The Exams aren't any easier it's just each year the teachers become more familiar with the syllabus and the format of the exams. You are basically taught how to pass the exam not the subject in any great depth. Course work for example, even when I was still at school (12 years ago now ) you were virtually told how to get full marks.

So in my opinion they aren't any easier, the kids are probably just prepared better.

Whether or not that's the correct system is another matter.

It's not that they're twice as bright, just twice as many are.

thats pretty much it, all the way through secondary school, college and uni the teachers knew the system and that was more or less all it was about, i know of plenty of lads in school and college who barely turned up all year apart from the last month and got a good grade simply by turning up that month and doing past exam papers solidly for that month. the questions on the papers are 90% similar jsut worded differently each year but on same subjects.

look i think of myself as easy going and able to get on with anybody so why is it that just the thought of this self serving little twat can get my hackles up,i've never even met him

No, the exams are no easier or harder than 20 years ago. The results will always improve while they have the same format in place because the teachers gain more experience every year in how to get more and more kids through them. Also the kids who do well still have to put the work in, it always annoys me when this comes up at results time. It's not fair on the students who have worked just as hard as people have in the past that they get their achievements almost discredited with theories of none existent 'dumbing down'.

Saying that in full concurrence on your thoughts on our smarmy face tvvat of an MP

I agree with pj fully.

There is nothing more patronising then being absolutely buzzing your tits off when you pass your exams for someone to say they are easier.

.............. he reminds me of a used car salesman, double glazing salesman, Uriah Heep, one of those little rolly men that budgies tvvat in their cages, an Ewok, a slug, wee jimmy Krankies twin brother, a lap dog and a nodding dog with smile like tarnished coffin handles all rolled into one ...... and that's the good points!

Everyone Ive ever spoken to thinks Iain Wright is a twat so who the feck is it that keeps voting him in ?

Probably because we don't want a Tory MP in the town.
I've met him at a conference once and he seemed a canny bloke.

Come and do the A-Level History paper I sat my kids down to last week and tell me exams have been dumbed down. I sat my History A-Level 6 years ago and it was a piece of piss compared to what my lot received.

'We teach to the test...' Possibly we do. That is how we are measured so it's obvious we'll teach the young people of today how to pass their exams. But (and a big BUT) it means nothing if they don't know the subject material to go along with it. What use is knowing how to plan the perfect essay if you haven't got a clue about the significance of Martin Luther King or the negative aspects of the Black Panthers? Only so much we can do.

The syllabus comes and goes - you can get used to one and they'll pull the rug from under your feet. It happened two years ago to History, and we're hearing murmuring that it could happen again in 2011. That's just the way it is. What's more the truth is that a generation of young, keen teachers are coming through to replace the tired old 'chalk and talk' teachers that have existed since the 1960's. We know what the government wants, so we give it to them. Believe me, teaching strategies are far better now than they've ever been. The older generation of teachers think 'my way or the highway' and the kids just don't respond. The education system isn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but I just can't sit back when I hear people who have no really idea what is going on commenting on it.

Well said young man.
We need to stop using performances as political footballs.
I don't give a shit about Wright or what crap he comes out with, but the kids are definitely more geared up to respond to exams than they were twenty years ago AND they get stuck in more, FACT.
Those who think exams are dumbed down ought to have a go at them. FACT.

Are you seriously arguing that History A level is harder than it was six years ago? By so much that your own A level was a, "piece of piss"? The change to units that can be repeated obviously helped A level grades to rise, as did teachers adjusting to the methods needed to get more kids through advanced courses, as did kids working much harder. However we need to remember that School Cert changed to O levels and CSEs which in turn changed to GCSEs, they were all different and didn't exactly measure the same thing. Once what you choose to measure with an exam changes comparisons don't work very well.

Wright is a self-serving, snivelling git who tries to claim credit for education improving when it hasn't, or at least not by as much as the official statistics would suggest. You teach a subject that should make you very wary of official statistics but you swallow them whole and then try to claim credit for them! Teachers are generally better than they were in the '60s but "chalk and talk" was out of favour by the '70s, the change has been gradual and isn't entirely due to you and your recently qualified mates. Most of the older teachers I know at least have the common sense and humility to take government statistics highlighted in an election year with a pinch of salt.

Just in case anybody hasn't heard................Mr Wright is a politician, regardless of which party he represents. If he gets replaced at the next election he will be replaced by another politician.
If this shower ( labour ) gets kicked out, they will probably be replaced by the shower ( Tory ) that got kicked out in '97.
Can anybody seriously get excited about that possibility? No I thought not.

I tell you what Mutters fella, sit a couple of GCSEs this summer, then tell me what you think.

