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1.
General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) examinations are taken by almost all pupils in England, Wales and Northern Ireland at age 16 years. General Certificate of Education Advanced level (GCE A‐level) examinations are normally taken by relatively able students at age 18. The effect of month of birth on attainment in these public examinations is investigated through a database which brings together the 1991 GCSE results and the 1993 GCE A‐level results of all candidates born between September 1974 and August 1975. Older pupils perform best at GCSE but not at GCE A‐level. Selection effects on entry to A‐level courses appear to explain why this is the case.  相似文献   

2.
The mathematics achievement of a cohort of 955 students in 42 classes in six schools in London was followed over a 4‐year period, until they took their General Certificate of Secondary Education examinations (GCSEs) in the summer of 2000. All six schools were regarded by the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) as providing a good standard of education, and all were involved in teacher training partnerships with universities. Matched data on Key Stage 3 test scores and GCSE grades were available for 709 students, and these data were analysed in terms of the progress from Key Stage 3 test scores to GCSE grades. Although there were wide differences between schools in terms of overall GCSE grades, the average progress made by students was similar in all six schools. However, within each school, the progress made during Key Stage 4 varied greatly from set to set. Comparing students with the same Key Stage 3 scores, students placed in top sets averaged nearly half a GCSE grade higher than those in the other upper sets, who in turn averaged a third of a grade higher than those in lower sets, who in turn averaged around a third of a grade higher than those students placed in bottom sets. In the four schools that used formal whole‐class teaching, the difference in GCSE grades between top and bottom sets, taking Key Stage 3 scores into account, ranged from just over one grade at GCSE to nearly three grades. At the schools using small‐group and individualized teaching, the differences in value‐added between sets were not significant. In two of the schools, a significant proportion of working‐class students were placed into lower sets than would be indicated by their Key Stage 3 test scores.  相似文献   

3.
The term ‘applied track’ in UK further education has been used to refer to the applied A level, the vocational, coursework-based version of the traditional academic A level. Vocational and coursework-based courses are often criticised for being easier than academic courses, for only attracting students who do not satisfy the requirements to take academic courses and for not developing in students the skills they need to be successful in higher education. This paper considers the extent to which these criticisms may be justified and explores the reasons why students chose to take an applied A level. The study involved 666 students at a large, mixed sex sixth form college in the UK, who were taking both applied and academic A levels. Although statistical analysis showed that students on the applied course performed worse than students on two academic courses once their different GCSE scores had been accounted for, it was also found that the applied students were relatively well qualified, that they were generally well motivated and hard working, and that they were extremely satisfied with the course. Finally, it is suggested that perhaps universities are misguided in assuming that applied courses do not develop in students the skills that they need to be successful in higher education.  相似文献   

4.
There are many adults who left school without A levels who wish to further their education as mature students. Because many of these adults are being accepted by colleges without traditional A levels, and with very few GCSE/O level subject passes, it has been suggested that their acceptance as students may lower the standard of the college courses. This paper evaluates the qualities which mature and non‐traditional entry students bring to college courses, and concludes that their results compare favourably with those of traditional entry students. Many mature students appear to have needs in common with other students and meeting these needs would result in better practice within institutions of higher education (HE). However, mature students also have specific needs which are evaluated in this paper. Most require little additional expenditure, but are rather a matter of will and organisation on the part of the institution and tutors. Entry as mature students onto BEd courses seems to be particularly attractive to women but some of them experience difficulty in finding employment. The data collected demonstrate that maturity is likely to be a positive attribute and the mature applicant for a post to be a ‘quality product’.  相似文献   

5.
Since its inception 30 years ago, the then Department of Engineering Science, Institut Teknologi MARA (ITM) was given the responsibility of preparing all the students in the first year engineering programmes by giving enough knowledge in basic science and mathematics. The nation's vision to become a fully‐industrialised economy by the year 2020 required all institutes of higher learning (IHLs) in Malaysia to increase their intake of students in the science and technology courses, especially in engineering. However, at the upper secondary education level, students have the freedom to choose between the science‐based or non‐science combination of subjects. This has led to a dearth of science‐based students enrolling in IHLs. Because ITM believes that it is possible to educate individuals from various backgrounds, the engineering courses are open to students with a variety of academic qualifications. Special bridging courses were designed and created for such students since late 1996. The success or failure of the new courses can be assessed after the students have gone through the proper first year engineering courses which consist of Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry. This paper reports on a pilot study on the pioneer groups of students with variable entry qualifications to assess the effectiveness of the courses. The study involved the analysis of the students’ examination results as a performance indicator, and it was found that the bridging programme for non‐science students needed to be redesigned. It is also proposed that to improve the quality of the programme, and hence students’ performance, a regular review be conducted, student support activities be continued and to expand the use of self‐study materials.  相似文献   

