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This research project examines the impact of removing post 16 A-level examinations for Home Economics and Food Technology in schools in England from 2016. This research explores teachers' experiences from 2016-2020, specifically their views on the progression pathway for those students who wish to pursue further study and employment opportunities in the food sector and other relevant occupations. Schools offer non-A-level courses less frequently as there is uncertainty around course equivalence, and this has resulted in an overall reduction in the numbers studying post 16 food courses. Level 3 qualifications are now focused solely on the hospitality and catering sector with only one applied general qualification. Opportunities for broader areas of study that encompass food science, nutrition and dietetics and food technology have been removed. This has meant that now fewer students access broader career pathways and interests crucially at a time when the UK requires vast numbers of highly skilled postgraduate recruits for the food sector. Teachers made a strong case for why a new A-level course should be developed.

This article applies Bourdieu's notion of "cultural capital" to historical, documentary research which investigates the construction of a scholastic canon within England's A-level music examinations. A digest of the ways in which this canon evolved between 1951 and 1986 is presented in support of the idea that examiners' responses to emerging trends in historical musicology were characterised by a high level of caution. An analysis of the examiners' unreceptive approaches to avant-garde works and to music written by women is employed not only to suggest an underlying conservatism within examiners' practice, but also to contend that this scholastic canon is part of a cycle of reproduction which serves to exclude certain groups of students from higher education. Effects of this cycle on social mobility are discussed both in relation to the historical period under investigation and in light of contemporary debates about the prescription of canonic works within secondary school curricula. The article's conclusions challenge the "disinterestedness" of prescription within the curriculum and identify important factors which should be among the foremost considerations of those planning national programmes of study, both in music and beyond. (Contains 2 notes, 3 tables, and 1 figure.)

Advanced-level English and chemistry examinations in Britain were graded in several conditions: with or without examinees' names; with male or female names; and with "male" or "female" handwriting. No consistent evidence of gender bias was found in the marking. (SK)

One-third to one-half of all candidates for dental licensure in 35 states fail part of their initial examination, but most pass the second with little or no attempt at knowledge or clinical skills improvement. These data highlight discussion of issues in dental licensure, including the validity of clinical skills testing. (MSE)

This study investigates the effects of student engagement and rapidity of completing exams on student performance before and during the first wave of COVID-19 in March 2020, examining the effect of the shift from face-to-face to online teaching and exams in a Master's in Business Administration degree at a university in Italy. Prior literature mainly finds that student marks benefit from student engagement, but it has been unclear how COVID-19 affected this link. We find that COVID-19 reduced this benefit in the short term. Prior literature also finds that student performance benefits from passing the exam at the earliest opportunity but the effect of COVID-19-related changes on this remains unclear. We find that the link between higher exam marks and rapidity of completing exams was strengthened by COVID-19. The research contributes to the debate on costs and benefits of COVID-19 on accounting education quality. It confirms that there are disadvantages, in terms of the lower efficacy of student engagement, and advantages, in terms of higher marks from more rapid academic progress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various newspaper articles report that British ministers, university representatives, exam chiefs and business bodies agree that foreign languages skills in primary, secondary and tertiary UK education are in crisis. Lower funding and policy changes have caused language skills deficiencies felt gravely in the business sectors. Funding and support initiatives pledged by policy makers appear to be election-driven, barely outliving newly elected governments. Others blame secondary school language curriculum for failing to inspire students to take up a language when they reach 13 or 14. Others still argue that severe A-level examinations marking deters students from taking up a foreign language at 6th form level, producing fewer prospective language learners for university departments. Community languages are also undervalued as small-entry languages could soon be axed from GCSE and A-level examinations. In a world increasingly interconnected, it is essential the importance of language learning be reinstated in all our educational institutions. This paper reviews two decades of the conditions of language provision in the UK in general, with an emphasis on Leeds Beckett University. It also attempts to answer two questions emerging form the author's personal teaching experience and reflections: What are the realities and challenges language teaching faces at Leeds Beckett University? And, how may we support language learners in fulfilling their ambition to acquire the required skills to communicate effectively in this globalised world?

An essential task in higher education is to construct a fair admission procedure. A great deal of research has been conducted on a central aspect of admission: predictive validity. However, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that investigates how the predictive validity of a composite admission score could be improved without redesigning the tests and introducing new measures. In this study, relying on the existing instruments of the Hungarian nationally standardized university entrance score, we construct an alternative score that not only has higher predictive validity but also a lower variation across disciplines and a smaller under- and overprediction bias in various student groups. To measure the predictive validity, we use an advanced statistical framework. The analysis relies on data of 24,675 students enrolled in the undergraduate programs of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics. We find that while the current score is effective in predicting university success, its predictive validity can be improved by a few changes: lifting the branching nature of the admission, focusing on general rather than program-specific knowledge, and introducing a multiplicative rewarding scheme for advanced level examinations.

