A Level and GCSE results

Congratulations to all those who have done well and obtained the grades they wanted in the recent assessments for national qualifications. Schools in the constituency have produced good results, allowing more young people to move into the 6th Form in a positive spirit or to go on to the university of their choice.  Well done to all the schools and teachers who have helped their students to a good outcome.

25 Comments

  1. formula57
    August 12, 2021

    Out of interest, by whom would you rather be operated on, a heart surgeon who has passed the heart surgeon exams, rigourously and independently marked, or a heart surgeon who according to some instructor did ever so well in class, no really, bright as a button with n’er a hint of downloading essays from the internet, and who probably would have passed the exams given a good day had there been any?

    Let us at least see a benefit for the taxpayer. Scrap schools and teaching and just print the top grade certificates that can be left in a bin near supermarket checkouts for the Gen, Z-ers to collect if they can be bothered.

    The only one deserving of congratulation is the Right Honourable Gavin and that is for keeping his job while presiding over this shameful fiasco, a betrayal of every student.

  2. acorn
    August 12, 2021

    All they/we need now, is a government that understands how to use its own fiat currency, to maximise the deployment of our educated human and our natural resources. Sadly, we have a Neoliberal Tory government that has no idea how to do that.

    The bottom line is, if your educated youngsters and the not-so-youngsters, are not being fully employed using the non-human recourses available to them; it is always because the government’s budget deficit, is too small to allow it to happen.

    1. Peter2
      August 12, 2021

      Which can be translated into a request for the government to create and spend even more money than they currently are.
      Would any amount for any area of government spending satisfy you acorn?

      1. Mitchel
        August 13, 2021

        There is an extremely good -and highly informative -research paper by Dr Michael Hudson and Professor Radhika Desai “Beyond the Dollar Creditocracy:A geopolitical Economy” published by the Valdai Discussion Club,Russia’s premier think tank,looking at the changes coming in the global financial system with some very useful historical background detail.

        Hudson is possibly the greatest economic historian regarding debt and credit and Russia is at the forefront of those disrupting the current debauched system.

        Google-able and well worth a read.

  3. Richard II
    August 12, 2021

    Congratulations to all those students who have obtained the grades they deserved.

    Shame on the politicians and the teachers who saddled last year’s young people with what may well be seen as suspect A level grades, then repeated the outrage this year.

    1. Alan Jutson
      August 13, 2021

      Richard

      Would be interested to hear your solution to the problem

  4. Lifelogic
    August 12, 2021

    The Gov. should never have cancelled the exams. There was no reason at all not to hold then it has left a rather dire devalued mess. A sensible employer or university will ignore this years results and last years results (other than perhaps the actual subjects chosen) and look at their GCSEs and/or give them their own tests.

    I see 57% of university undergraduate students are now female only 43% male quite a large difference. But women are more likely to work part time, tend to choose lower paid work (for work life balance and other reasons), far less likely to read STEM subjects and they take far more career breaks. So the student loans are far more likely to be grants for them. They in effect pay far less than men so it is far better value for them. Perhaps as little as 50% of the cost for women on average. Indirect discrimination?

    Glad it did not happen to me as I was good at exams and lazy/messy at handing work in to teachers. Most was done on the bus late if at all or quietly in a different lesson. Plus I missed all my mocks with Glandular Fever.

    1. Nif arrow Shoulders
      August 12, 2021

      If they just graded on the curve exams would have been OK.

      1. Narrow Shoulders
        August 12, 2021

        Been imbibing on the curve.

  5. Lindsay McDougall
    August 12, 2021

    Given the grade inflation that occurs whenever teachers mark their own students, would not an algorithm to get rid of the grade inflation be a good idea?

    1. Lifelogic
      August 12, 2021

      To adjudicate grades fairly without grade inflation the students teachers are a poor choice. You could get a far better estimate of A level grades from their real GCSEs results (overall and in in similar subjects).

  6. Mike Wilson
    August 12, 2021

    Is this article sarcasm?

  7. Micky Taking
    August 12, 2021

    Perhaps the higher grades were deserved? After all some students are bored rigid by teachers and work better online or at home. Many of the more able students are forced to work (and learn)at the slowest pace the teacher has to allow for the weaker students. Well done to all, most adults will understand how hard studying has been this last 18 months or so.

