Exams are getting easier

[the0ni0nking]

Indeed, something we all already know.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-b ... e-68282659

But the one thing that raised my eyebrows more was that the individual in question is doing A-levels in "two maths courses, three languages, three variations of history, economics, business, computer science and film studies".

Back in my day - at A level you had Maths - and possibly Further Maths. I assume we now have some wonderdul split of Pure, Mechanics, Statistics etc.

Languages - assuming they are different languages then that seems fair enough.

History - three variations of history. Come on, are you having a laugh. In my mind this is clearly a dumbing down of the subject.

Film Studies. good grief, I'm going to have to lie down.

Maybe should have posted this in Bitter Lemons. I'm bitter - not because I'd have wanted to do some of those subjects - but in what education appears to have become - some even cruder generalist clap-trap.

[mc2fool]

Indeed, something we all already know.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-b ... e-68282659

But the one thing that raised my eyebrows more was that the individual in question is doing A-levels in "two maths courses, three languages, three variations of history, economics, business, computer science and film studies".

Back in my day ...

The individual in question already has 34 GCSEs and is doing 28 A levels, so I really think we can say she's an exception.

Back in my day the average grammar school boy would do 6-9 O levels and 2-4 A levels, and from the article it seems 4 A levels now is around standard....

[UncleEbenezer]

Back in my day ...

Back in my day (A-levels in 1979) I did three maths A-levels (and two other subjects). The third was an additional exam: one of our teachers pointed out that we were well on top of the double-maths curriculum after the first term of the lower-sixth, and would we like to fit in a third in the same lessons? Some of us said yes please!

The individual in question already has 34 GCSEs and is doing 28 A levels, so I really think we can say she's an exception.

Back in my day the average grammar school boy would do 6-9 O levels and 2-4 A levels, and from the article it seems 4 A levels now is around standard....

A collector! I think I'd see that as a challenge in wading through red tape, rather than in anything academic. If she's being told how great she is, she may be in for a nasty shock when she hits the world of work.

[Lootman]

The individual in question already has 34 GCSEs and is doing 28 A levels, so I really think we can say she's an exception.

Back in my day the average grammar school boy would do 6-9 O levels and 2-4 A levels, and from the article it seems 4 A levels now is around standard....

A collector! I think I'd see that as a challenge in wading through red tape, rather than in anything academic. If she's being told how great she is, she may be in for a nasty shock when she hits the world of work.

A kid in my class had three maths A levels (pure, applied, special) by age 15. He could not go up to Cambridge until age 17 and so did a maths degree whilst he waited.

He had a Ph.D. by age 21 and killed himself at age 26. I guess it is possible be too smart for your own good.

[UncleEbenezer]

A collector! I think I'd see that as a challenge in wading through red tape, rather than in anything academic. If she's being told how great she is, she may be in for a nasty shock when she hits the world of work.

A kid in my class had three maths A levels (pure, applied, special) by age 15. He could not go up to Cambridge until age 17 and so did a maths degree whilst he waited.

He had a Ph.D. by age 21 and killed himself at age 26. I guess it is possible be too smart for your own good.

Perhaps the ultimate story there would be Mozart, as portrayed in Peter Shaffer's Amadeus. The most extreme child genius, treated as a huge celebrity, never grows up in a normal sense, and becomes the spoilt brat. Struggles to cope with adult life, and dies in his mid-30s.

Your friend was somewhere lower on that scale. I was the next step down: the lesson I learned in school and failed to unlearn when it mattered was that everything was far, far too easy and I could succeed without ever having to work (or at least, lick anyone's boots) for it.

[tjh290633]

Indeed, something we all already know.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-b ... e-68282659

But the one thing that raised my eyebrows more was that the individual in question is doing A-levels in "two maths courses, three languages, three variations of history, economics, business, computer science and film studies".

Back in my day ...

The individual in question already has 34 GCSEs and is doing 28 A levels, so I really think we can say she's an exception.

Back in my day the average grammar school boy would do 6-9 O levels and 2-4 A levels, and from the article it seems 4 A levels now is around standard....

Back in the days when education was education, and not just a pleasant pastime, as our headmaster in the wartime years was won't today, we had School Certificate. English Language was compulsory as was mathematics and a foreign language.you could only take 8 subjects at one time and you had to pass in at least 5 to get a certificate. If you were hoping to go to Oxbridge, a Credit in Latin was required. Then came Higher School Certificate, with a minimum of 2 subjects and a subsidiary subject. Group 3 Maths counted as two subjects. I know that I took Physics, Chemistry and Group 4 Maths (for scientists) in the last HSC in 1950. Then came A-level and S-level papers. The latter were essential if you wished to apply for a State Scholarship. I took Chemistry, Physics and Group 3 Maths (for Mathematicians). In those days it was usual to have 3 years in the 6th form and sit for scholarships at Cambridge before Christmas and/or at Oxford before Easter, when you might be offered a scholarship or a place at one of the Colleges in your chosen group.

Having gone through that, you had 2 compulsory gap years doing your National Service. A friend of mine proudly wears his Korean war medals at Remembrance services. I ended up helping to run the married quarters at an RAF station, after they started cutting back on aircrew training as the Korean war was coming to its end

TJH

[didds]

A collector! I think I'd see that as a challenge in wading through red tape, rather than in anything academic. If she's being told how great she is, she may be in for a nasty shock when she hits the world of work.

then again she may become a permanent professional academic

[UncleEbenezer]

A collector! I think I'd see that as a challenge in wading through red tape, rather than in anything academic. If she's being told how great she is, she may be in for a nasty shock when she hits the world of work.

then again she may become a permanent professional academic

Or a celebrity, having already a media presence.

But none of those things is guaranteed, and top A-level grades have little if any relevance to them. The danger is that she's been constantly told that what she's doing is a passport to success (of which it could of course be one component), and bases expectations on that right up to the point where it hits back.