As students across England, Wales and Northern Ireland discover with joy or dismay their A-Level results today, the new A* grade – which was introduced in 2008 and will be awarded this year for the first time – has sparked debate among our panellists. The new top grade will only be awarded to those who achieve a score of over 90%.
When asked for their views, some panellists said that the new grade is a ‘good idea’ as it will provide a way for employers and universities ‘to differentiate between the very top students’ and will ‘reward the students that do exceptionally well’. Others, however, claim that the A* is ‘meaningless’ and only necessary because of the ‘dumbing-down which has resulted in too many people getting A grades’.
Some of our panellists complained that the new grade is symptomatic of ‘grade inflation’ and ‘more pointless fiddling about with education’, while others asked ‘why not just increase the level of the requirement for [normal] “A” grades’?
Reminiscent of the usual annual debate surrounding the adequacy of A levels as a qualification, several respondents made complaints about the syllabus more generally, with one claiming that ‘A-Levels are not a true reflection of ‘intelligence’, but just of the ability to recall’. One expressed concern about the fairness of the new grade, perhaps feeling that only pupils from high-achieving, independent schools would have the A* within their reach, saying that ‘it is a means to give advantage to fee-paying schools who coach their pupils through A-levels so that they have an unfair advantage of getting into university’.
Not all of our responses were so cynical however. One panellist simply wrote: ‘I welcome the introduction of the A* grade. Today's students work hard and deserve recognition not criticism’. Music to the ears, perhaps, of the thousands of students across the country who are today receiving their results at a time when the demand for University places, or lack thereof, has arguably never been so high.