This paper examines the views of staff at higher education institutions on how well 14-19 education and training prepares young people for higher education (HE) study. It draws upon research involving focus groups with approximately 250 academic and admissions staff at 21 higher education institutions in England and Wales. The data collection was conducted between February and June 2005. The paper presents their perceptions of the articulation between 14-19 education and training and higher education. It examines their perceptions of the preparedness of young people to enter HE, and their preparedness to engage with HE. The evidence presented suggests an urgent need for more effective communication between the respective actors and institutions in 14-19 education and training and HE, particularly with regard to approaches to learning. (Contains 1 table.)

British tutors (n=27) of students who entered higher education via General National Vocational Qualifications (GNVQs) were willing to accept GNVQs as an entry route that developed some strengths. However, they expressed doubts about the preparation of GNVQ entrants compared to those with traditional academic qualifications. (SK)

A study of 719 men and 464 women (of whom 416 were studying advanced-level economics) found no gender differences in attitudes toward economics once they are studying it. Among those who chose not to study it, women identify lack of knowledge as the principal reason. (SK)

Applications for places in UK Higher Education are usually made before the results of A-level examinations are known, so references from schools and colleges normally refer to expected (or predicted) grades. Inaccuracies in these predictions may be systematically related to key characteristics of the applicant and could lead to under-representation from various groups of students. This paper examines data on predicted A-level grades for 415 recently-enrolled university students. In contrast to the findings of previous studies however, we find that prediction bias is not particularly related to the gender, class or schooling of the student, but is closely linked to the predicted grades themselves—students predicted low grades performed above expectations, and vice-versa. The implications of this for current UK government initiatives intended to widen participation in Higher Education are considered briefly in the conclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2017, 31% of students progressed from further education (FE) to higher education (HE), with many coming from non-traditional backgrounds such as vocational and educational training (VET). The skills, expectations and experiences that VET students bring to HE will differ significantly from those of the traditional A-Level entrants, who are familiar with an academic environment and processes. It is important that students progressing from VET make a successful transition from vocational to academic education sectors, not only for personal achievement but also to reduce attrition at higher education institutions (HEIs). The aim of this research is to investigate the thoughts, feelings and perceptions of FE students studying on a vocational course and their forthcoming transition to an academic environment at an HEI. Findings identified three key themes: the challenges associated with progressing to an academic environment from VET; the further personal and professional development that results from studying in an academic environment; and the expectation of diverse experiences when transitioning. Practical guidelines have been created from findings to inform HEIs and further education colleges (FECs) about understanding, supporting and managing students who transition between the two distinct educational environments, hopefully reducing student attrition and improving retention and overall student satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the consequence of A-level English, a language assessment intended for students which would go on to further or higher education in Great Britain. Mistrust of the people on the validity of the system to be used as a way of examining English; Struggle of teachers to familiarize the assessment objectives; Practical problems encountered in the the grading system.

The American Chemical Society-Examinations Institute (ACS-EI) released the first ACS Foundations of Inorganic Chemistry Examination in 2016 to better address the two generalized types of inorganic chemistry courses (i.e., at the foundation or second/third-year level and the indepth or third/fourth-year level). The ACS Inorganic Chemistry Exam that has traditionally been offered addresses the content and skills most associated with a third/fourth-year level course. Topics selected for the foundations level exam were informed by a national survey of inorganic chemistry faculty; however, the topical framework for the survey study was notably different from the test architecture employed by ACS Exams (i.e., the Anchoring Concepts Content Map). We should note that when the foundations level exam was being developed, the Inorganic Chemistry Anchoring Concepts Content Map was not completed; however, now that the ACCM framework has been finalized, there is an opportunity to consider how the foundations and in-depth level examinations differ based on the content map. This study, therefore, compares content coverage of the 2016 ACS Foundations of Inorganic Chemistry Examination and the 2014 ACS Inorganic Chemistry Examination. Exam items were aligned using the Big Ideas and Enduring Understanding levels of the Anchoring Concepts Content Map (ACCM) and were also evaluated based on complexity. This work demonstrates the notable differences in the two examinations by content; this work also provides a structure for faculty or instructors to use when aligning test items or learning objectives from different courses and a discussion on how to utilize the results of those alignments.

