November 09

A levels have a new top grade. To sort the highest performers from the ‘merely’ very good, the A* is now in place and the first results were received in August 2010. The aim was simple. Against a backdrop of ever-increasing numbers of A grades, a new discriminator was felt to be needed, especially by the most selective universities. With over 20% of all A levels being graded A, such universities claimed they no longer received enough information about the quality of applicants to their most selective courses, so something needed to be done. A* was part of the answer, along with more open-ended questions in A2 designed to test candidates’ critical thinking skills.

How A levels work
A level is nowadays divided into two parts, AS and the more demanding A2. They are modular courses, with an opportunity to take exams in January and June in each of the course’s two years. Normally the aim would be to complete AS in the first year, and A2 in the second: some schools would choose to use both exam sessions in each year, many have ignored the January block in the first or both years, while still others elected from the start to ignore the modular nature of the exam and take all the papers at the end of the upper sixth year, as “in the old days”.

The latter are few, in truth, because the decision to do all the exams in one final session, while avoiding the interruption of three other exam periods during the course, removes the opportunity for re-sitting. And the multiple sitting of exams is, of course, one of the chief reasons for the relentless rise in A level results.
Why would it be otherwise? Schools rapidly become adept at operating any new exam system. Moreover, young people are themselves canny, and candidates quickly learnt how to use re-sits to maximise their results. So, until recently, even candidates who got a grade A or good B at AS level might nonetheless re-take a paper in January of the Upper Sixth in order to improve their overall mark (the “UMS score”).

How A* works
Where the A* is a new departure lies in the fact that it is only awarded at A2, not in the first-year AS qualification. To gain an A* candidates must gain 90% of the total marks (UMS) in the A2 papers. This can produce some anomalies. A candidate might score 259/300 at AS level and 272/300 at A2. That total of 531/600 gains the candidate an A* as a result of the A2 mark. Another candidate (a real case) who scores a remarkable 293/300 at AS level but just 269/300 at A2 does not gain the A*, even though the total UMS mark, 562/600, is higher.

This might appear rough justice. However, A2 has been redesigned to incorporate more searching questions, and A* to reward those candidates who show real depth and insight. That, at least, is the opinion of Cambridge University’s Admissions Director, Geoff Parks. Cambridge was the first university (the only one in 2010) to include A* in its offers for places, though most other universities will follow swiftly.

Cambridge regards A* as an excellent predictor of future success at degree level, just as it now looks more closely at AS scores than GCSE grades, in contrast to the many universities that apparently still rely on across-the-board achievement at GCSE. Cambridge was keen to use that high-level discriminator, the A* grade, as a means to ensuring breadth of application (or admission) across the sectors and across social divides: in other words, if A* was more able than the traditional A level to reward sheer brilliance, rather than the good coaching which independents are seen as providing, it might be seen as a means to widening access.

Good news for independent schools
However, William Stewart of the Times Educational Supplement [Has A* made the grade? http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6059602] thinks otherwise, and feels that the independent sector has colonised the new top grade. Certainly appearances are on his side. Across the independent sector the average percentage of grades awarded A* in 2010 was 22%, compared to 8% across all schools. Moreover, 30% of all the A* grades awarded went to candidates in independent schools, who represent just 18% of the total A level entry.

For parents this is all good news, demonstrating (as the sector’s critics complain) that, once again, independent schools have capitalised on a system change. However, the schools themselves should not take all the credit. Their highly-motivated, aspiring pupils made the A* work to their advantage. Set that high target, they were still more pragmatic and painstaking in their approach to their exams than their predecessors. Indeed, many of the more academic independent schools celebrated A* rates above 30%: even given their highly selective intake, that is an impressive figure.

So what does this mean for future candidates? There is no doubt that universities will demand more A* grades. Those impressive figures for independent schools will probably rise further as still more boys and girls are set and meet these demanding offers. It also means that top students are likely to be advised not to spend time and energy re-sitting AS levels in the upper sixth form, but to aim instead for the vital 90% mark at A2 in order to gain their A*: re-sits may thus reduce in quantity.

Universities such as Cambridge say the A* will help them to indentify the very brightest. But it will not solve all their problems. In the short term there may be fewer candidates for the top universities to sift through: in the long run it may make little difference, since over the coming years ever more A*candidates will apply. The worry for schools is, perhaps, that the existence of the new “super grade” may make universities less inclined than ever to read personal statements and school references. There is the danger that they will simply look at past achievement, the number of A*s predicted and little else. Anecdotal evidence suggests this is already happening: A* may simply increase the habit.

No worries
However, there is nothing particular to worry parents or candidates here. In recent years both have become accustomed to the stratospheric grades required to win a place on a top course: and they have found that hard work, application and excellent teaching help them to achieve them. The evidence so far is that the independent sector has not been dismayed by A*, regarding it, on the contrary, as an opportunity successfully grasped.

Holding university offers
One piece of advice that candidates and parents would do well to take on board would be to ensure that candidates hold a significantly lower reserve (“Insurance”) offer of a place. If they are being offered A*A*A to win a place on a top course, they may want also to apply to a university that puts a B or two in amongst the required grades. Things do go wrong on the day, and a less demanding option is a wise precaution. After all, candidates can apply for up to five universities, so can afford to include one or two less glorious names just for safety’s sake.

Otherwise, for schools, teachers, parents and candidates alike it is business as usual. To the same unremitting pressure to achieve, the solution remains the same: excellent preparation, hard work and careful planning.

Dr Bernard Trafford is a former Chairman of Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference (HMC) and is Headmaster of the Newcastle upon Tyne Royal Grammar School.