Climbing Mount Bullshit

BBC news reports that a Think Tank has come up with the idea that so-called soft "A" levels may be a barrier to entering a decent university.

No shit!

The amazing thing is that it took a think tank to do it: surely that should be patently obvious to anyone with sufficient brain power to gain entry to higher-education.

Jeez Louise, that's what the old 11+ did: it separated the promising kids into the grammar stream and put the rest of us (me included) into Secondary Modern. "A" levels are perceived as the same thing. Three A*s at A level should be enough to get you into a good Uni - but wait.

A levels aren't all the same thing - it isn't a standard test. And just as some mountains are easier to climb than others, some A levels are easier than others.

Science A levels (even, if rumour is to be believed, have been gutted) are always going to be harder to pass than the arts. Not everyone is going to be able to grasp the concepts - my own weakness was mathematics. As hard as I tried, maths was an impassible path for me.

NASUWT's Chris Keates, said: "It is completely demoralising to teachers and young people to be on the receiving end of this complete denigration of the exam system. There are enormous demands placed on teachers and young people following A-level courses. We should be celebrating the standards that are achieved, not constantly seeking to cast doubt on their validity."

Bullshit!

Keates' position is defensive without actually looking at the real problem - standards are falling. This doesn't come from me but from the repeated reports from universities complaining that students are unable to perform basic maths (for example).

This is sort of robust discussion we need to have if future generations are going to be any use in our increasingly technological world.