45% Pass Rate for A or A* A-Levels? What's the Point?
In the News
What's the point in any qualifications if nearly half of all students get an A or A* grade?
Back in the day, it was less than 10% that got the top grade and under 50% got over a C grade.
BBC News - A-level results 2021: Top grades reach record high
I thought exactly the same top grades based on copy and paste work because spent most of it out of school then in.
Unfortunately it's like over promotion. The kids will get their time at Uni , which will sort the wheat from the chaff . How many will stay the course ? I suppose at least more will have the chance to progress in life . How many will take that opportunity ?
Why shouldn’t they? When they set the papers they decide the grade boundaries, if 45% of pupils get an A within those boundaries then thats brilliant. Why shouldn’t they get the grade.
A very generous , if naive thought 
. Twice as many kids getting the top grades as was the case 2 or 3 years back . Maybe juvenile intelligence has doubled since then 
.
Having said that many more are having the chance of going to university and I really hope they take that chance . Sadly I suspect in a year or two we'll be reading about record University Drop outs ? I really hope not .
Golfforall There needs to be a grading system which gives the more clever kids better grades than the average kids like it was in the 70s/80s.
45% getting A/A" grades?
You'd probably only need to put your name at the top of the paper to get a C grade these days.
TheChimp but why should we limit to only 10% of people being able to get an A? When they set the grade boundaries they decide what it takes to get each grade, so if they decide that to get an A you need 90% or up for example and 50% of students get this, then why shouldn’t they all be entitled to that grade.
TheChimp Trouble is the aspiration for many regarding University is a social , not an educational one . Never mind , Universities and the attendant student accommodation these days are businesses ready and waiting to welcome and fleece gullible teenagers 
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Surely it’s a good sign if more students are getting better grades and we should encourage and celebrate this rather than knock them down? This means more will have the opportunity to go to university and/or get the careers that they might aspire for. How isn’t that a good thing? Why limit those opportunities to only the top 10% of achievers?
Part of the reason for higher grades is that the curriculum was cut down and the pupils were only assessed on what they had learnt in the classroom. University courses can be very demanding and it could be very stressful for students who are not up to the standard expected. As it is, they will have to fill in the gaps in the curriculum.
I got 50% on one of my masters papers and passed all the others but failed the all. No certificate of any sort.
If everyone gets great grades and everyone goes to university what qualifications will be needed to be a 'bin man' in the future? Sadly the world needs people of all abilities and intelligence levels and someone who thought they were going to be a rocket scientist isn't going to want to work in a sewage plant or in a supermarket stacking shelves etc...
We would be better off going back to the old system of only 5% or 10% getting the top grade.
My daughter got her AS results yesterday. I think they should have a system that makes sense right now the parameters seem to change too often
A year ago my son was 1 of the unfortunate victims of the algorithim that Gavin Williamson came up with as he never put even his name down on his exam sheets . People said let the teachers decide as they know the pupil better than anyone .
This year it was done that way and now we see it is "to high" or the grades have been inflated . If there isn't any exams due to the pandemic then and I am not any fan of the Gavin Williamson and how its been handled but this feels like a better place than what last year was .
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