Mr Ian Wright is an ardent Pools fan, who attends most home games, surely he demands some respect?, or is there summit I should know?

its just words, too many of em
who gives fu ck in all honesty eh?

This Summer Mr.Trimdon????

I could probably sit 4 or 5 this weekend and end up with A's!!!!

... so if Hitler had a season ticket he'd demand respect....?

Adolf is a Poolie,
Adolf is a Poolie,
Na-na-na-na. Na-na-na-na.....

Nah, doesn't sound right does it??

He'd slot seamlessly into the Mil House seats.....

True Mr derwent, but politicians are like babies nappies and should be changed regularly for the same reason the nappies are.....

Not this Trimdon crap again?

Anyway, back to the point; go do it Mutters, we're all behind you! How many are you going to sit? Have you had a chat with your tutor about your options?

Yes, I am arguing that History A Level is harder than 6 years ago. Did you sit the History A Level 6 years ago? I did. Have you taught the new A Level? I have. A significant part of the exam 6 years ago was to 'describe an event or a person', which anybody with half a brain could answer. A memory test - no more, no less. The exams now asks candidates to answer purely analytically and evaluatively which is much, much harder to do. Different in terms of the way they were assessed maybe, but I know which one I'd rather sit.

Not once did I claim credit for the statistics. My argument was that the exams have not been dumbed down. Changed maybe, as you've stated, but not dumbed down. Believe me, 'chalk and talk' is still prevalent in many schools across the country. The mixture of youth and experience many schools now have along with far better leadership. Statistics are bollocks but it's what we're judged on - if the statistics make me and my colleagues look good then so be it. We get enough flak as it is!

No I didn't sit the A level exam six years ago but I did teach it. I have also taught the new A level, and the old style two three hour papers of four essays each, both done within a few days of each other after two years study. To get an A in the essay style one you had to know a lot and write extremely well under extreme pressure.

Candidates now have the chance to resit units and the AS/1 units are far more accessible. I see this as a good thing in many ways. Application and organisation are rewarded more than they used to be but the need to write well isn't as important. For traditionalists that translates as falling standards, for me it just means the exam is measuring different stuff now so neither politicians or teachers should get too thrilled about it. From what I can gather the same argument can be applied to most GCSEs.

I'm sure you already know this but the other thing is that when they had those factual recall questions that you did at AS the boards just moved the grade boundaries up as they were basically free marks for anybody with half a brain. The boundaries are adjusted every year just in case a paper turns out to be harder or easier than it was meant to be.

On the far better leadership point I'm amazed. All I can see in schools is a load of Blairite automatons being rewarded for slavishly following crappy initiatives and going along with stupid lies about the scale of school improvement. The new style of management pissed me off so much that I left.

One other thing ADG, be careful saying that you have to work in a sector to have an opinion about it. Chris Turner might tell you to shut up because you don't work in football.

Mutley are you trying to tell me my GCSE's, A'Levels and degrees mean less becasue I didnt get them 20 years ago, go and give you head a wobble.

So are schools a "business sector" then? I thought they were were a tax payer funded service that everybody pays for so everybody is allowed an opinion on.

Obviously you should take the opinions of people with insider knowledge seriously but sometimes they have their own agenda so you can't just assume they're right. Look at the way the medical profession often cover up for each other when there is a problem. Look at the way the police sometimes conspire to lie in court.

Have a think instead of reaching for the smilies.

You make some very fair points, especially concerning resits. What do you teach?

From my point of view, I don't think the AS units are that much more accessible. It was only a few years ago that students were expected to know in depth one topic in Unit 1, which is hard enough when it covers a wide period of time. They're now expected to know two topics in depth which becomes a nightmare at times. My biggest gripe is that I have don't have time to cover the really interesting bits in a sufficient amount of depth because I just can't afford to miss something out.

Maybe it's what because it's all I've known but I've worked in three very different schools with three very different headteachers and they've lived and breathed their establishments. All have impressed me in many different ways. Part of the reason that students from Hartlepool are doing particularly well at the moment is because of the standard of headship at every school and college - establishments seem to have been transformed by the work of that individual.

Well my daughters been revising since before CHRISTMAS for these exams.. I honestly don't remember doing that myself.. AS for needing to know everything of the top of your head.. thats bollocks.. What you DO need to know (and what you always really have had to know) is where to get the information from if you DON'T know it and use it correctly.. Just reeling off a load a shit in an exam hall proves nothing other than the fact you've got a good memory...

Good to hear that Hartlepool's schools are attracting people who care about the kids. I found that more and more of the people I saw gaining promotions were "wannabe" managers first and teachers second. Yes men and women of the worst kind and the last people you'd want running schools.