Reports on a study that explores student perspectives on the transfer to A-level chemistry from GCSE chemistry. Explores the attitudes of groups of new A-level chemistry students at a sixth-form college. (DDR)

This article considers in a wide perspective the crisis in the assessment of examinations in A-level English Literature and current attempts to address the problems. Examining the implications of a survey of recent reports initiated by the regulator, it argues that trying to ensure reliability merely through technological advances and changes in examining practice obscures the need for English teachers' communal understanding of academic standards to be developed through their professional experience. It proposes ways in which this should be achieved, for example by developing current and potential professional networks and communities of practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United Kingdom's Department for Education has recently changed the nature of the AS-level examinations normally taken by students aspiring to enter higher education degree courses one year into their post-compulsory education. In the face of protests from universities and other institutions that this would both harm students' progression towards the A-level qualifications, on which entry to English universities is normally based, and make it difficult for universities determining which of their applicants were best placed to benefit from their degree courses, the Department conducted research which it claimed showed that degree outcome could be predicted as well from the results of GCSE examinations taken one year before AS-levels as from AS-levels themselves. This paper critiques those analyses and their conclusions showing, through a re-analysis and extended interpretation of the Department's data, that AS-levels provide a more reliable predictor of degree performance in 2011 than GCSEs and that many students who performed better at AS-level than at GCSE gained a place, and performed well, at a university with high entrance standards.

This article presents an exploratory analysis of the external secondary examination system in the Republic of Maldives. The school system is structured around primary grades following a local national curriculum, secondary grades leading to O-level (Ordinary Level) examinations and higher secondary grades leading to A-level (Advanced Level) examinations. Based on desk data, the article analyses different dimensions of secondary and higher secondary education enrolments and attainment levels. It considers the implications from the reliance on British international examinations for students and schools. In addition, there is an exploration of the National Curriculum and equity in secondary education in relation to gender-specific outcomes and outcomes for students in rural atolls in comparison to the outcomes in urban capital island, Male'. The article concludes by considering alternatives to the reliance on international examinations and potential options for national certification that may be more aligned to local needs and relevant to the context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two challenges identified for psychology higher education are supporting entry students' transition, and supporting graduates' transition into employment. The evaluation of the first phase of a cross-age mentoring action research project targeting these issues is presented; eight psychology undergraduates mentored 20 A-level psychology pupils in two schools. Mentors showed significant increases in two of nine psychological literacies, in self-efficacy but not self-esteem, were highly satisfied with the experience, and reported benefits including enhanced communication skills. Mentees did not improve relative to pupils who were not mentored on attitudes towards higher education, self-efficacy or self-esteem, though reported benefits included enhanced insight into going to university, greater knowledge of psychology, and gains in academic skills. Mentees in one school were highly satisfied, with greater variation in the second. Adaptations identified for the next project iteration include greater focus upon the psychology A-level curriculum, and increased communication between mentors and school staff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many universities, admissions decisions are made based upon the advanced-level (A-Level) results. The purpose of this study was to assess the value of A-level and international equivalents as a predictor of early achievement in higher education. About 135 UK and 92 international undergraduate engineering students from 35 countries were assessed at different stages of their instruction. The results show that the key predictor for academic performance is whether or not the students received a British education. The implications are that more policies and awareness are needed in order to effectively support international students in engineering during their transitional process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although English language learners (ELLs) are currently the fastest-growing group among the school-age population in the United States, there is surprisingly little information on their participation in postsecondary education. Using the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88), a nationally representative sample of eighth graders who were followed for 12 years, we present one of the first national-level examinations of ELLs' access to and degree of attainment in postsecondary education. Our analyses show that ELLs lag far behind both English-proficient linguistic minority students and monolingual English-speaking students in college access and attainment. Only one in eight ELLs in the NELS:88 study earned a bachelor's degree, whereas one in four English-proficient linguistic minority students and one in three monolingual English speakers did. In addition, one in five ELLs was a high school dropout. Subsequent probit regressions reveal that a host of nonlinguistic factors, rather than the ELLs' linguistic background per se, contributed to ELLs' limited postsecondary education access and attainment. (Contains 5 tables and 9 footnotes.)

Every year, many students in the UK fail to achieve a place at their preferred university because they take the wrong A-level subjects. This study aims to suggest a framework for helping students choose the right subjects. Data on student achievement in A-level examinations were obtained from a UK sixth form college over a four-year period. Statistical techniques were employed to support our hypothesis that a student's choice of A-level subjects should be based on both the student's ability and a university's preference for particular subjects and grades. Despite the limitation of small sample size, a model has been created that will maximise a student's chance of achieving a place at his/her university of choice. The model presented could easily be extended in future to incorporate more levels in each of the attributes considered, and in this way it could provide the optimal choice of subjects for each individual student given his/her particular aspirations. (Contains 5 tables.)