6.
This article examines the cause of school type effects upon gaining a first class degree at Oxford University, whereby for a given level of secondary school performance, private school students perform less well at degree level. We compare the predictive power of an aptitude test and secondary school grades (GCSEs) for final examination performance, using data from the Oxford Admissions Study. Both metrics are predictive of final degree performance but the school effects are only statistically robust for arts students. Private school students perform less well in final examinations relative to their GCSE results when compared with state school students, but they do not under perform relative to their aptitude test scores or in gross terms. It is therefore argued that teaching effects, associated with private school students, distort secondary school grades as an indicator of academic potential in higher education when compared to state school students.  相似文献   

7.
This research aimed to explore whether pupils’ perceptions of studying for the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) altered during the two‐year period of study of this qualification. Six hundred and forty four pupils from eight schools in outer London completed a self‐report questionnaire on two occasions, once in Year 10 and once in Year 11, which elicited their responses to statements about studying. Overall, throughout the course pupils remained anxious about coursework, examinations and homework and the time required for them. There was little evidence that pupils developed an increased level of understanding about the demands of the GCSE or a wider range of study strategies to support effective learning. That the students in this research remained as uncertain about the demands of coursework and the quality of their work in Year 11 as Year 10 warrants attention from those who plan and deliver the GCSE.  相似文献   

8.
Abstract

Both major political parties are currently giving a high priority to this country's quality of education, especially to its provision for 16‐19 year‐olds. Responding to persistent criticism expressed by leading industrialists and scientists of our narrow specialisation, the government produced its White Papers on further and higher education with issues of breadth and equivalence of status at their core. The purpose of this article is to trace the recent history of largely unsuccessful attempts to reform the A‐level examinations, to show why they failed and to draw some conclusions about that history which may be relevant to the contemporary political and educational debate. Firstly, it will consider the likely outlook for the Advanced Supplementary Examinations, which have been introduced as broadening devices for pupils and which are intended to coexist with traditional A‐level courses. Secondly, it will consider recent proposals to introduce core skills, a more radical initiative which seeks to incorporate identifiable common skills into both A‐level and AS courses and vocational courses. The strength and nature of past resistance to changes at A level and the mixed reception given to these initiatives inside and outside schools and colleges do not augur well for their success.  相似文献   

9.
The increasing opportunities created for adults by on‐line distance universities raise important issues about the payoff to such education. This study uses a unique set of survey data gathered by the Open University of Catalonia (UOC) in 2009 to estimate the earnings gains of the 2000–2003 cohorts of UOC students in six programmes of study over an average six‐year time frame between entering and one year after leaving their studies. It compares their gains with the earnings gains of comparable full‐time workers in the Spanish labour force by age, education level, and gender. The results show that those who studied in UOC's two‐year second‐cycle degree programmes had positive relative earnings gains but those in three‐year first‐cycle degree programmes did not. The study further discusses why adult learners might nevertheless study toward degrees for which payoffs appear low.  相似文献   

10.
ABSTRACT

In the UK education system, an ‘audit culture’ has led to pressures being placed on students to achieve high grades in their GCSEs. It has been suggested that schools are required to achieve good academic results and look after their students’ wellbeing, causing a conflict in relation to public examinations, such as GCSEs. School staff support both performance and wellbeing by preparing students for exams. However, research suggests that there is a danger that many underperform, or are negatively affected (emotionally) by exam stress, or both. This paper describes a research project within the UK. The aims of which were to explore the views of students who had recently taken GCSE exams, to gain an understanding of how they felt their GCSE experiences affected their wellbeing and performance, to find out what factors contributed to or alleviated their levels of exam stress, and whether theories relating to exam stress such as Achievement Goal Theory could be used to explain the individual differences in levels of exam stress. Findings and conclusions provided ways to improve the support for students during their GCSEs, improving academic performance and wellbeing.  相似文献   