  8. No Longer Anonymous
    August 12, 2021

    Keep the schools closed !!! They obviously produce better results that way.

    *sarcasm*

    It beggars belief. On my usual train commute I see people whom I used to commute with, who are WFH because they too scared to work and to travel but willing to pack their families on to trains for days out.

    1. Narrow Shoulders
      August 12, 2021

      Needs to be said.

  9. Lifelogic
    August 12, 2021

    It seems the education secretary cannot remember his A level grades. History, Economics and Government & Politics it seems – then followed by Social Sciences at Bradford. They must surely have been rather dreadful (and it rather hard work) to actually contrive to forget them I imagine. But surely someone can helpfully remind him.

    As someone once remarked:- Anything that calls itself a Science, probably isn’t.. Rather similar to the word “Independent” or “accountable” in this respect.

    1. Nig l
      August 13, 2021

      Only a pedant cares

  10. Micky Taking
    August 12, 2021

    off topic.
    More than half a million EU citizens are still awaiting a decision over UK settled status after a surge of applications before the June deadline. Some 569,100 cases were pending in July, Home Office data shows. Lawyers have warned that delays can last weeks, leaving some EU nationals unable to work or rent. The Home Office says it has deployed extra resources to deal with applications and most non-complex cases are decided within five working days.
    After Brexit, the automatic right for EU citizens and their families to live and work in the UK ended.
    Instead, EU citizens had to apply for legal permission to remain under what is known as the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS). A total of 6,015,400 applications were made between the launch of the scheme in March 2019 and the closing date of 30 June 2021.
    Another 58,200 applications came in after the deadline, figures up to 31 July show.
    Poland was the nation with the highest number of applications at 1,091,500, followed by Romania with 1,067,200 and Italy with 545,600. At least these people managed to escape the EU and find work and a future.

    1. Mitchel
      August 13, 2021

      Off topic but not wholly unrelated to the issue of immigration I’ve just seen a Ukrainian govt press release titled:”Ukraine sends 38 tonnes of humanitarian aid to Lithuania”.

      Intrigued,I read further.Guess what it is!…..razor wire!!….to help the Lithuanians keep out all those asylum seekers that Belarus has been sending over the Lithuanian and Polish borders.

  11. Peter2
    August 12, 2021

    Congratulations to school students who have achieved these results.
    GCSE is a gateway to moving onto A levels and A levels a gateway to go on to degree level courses.
    In each step up there is a new challenge to be faced.

    There is a lot of pressures on this cohort.
    Not just because of Covid but because schools have been marking and testing their work during the whole time of the course.
    In some ways an exam is less stressful.
    I’ve seen the hard work put in by young people over the last two yearsand I wish these students further deserved success.

  12. JayGee
    August 12, 2021

    Are we seriously expected to believe that the education secretary cannot remember his A level grades? FGS.
    I can remember my A and my O level grades and I took those exams before the education secretary was born. I can also remember the classification of my honours degree, taken before the ed sec was born.
    Who is he trying to kid?
    PS. Why the fanfare for exams passed? Used to be ‘well done, now go clean up the mess you’ve left in your bedroom’ or even ‘oh well, try harder next time, now go clean up the mess you’ve left in your bedroom’. No pressure; no floral glory; no added ‘mental health’ stress – just get on with living.

  13. Christine
    August 12, 2021

    As homeschooling by parents has produced the best ever academic achievements then we may as well sack all the teachers and close all the schools.

    1. Alan Jutson
      August 13, 2021

      Whilst I would agree that homeschooling suits some, especially those with parents at home to make sure school work gets done, most parents I would suggest do not normally work from home, or are at home during the day.
      Social interaction is also an important skill to learn, but I agree home schooling appears to suit some students better, and I am sure the numbers of students will grow using this form of tuition.

    2. Paul Cuthbertson
      August 13, 2021

      Christine- Sack all the teachers, most of whom support left wing ideologies and reveret the curriculum to what it was 70+ years ago. No one fails in this day and age.

  14. Nig l
    August 13, 2021

    What a disgrace a load of teeth sucking oldies trashing the efforts of swathes of young men and women at one of the most exciting times of their lives. Well done to the youngsters for what they have achieved.

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