio 1 DJ
> > James King - BBC Radio 1 Film Critic
>
> Interesting. Famous Imperial Almuni:
>
> Sir Roger Bannister - 4 minute mile
> Alexander Fleming - Discovered Penicillin
> Rajiv Gandhi - Former Indian Prime Miniser
> David Irving - Historian
> David Livingstone - Explorer
> John Manzoni - Vice President of BP-Amoco
> Brian May - Queen (the band that is...)
> Trevor Phillips - TV Presenter
> HG Wells - Writer
I've seen the York alumini before and it's all very boring, but:
Thames Valley University:
JK - Jamiroquai
Freddie Mercury - Queen
Pete Townshend - The Who
Ron Wood - Rolling Stones
Pete Townsend and Freddie Mercury rather than Timmy Mallet and Brian May,
impressive stuff.
Some more browsing shows Teeside:
David Bowie - Ageing Rocker
Skin - Skunk Anansie
Evidently, polytechnics (now ex-polytechnics) are where the big music people
go.
James