Higher education has expanded to a remarkable extent in many countries in recent decades. Although this has led to high levels of participation, inequalities not only persist but are also strengthened. The persistence of inequalities is partly the result of policies for the widening of participation having been accompanied by institutional stratification with educational choices being unequal and socially defined. There is evidence that with the development of new university departments and the increase in the number of university entrants in Greece, a stratified system of higher education has emerged. This study draws on quantitative data that provides evidence that choice has been driven largely by the students' social class: the close relationship between social class and educational opportunities has remained intact. Furthermore, social inequalities in access and distribution in higher education persist, despite the substantial increase in participation in higher education. Social class is a key factor in the interpretation of choice of study, which, along with the performance in the national level examinations that determines entrance into universities, has also led to the increase in the stratification of higher education institutions.

The transition from school or college to university education is an exciting time for most students, but also one that is filled with new challenges. Students are faced with new styles of teaching and learning, and are required to be more independent and acquire new skill sets. For psychology students, there may be an additional challenge in the form of studying a subject that is novel to them, or they may need to revise their understanding of the nature of their subject from their perception pre-university. This article will review some of the current literature on student transitions, and on psychology students ' preparation for degree-level study, and will recommend collaborative working and increased dialogue between the pre-tertiary and university sectors as one way to smooth the transition [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the number of students taking the International Baccalaureate (IB) in the UK has increased in recent years (from 3081 in 2006 to 5114 in 2011) its students remain a minority when compared with the large number of A-level students looking for places at university. Universities have accepted that the IB provides a suitable preparation for Higher Education that is in some ways superior to A-levels (Mori, 2012) and have needed to place a value on IB point scores in order to make fair offers to IB students competing in a market dominated by A-level. There are two main areas of equivalence that are used in university offers—an overall score or specific subject grades. Often these two systems are combined. In 2006, the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) commissioned an Expert group to consider the IB in comparison with A-levels. This group looked at the specific subjects of Mathematics, Chemistry and Geography as well as the course as a whole and concluded that a level 7 in IB aligned with a good A at A-level and a level 6 with the A/B boundary. An examination of school results in 2009 performed at two IB schools (Sevenoaks and King’s College) suggested that level 6 at IB higher was equivalent to A at A-level in all subjects except for Mathematics where a level 5 at IB higher was equivalent to A at A-level. This article considers the standard offers made by a selection of the most competitive UK universities to identify the translations between A-level and IB and uses existing data sets to show that there is evidence to support the Sevenoaks and King’s College thesis. It then examines the Mathematics results at a school that offers A-level and IB to investigate what might be an appropriate equivalence for universities to adopt. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Any debate about standards in higher education should embrace the issue of comparability in degree awards. Yet the question of assessment comparability at this level has been addressed relatively infrequently, and even more rarely specifically researched. It seems an opportune moment to draw the attention of those involved in tertiary-level examining to the wealth of relevant knowledge already accumulated through comprehensive analytical and empirical research within the field of examinations at secondary level. This paper attempts to draw out implications for comparability investigation within higher education, in the light of salient findings from the cumulated experience of the two decades of secondary-level research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Two main approaches to studying have been distinguished by several researchers, the deep approach and the surface approach. In addition, an achieving or strategic approach employs either deep or surface strategies, depending on the demands of the task. Aims: The present study investigated factors contributing to the choice of preferred study approach at university and relations between these factors and academic performance. Method: A questionnaire was mailed to a complete cohort of entrants in a college of London University in the UK. A further questionnaire was sent part way through the second year of the course. Results: Consistent relations were found between general life goals and approaches to study, with the deep approach being associated with altruistic life goals and the surface approach being associated with wealth and status life goals. The achieving approach was related to both types of life goal, but more strongly to wealth and status life goals. Older students, those with superior results in Advanced Level examinations, those reporting more use of the achieving approach, and those with less interest in wealth and status life goals, produced better academic results. Study approaches became more surface-oriented and less deep and achieving-oriented over the first year of study, but these changes were unrelated to academic performance. Conclusions: Approaches to study form part of a wider approach to life in general. Students adopting the achieving approach to study performed better. Though the achieving approach tended to weaken as the course proceeded, this change was unrelated to performance.

The history of value-added methods in Britain dates back at least to 1982. That is when a handful of secondary schools in northeast England agreed to share data, on a confidential basis, about how much progress they were making in getting students to pass the A-level examinations required to enter universities. At least three methods of value-added analysis are now used in England. The simplest, and the one now employed by the national government, measures the progress of individual students based solely on their prior attainment. Other measures control for prior attainment in addition to a range of school-level factors that might affect students' progress, but are outside a school's control. The most complicated methods--often known as multilevel modeling--take into account both school-level characteristics and those of individual classrooms and pupils that may also impinge on academic growth.

Focuses on the post-16 age group within the further education sector of Wales, such as in colleges that offer two main educational routes, the vocational route and the academic route which leads to university entrance A level examinations. Outlines a small-scale research project on bilingual delivery and teaching and provides a discussion on the variety of bilingual teaching contexts encountered. (Author/VWL)