Congratulations to everyone getting their ” A Level ” results this week on a year of study which must have been the worst for many generations.
Half the candidates receiving “a” grades might make some of you question what is going on here. The first thing to say is that it should be the journey of study that should be the important thing but it is true that the results are a key to employment or further study.
The first question that i have heard is the suggestion that they regrade the exam system using numbers instead of letters , really? I do rather think that half the candidates getting grade one instead of an “a” is not really going to fool anyone.
There will be some bonuses from the remarkable success of this year’s cohort. One of the main reasons to do these exams is to get into a University and because of the brilliant work done by our young people , if you have been offered a course you are unlikely to have your offer withdrawn. Genius.
Some people have commented on the private sector getting better results than the state sector in this troublesome year. I am sure that this is an accurate reflection of what has happened. I find it unlikely that someone attending a private school would not have the technology to help them study whereas many families where I live do not have a device for their children to use. More intensive teaching and the likelihood that students who know that their parents are paying an arm and a leg for their education is probably quite a good motivator.
In terms of getting a job the exams are probably now obsolete because if everyone gets a similar grade that will not be a reason to rule people out. CV’s are relatively useless too. Age – not telling , Gender – not telling and so on. While you have to accept that a lot of the information that were previously given to potential employers were not that relevant you do end up with every CV looking the same with the inevitable ” I am a good team player but can work well on my own if required” . This is a comment that always appears but never backed up with justifications. So basically it will all be down to interviews , but don’t rejoice at that. Zoom interviews cost an employer virtually no effort and no expense so people can be selected or deselected at minimal cost to the employer. Welcome to the new world.