and again, i must stress that media studies isn't as easy as people are led to believe, you have to work hard and put ALOT of effort in to the subject to do well in it, i found it MUCH harder than psychology.

Having just done my A-levels I'd just say it was teachers experience which makes them 'easier'. My teachers have all been around years and have seen so many exams they know which things are likely to come up and how to answer them. I did so many practice essays for Business Studies that you become good at them, know how to write one and how to apply it. Teachers often get stick but mine (bar one) were all fabulous.

and again, i must stress that media studies isn't as easy as people are led to believe, you have to work hard and put ALOT of effort in to the subject to do well in it, i found it MUCH harder than psychology.

I did one Media lesson and thought f*** that. Took Maths instead :|

I did one Media lesson and thought f*** that. Took Maths instead :|

:lol: !! maths is one subject which i couldn't do! Do you think you've done good in it?

at the time and also their were significantly more jobs available then in manufacturing industries, or as labourers or working in dead end blue collar jobs.

 

i dont agree with that m8, thatcher was shutting down industry and unemployment was very high. there was job creation schemes famously highlighted by a hospital worker who under cuts lost their job only to be given it back as a job seeker.... the difference? as a fully employed person they had union rights, decent pay (relative) and benefits like holidays, sick pay etc. as a job seeker they got DOLE!

The reason why 5 out of the 8 foreign nationals were successful & just 2 out of 19 British nationals were successful, was because from the evidence of the interviews and applications and internal exams showed that the foreign nationals had a better grasp of English grammar than those from the UK and were the best candidates.

 

As the Senior manager of my department said "Its becoming like Arsenal's football academy" and I can say he was genuinely disappointed by the calibre of UK graduates who under went the interview process.

 

Pretty much backs up what I've been saying TiP... It just beggars belief that so many British people out there dont even know how to use their own language properly, or use English grammar, vocabulary or sentence structures particularly well.... Frankly I wonder just how the hell some of these people you're talking about actually managed to pass their degrees tbh....

 

 

i dont agree with that m8, thatcher was shutting down industry and unemployment was very high. there was job creation schemes famously highlighted by a hospital worker who under cuts lost their job only to be given it back as a job seeker.... the difference? as a fully employed person they had union rights, decent pay (relative) and benefits like holidays, sick pay etc. as a job seeker they got DOLE!

 

Spot on Rob... These "Job Creation" schemes were frankly little better than slavery, a cheap way for employers to get people to do work without having to actually pay a sodding wage or benefits to them... And the Tories let them do it. All that c**p talk about there being a "job at the end of it" was utter baloney in the majority of cases.... <_< YTS and "Training For Work" were just pathetic excuses for employers to exploit people, they were NOT proper "Apprenticeship" schemes as you or I would know them, not that "New Deal" was really that much better, but there was a bit more accountability....

 

I think that there are a number of factors.

Firstly, having the exams split up into AS and A2 affords far less time to teach kids these days, so teachers and students both learn how to cram and also they got taught how to pass the exams and not necessarily anything outside of that.

Also, by making it possible for students to resit, of course that allows for better results.

Thirdly, the expectation is far far greater that you will continue being in education until you are at least 18. Many of my friends who barely got any grade C's at GCSE carried on to A Level - surely there would have been a more suitable route for them? The grade boundaries differ each year once the standard has been assessed. Therefore, if you have huge numbers of weaker students it will bring the grade percentages down.

And as for soft subjects - I took A Level Politics which is supposedly and I got a D to my other 3 subjects where I got B's.

Often these so called soft subjects are slightly unusual - but becoming ever more popular for those who want to go to university for the 'experience' or whatever...for example, journalistic studies - I believe that there are far more direct ways into a job in journalism.

It's all relative - I'm finishing an English degree with the plan to convert it to a PGCE in Secondary English. I joke to my friends that their sociology degrees are soft, but then my medic friends endlessly do the same to me.

I did my first year of my degree in English and Sociology and I felt that Sociology was simply repeating A Level material which bored me to be honest.

For me, the jump from GCSE to A Level in English was massive. From A Level to Degree it is more the sheer volume of work that is so different!! What we would study in a term at school; we cover in 1 lecture and 1 seminar/workshop.

I feel that the reason children are doing so well is because they are being taught to pass exams not taught about subjects. The curriculum is so exam ridden now that they cannot afford time to let them enjoy and explore subjects.

And the main reason (in South Bucks Grammar schools anyway) that pass rates are so high is that it is a well known fact that if they think the student will not do well; they don't sit the exam. End of. :puke2:

Results next week :o

Holy $h!t I didn't realise it was that soon :rofl:

and again, i must stress that media studies isn't as easy as people are led to believe, you have to work hard and put ALOT of effort in to the subject to do well in it, i found it MUCH harder than psychology.

 

I found Psychology more challenging, although you're right: a lot of people do view Media as easy and it isn't.

:lol: !! maths is one subject which i couldn't do! Do you think you've done good in it?

I dropped it after AS. Didn't carry it to the full A-level...

erm..... this is hardly debate guys :)

It's only two posts which lead from the debate anyway.. christ!

 

As for the debate, no one will change your opinions anyway. Older people think they're easier, younger people don't. It'll always be the case...

It's only two posts which lead from the debate anyway.. christ!

 

As for the debate, no one will change your opinions anyway. Older people think they're easier, younger people don't. It'll always be the case...

 

i havnt an opinion on wether or not they ARE easier, i dont know. but i do know that for years people have been complaining that they are becoming easier and there does seem to be evidence for this.

It's only two posts which lead from the debate anyway.. christ!

 

As for the debate, no one will change your opinions anyway. Older people think they're easier, younger people don't. It'll always be the case...

 

 

I don't think they are easier.

 

I just think the statistics are manipulted - by school / colleges / and mainly the media!

 

I mean - it wouldn't make much of a story to say everything was ok :unsure:

 

for the next couple of weeks we will hear about how the exams are easier .....which is insulting to all the students who have worked hard.

I don't think they are easier.

 

I just think the statistics are manipulted - by school / colleges / and mainly the media!

 

I mean - it wouldn't make much of a story to say everything was ok :unsure:

 

for the next couple of weeks we will hear about how the exams are easier .....which is insulting to all the students who have worked hard.

 

maybe... but if 55% is considered an 'a' pass... surely things must be easier now?...

Or perhaps the exams are just a little bit more difficult on the higher level papers? Somebody on page 2 did say he had done it but looking at his childs' Maths paper it seemed significantly more difficult...

Been looking at GCSE revision books tonight. Stuff looks as difficult/easy as always. It seems students these days have far better books and revision aids more understanding of how to use appropriate tools especially mind-maps.

Whether the exams are harder I'm not sure.

Or perhaps the exams are just a little bit more difficult on the higher level papers? Somebody on page 2 did say he had done it but looking at his childs' Maths paper it seemed significantly more difficult...

 

fair point...

 

i think that times and educational systems have changed in favour of promoting better results... its probably unfair to compare todays educational system with the one 30 years ago.

I think you summed it up best there Rob ^_^ Exams now and then probably aren't comparable.