11.
A representative sample of counselor educators at U.S. universities were surveyed to identify the kinds of curricula school counselor preparation programs use for preparing students to work with exceptional students (ES). Program courses in exceptional student education (ESE), competencies, field experiences, state certification requirements for ESE courses, the degree of importance accorded by counselor educators to prepare graduates to serve ES, and the educators' level of satisfaction with current program requirements were investigated. Sixty‐two percent of the programs surveyed did not offer a specific ESE course; however, 53% of these programs (N = 146) reported that ESE competencies were incorporated in other program courses.  相似文献   

12.
Modular A‐level courses, indeed modular forms of assessment in many areas of education, have gained in popularity over the past few years. This research looked at data collected as part of the ALIS (A‐level Information System) project. In particular, the attitudes, future academic intentions and attainment of students gaining a grade in A‐level Mathematics were compared, by gender, between those who followed a modular course and those who were assessed at the end of two years of study. The two groups were found to have a similar average GCSE grade, but overall, the final A‐level grades of those assessed modularly were half a grade higher than their linearly assessed contemporaries. Possible reasons for these differences are discussed. The types of teaching style employed in modular and non‐modular A‐level courses were compared. Initial findings suggest that modularly assessed courses are relying even more on a didactic approach.  相似文献   

13.
In this paper, we explore the learning climate and possible obstacles faced by mature students enrolled in Australian universities. More specifically, using the Experience Sampling Method devised by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, we chart the daily activities of Australian and international students and examine these for factors which may facilitate or detract from their studies. Our sample comprised students who had taken mathematics as part of their first‐year load. Most were thus enrolled in science and related courses. Multiple data gathering methods were used. These provided coherent synopses of the participants' activities, lifestyles, motivations, and attitudes to study that allowed us to focus on individual as well as group experiences.  相似文献   

14.
In England, students obtain General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) qualifications, typically at age 16. Certain GCSEs are tiered; students take either higher‐level (higher tier) or lower‐level (foundation tier) exams, which may have different educational, career and psychological consequences. In particular, foundation tier entry, if inappropriate, risks capping students' achievement because of the restricted range of attainable grades and reduced learning that may occur. Tiering decisions may be affected by other aspects of the education system in which they take place, such as by the timing of assessment. The move to linear assessment in 2012 provided a unique opportunity to compare tiering decisions for the same GCSE specifications when taken in a linear system, where students are exclusively assessed at the end of the course, with tiering decisions in a modular system, where students are assessed at different time points. Multilevel logistic regression was used to examine students' likelihood of being entered for the foundation tiers of GCSEs in science, language and mathematics in two exam sessions: June 2013, which allowed modular assessment, and June 2014, which required linear assessment. The analyses also investigated whether these effects depended on student characteristics. Results showed that foundation tier entry was less likely in the linear than modular system for GCSEs in science and languages, but more likely for one mathematics GCSE. This pattern contrasts with concerns that linear assessment may encourage general risk‐aversion, and instead indicates that effects on tiering decisions are more complicated, varying by subject and student factors.  相似文献   

15.
This paper reflects upon the nature of a target‐setting and mentoring scheme in an 11–16 school in England, through a series of retrospective interviews with students who continued into further education. It considers the extent to which the initiative impacted both upon students’ formal academic achievement at 16+ and upon the subsequent longer‐term aspirations of these students. Interviews with students who achieved considerable ‘value‐added’ in their GCSE examinations suggested that the impact of mentoring was strongest amongst those students who came from homes where there was less expectation of them participating in further and higher education, and that this effect was not differentiated according to gender. The paper suggests that longer‐term transformation of students’ aspirations, and the challenging of gendered course and career stereotypes, will only be achieved if schools adopt a more holistic and proactive approach to careers education and to widening participation for their students, and that the absence of such proactivity will limit the longer‐term gains initiated by successful mentoring activities.  相似文献   