I used to teach History and a bit of General Studies and was the HoD in a big city school for about twelve years. I packed in full time teaching about eight years ago but did a couple of years part time and a little stint full time for mates who had sudden staffing problems in their departments in a couple of very high achieving rural schools.

I think most teachers work extremely hard and teaching methods have improved too. On top of that kids certainly work much harder nowadays but I'm not convinced that the current expansion of A level and degree level qualifications is just because of those factors. I'm abroad now and it is interesting to see how many private schools, and very high achieving state schools back in the UK, are adopting the IB course that lots of international schools do. They feel it allows the most able kids to show their full potential whereas A levels don't anymore. The top universities, who tend not to be as dependent on government funding, seem to be saying the same sort of stuff. Maybe they've got a point and, since changes in course structures and content, the top grades at A level can be reached by kids with less academic talent than you used to need.

I'm not trying to knock anybody's qualifications or teaching skills but facts are stubborn and the massive increases in pass rates and higher grades suggest that the changes in courses since the late '90s have made A levels and degrees far more accessible than they used to be. You can see that as good or bad but you can't just pretend it hasn't happened.

Shame kosherOY is all loved up and doesnt post anymore, he teaches you know?

And he went to the coventry match i heard.

True, I miss him. He is a brilliant teacher, much better than his shitty colleagues, and would easily settle any debate with the definitive answer.

Wikipeadia:-Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 - 30 April 1945) was an Austrian born German politician, and leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party, commonly known as the Nazi Party. He was the totalitarian leader of Germany from 1933-45, serving as Chancellor from 1933-45, and head of state from 1933-45. In later life he became an ardent Hartlepool United fan from his home in Argentina.....

Was speaking to hitler last week via facebook, even he's stopped going to pools now.

Says a lot when die hard fans like him have stopped going.

Did see Eva Braun at the MK Dons game like.

I saw Hermann Göring in Throston bookies putting a bet on the African cup of Nations

Yeah, I've seen him drinking pints of creme-de-menthe in the Powlett, always has a packet of Drum baccy on his lap.

I could have sworn that loons was Göring's cup of tea closley followed by the Buff's

No, no, no, not Loons he was shown the door for complaining:- "Das musik unt herting mine ears, Ya"

I've sat two seats from Hitler for years, he can be a bit of a nuisance when the seats are crowded and demands more lebensraum and he tries to annex the nearest seats, but that apart from that and the beating of his chest with a clenched fist when we don't perform, he's not really any bother.... Mind, saying that, he did once try to goebbel some of my chips when I was distracted talking... I should have been annoyed, but one look from those icily blue malevolent eyes and you just have to smile, that and the Luger in you ribs.

He hasn't missed a home game since Spurs in the league cup in 1990.

I can only hope he doesn't brilliantly teach the kids his ethics.

I can only talk from personal experience, but I don't think you can possibly compare exam results now and exam results from the not too distant past and say that kids are getting brighter due to the different content and the different criteria upon which they're marked.

My big problem with today's graduates is their lack of basic English and maths skills.

Maybe Mr Kibber or another resident teacher could confirm or deny whether kids lose marks in exams for spelling and grammar? We used to lose marks in all exams, not just English, for poor spelling and grammar. As I understand it they don't even lose marks in English now so long as the examiner "knows what they meant", and they'll get marks in maths for a wrong answer so long as they show their working out or are nearly right.

Mental arithmetic is also practically non-existent due to the permitted use of calculators for basic maths. Fair enough, you may use calculators at work (or spreadsheets) but you've got to know if the numbers feel right, I've had instances where the most basic calculations have been put into the calculator incorrectly giving a number thousands or millions out from the correct answer and the numpty presenting the figures hasn't realised because they believe that the calculator is always right and they have no feel for where the right number should be.

To me, basic English and maths is a good indicator of intelligence, and if the education system is not instilling these attributes to kids today then there is something the matter with the education system rather than necessarily with the kids who're being awarded A's even though they can then come across as being thick in the workplace.

I agree. Nearly everyone can be taught to do at least simple maths, and to use language properly and, especially in the case of language, it's basically what makes us human. What are we doing to kids, by telling them it doesn't matter?

I am intelligent have a very good grasp of the world and common sence, I also know a load of useless information thats why I am good at quiz's, but my English is shocking. I am very good at maths though.

So how is that a good indicator of intelligence

Edit: When I mean English I ment written English not speaking as I consider myself to be quite articulate.

I said a good indicator not the only indicator. Maybe it's a good job that you concede to your English being poor.

Well I cant hide it on a message board

Not any more. As you say, it used to be graded on some papers but I'm not sure when it was discontinued. I've not really had an issue with it so I couldn't comment.