For example, my 1982 grade C Physics ‘A’-level, 3 grade A ‘O’-Levels and 5 grade B ‘O’ levels look decidedly mediocre when compared to modern grades, yet I was a top-of-class student at the time.

I began worrying that including my school exam grades on my CV could actually be disadvantages on a job application, even though they were considered very good grades when I obtained them.

I suppose grades don’t really matter at my age, as work experience supersedes them, but I’m still displeased with the way my education has effectively been devalued by moving the goalposts.

Since then the decline has continued until now the Physics course has been split in two. A four year course, that now covers what the three year course used to cover and a three year course, for students who do not want necessarily want an academic career in physics.

Having observed these changes over such an extended period, and noted that despite this wholesale reorganisation of the course, the number of students entering the university with A grades is undiminished.

This is not conclusive proof that mathematics has become easier over the last 20 years or so, but it does present a compelling case.

If have also recently purchased the most recent edition of a book textbook that I used during my first year at university. Material that was once assumed to be familiar to students entering university (and therefore summarised in a single chapter) now occupies six full chapters. (For those who are interested: Mathematical Methods for Physics and Engineering K.F. Riley et al., [Cambridge] developed from Mathematical Methods for the Physical Sciences)

I have little doubt that the availability of computers and the internet have improved the educational experience for those who have access to them. And in many ways the additional resources, and the efficiency with which they can be consulted must serve to hasten learning. But given the great strides that have been made in the last 20 years with personal computers and the Internet, should ‘A’ level students not by now be wrestling with Quantum Mechanics, Tensor Calculus and Group Theory?

Looking at current exam papers in maths and physics, I have only three comments to make.

1. The questions are demanding but are structured to make them considerably easier to tackle.
2. The form and content of the questions are a lot more predictable, teachers and students have a much better idea how to prepare for questions.
3. As a consequence of point 2 less creative though goes into passing Science / Maths ‘A’ Levels now, the emphasis has shifted from synthesis to recitation.

My A Level Maths paper seemed a breeze compared to hers, I got an A but still, accross the board, A Levels are getting easier most definately

Statistically this was quite right, but people could not quite get their minds around the idea that someone could provide the same answer in two different years, and get an A grade in one year and a B grade in another.

Unfortunately, people also seem to be imbued with a belief that the same answer given to two different examiners will yield the same grade. And of course, that has never been true.

So marginal cases are always tricky – but at least in th 1980s and before, you knew what an A level was worth, regardless of the year it was taken.

When I took my A levels (1979) there was a fixed percentage of candidates awarded an ‘A’, a fixed percentage getting a ‘B’ etc.. Strangely, this was slightly different for different subjects, but generally around the top 10% got an ‘A’ (in Physics it was 8% and in English 12%). Now we have ‘norm referencing’ – the idea being that if you meet a certain standard, you get a certain grade. As around 25% now get an ‘A’ it is certainly more possible to get an ‘A’, but this doesn’t prove that the absolute standard is lower. The problem is that, with a changing syllabus, how do you ensure that the standard stays the same, is consistent between subjects, or that it isn’t being changed? You can’t.

Having said that, the syllabus almost certainly is less demanding in many areas. I looked at the A level Physics syllabus recently and was surprised to see it almost denuded of mathematics. When I asked a teacher why, they explained that it is now often taken by people who have no interest in pursuing careers that also require maths, such as physics or engineering, but who need physics to get on other courses, such as medicine. Hence it has been altered to respond to ‘customer demand’.

On the other hand, it is common now to start 4 or 5 A levels and reduce the number to 3 or 4 in the second year of the sixth form. 2 or 3 used to be the usual number for most students. It may not be altogether a bad thing if standards in indvidual subjects are somewaht lower but a wider range of subjects are taken. Too much specialisation too early was always one of the criticisms of A levels.

Lastly, can I just comment that I hope that English isn’t one of Sarah Cole’s subjects. “Medioca” indeed!

Hope you won’t mind but I’ve ripped off one of your excellent charts here- http://burningourmoney.blogspot.com/2007/08/pass-or-fail.html

Best wishes

Wat Tyler

I’ve just stumbled across your blog Googling for a chart of the A level pass rate.

It’s excellent, and your charts are first rate. You have obviously devoted many hours to rooting out some of the inconvenient facts the QCA tries to keep hidden.

As you say, it may be that an A Level exam that passes 96.2% of candidates is exactly what we want- the head of the QCA certainly thinks so. But I suspect the rest of us don’t quite see it that way.

The Sunday Times/Durham/ONS study underlined just how much grade inflation there’s been in just two decades- 2 whole grades… an astonishing 3.5 grades in Maths…

The A levels are still measuring something, but they sure ain’t identifying top performance any more.

PS Do you by any chance have a chart of the simple pass rate going back further than 1982? If not, do you happen to know if the dumbing down had started by then? Weren’t the University Exam Boards still in charge and safeguarding standards then?

Thanks for your reply. However, candidates have always been allowed to retake exams. This is not the issue. A retake is useful for a student who understands the material but performs badly on the day – or one who requires some extra time to understand the material.

Academic research from the office of national statistics, published today, bears out what these articles have been saying. Students of an ability such that they may have expected to get grade Cs in the 1980s can now expect to get grade A at ‘A’ level. In Mathematicsm students who would have expected a ‘D’ will now expect a grade ‘A’.

Are the questions easier? In some cases yes. But even if they are not – it would appear that the marks being awarded are higher for the answers to those questions.

Could you get into UCL with BBC in the 1980s? Not likely – although it would depend on the course. But if the same University is asking for straight As now, what does that tell you about the currency that is the exam grade?

The problem for universities, now that nearly a quarter of candidates get the top grade in any examination, is knowing who the *best* students are. Too many people are getting the top grade, and those who took their exams 20 years ago may feel quite rightly that the calibre of these A grade students is not what it used to be.

You must remember though that with BBC in the 1980′s, you could go very far,and yet the same grades today don’t get you very many places. I am going to a medioca university in the UK while someone with BBC in the 1980′s would have at least guaranteed themselves a place at UCL.