16.
A highly touted feature of the so-called global “revolution” in higher education is the trend to use information technology to reach a broader clientele. Although there is evidence that students may be learning the material in on-line courses as well as in traditional face-to-face universities, how well students learn content is not the only reason they persist to a degree, and student persistence is an important goal of higher education institutions. In this paper, we make the case that the life conditions for students attending virtual universities are different from those of “traditional” students in face-to-face universities, and that this difference puts a particular (largely non-pecuniary) premium on time to degree. With our data from a Catalan virtual university, the Open University of Catalonia (UOC), we are able to test this hypothesis directly by using the heterogeneous degree structure of the Catalonian/Spanish higher education system to estimate whether the number of courses required to get various degrees (the length of the degree program) is significantly related to student persistence. The study analyzes several cohorts of students (those who entered in 2000–2003) studying in the UOC and estimates the factors that influence their degree completion. We find that the completion rate is generally low, but that students taking shorter degree courses at the UOC are much more likely to complete their degrees. This suggests that, given their clientele, on-line universities operate under very different constraints from their face-to-face counterparts. Our results are important for higher educational researchers, who have mainly focused on younger populations attending face-face universities. They also can serve university administrators who launch distance education degree programs and make high stakes decisions about them with little of no information on the likely behavior of their older students, and can serve employers who are deciding whether to subsidize their employees to take advanced degrees through on-line programs of study.  相似文献   

17.
Curriculum 2000 has meant significant change for the post-16 sector. New qualifications have been introduced (e.g. the new Advanced Subsidiary examination) and the number of students involved in education and training post-16 has increased. In this scenario how can the standards of new qualifications, particularly the new Advanced Subsidiary examinations, be compared with those of previous qualifications? One method is to use the prior achievement of candidates (i.e. GCSE results) as a basis for comparison of their results on subsequent qualifications (i.e. A levels and AS). This method of comparability and its limitations will be explored using examples with actual data.  相似文献   

18.
What are the effects of ability grouping on GCSE attainment?   总被引：2，自引：0，他引：2  
The use of ability grouping is frequently justified on the grounds that it is an effective means of raising attainment. Little large‐scale quantitative research has been undertaken since the introduction of the National Curriculum in England and Wales. The aim of this article is to examine the effects of setting on students' achievement in English, mathematics and science General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) examinations. Data were collected from a cohort of over 6000 Year 9 students in 45 mixed secondary comprehensive schools who were followed up in Year 11 when they sat GCSE examinations. Multilevel modelling was used to estimate the effect of setting on GCSE attainment, taking account of prior attainment, social disadvantage, gender and attendance. There were no significant effects of setting in English, mathematics or science. Effects on higher and lower attaining students were not consistent in the three subjects. Socially disadvantaged students achieved significantly lower grades and girls achieved higher grades than boys, especially in English. In all three subjects, students of similar ability achieved higher GCSE grades when they were placed in higher sets. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.  相似文献   

19.
This paper explores the decision‐making of students entering full time UK taught masters degree courses. The findings come from an ongoing research project, Career progression and employability for full time UK resident masters students. Little previous work has focused on these students and their process of transition (however long) from undergraduate studies. Analysis of the data from in‐depth interviews with 24 students from six masters courses across two universities has led to the development of a threefold classification to summarize students' circumstances on entry to their courses. Alongside this, Bourdieu's notions of field, social, cultural and economic capital and habitus have proved valuable in making sense of the data. I argue that students' decisions to pursue full time higher level study are related to their circumstances on application, their dispositions and the resources they have available to them that are relevant to their masters level study. Key differences in the students' circumstances are cross cut by key common themes, suggesting that they bring their prior dispositions to their decision‐making, which is firmly located within the opportunity structures they perceive as relevant to themselves. The complexities of the students' decision‐making appear to be a far cry from the narrow policy notion of students as rational actors seeking economic gain.  相似文献   

20.
In the UK, estimated grades have long been provided to higher education establishments as part of their entry procedures. Since 1994 they have also been routinely collected by awarding bodies to facilitate the grade‐awarding process. Analyses of required estimates to a British awarding body revealed that teachers' estimates of candidates' Curriculum 2000 A level grades in the first year of awarding demonstrated an unprecedented degree of accuracy. Estimates of AS level grades conversely showed relative imprecision. Accuracy of the A‐level estimates was most likely bolstered by feedback inherent to the modularisation of the examination while the weakness of AS level estimates may have been a consequence of the comparatively unfamiliar standard at which this qualification was set. As in previous research, and for both GCE qualifications, when estimates were inaccurate they were more commonly optimistic than pessimistic.  相似文献   

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