The A-level (Advanced Level) is a main school leaving qualification of the General Certificate of Education in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.
In 2015, Ofqual decided to change back to a terminal approach where students sit all examinations at the end of the second year.
A-levels are recognised by many universities as the standard for assessing the suitability of applicants for admission in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and many such universities partly base their admissions offers on a student's predicted A-level grades, with the majority of these offers conditional on achieving a minimum set of final grades.
Quite soon, rising numbers of students taking the A-level examinations required more differentiation of achievement below the S-Level standard.
[citation needed] However, due to decreasing public spending on education over time, a growing number of schools and sixth form colleges would now arrange for their pupils to study for three A-Levels instead of four.
The Conservative Party under Prime Minister David Cameron initiated reforms for A-levels to change from modular to the current linear structure.
The A-level and AS-level qualifications would instead be awarded based upon a mix of teacher assessment and informal "mock" exams taken earlier in the school year.
It is permissible to take A-levels in languages one already speaks fluently, or courses with overlapping content, even if not always fully recognized by universities.
According to the BBC, the percentage of students achieving an A* is about 8–10%, which essentially lies within the A-B range of their Hong Kong counterparts in respective subjects.
[19] In the United States of America the high school diploma is the qualification generally required for entry into colleges and universities.
In the United Kingdom, the high school diploma is considered to be at the level of the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE), which is awarded at Year 11.
Students who wish to study in the United Kingdom may additionally participate in the Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) programs, which are considered to be at the level of the A-level qualifications and earn points on the UCAS Tariff,[20][22] or may opt to take A-level examinations in British international schools or as private candidates.
Additionally, there are four examination boards offering A-level qualifications internationally: OxfordAQA, Edexcel, Learning Resource Network (LRN) and the CIE. OCR and CIE are both branches of the parent organization, Cambridge Assessment.
[24] In addition to the centre registration fee, A-level Mathematics will raise £120.00 per student, while Biology, Physics and Chemistry £90.00 per subject and languages such as Spanish, French and German £100.00 or £201.15 depending on the syllabus.
(2019-20 AQA figures) [25] A-levels are usually studied by students in Sixth Form, which refers to the last two years of secondary education in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, taken at ages 16–18.
Some secondary schools have their own Sixth Form, which admits students from lower year groups, but will often accept external applications.
There are also many specialist Sixth Form and Further Education Colleges which admit from feeder schools across a large geographic area.
This allows greater flexibility to students, as 112 points could also, for example, be achieved through the combination A-B-D, which would not have met the requirements of a B-B-C offer because of the D grade.
The press have noted the steady rise in average grades for several consecutive years and drawn the conclusion that A-levels are becoming consistently easier.
[41] A 2007 report by Robert Coe compared students' scores in the ALIS ability test with equivalent grades achieved in A-level exams over a period of approximately 20 years; he found that students of similar ability were achieving on average about 2 grades higher than in the past.
[47][48][49] Universities in Britain have complained that the increasing number of A grades awarded makes it hard to distinguish between students at the upper end of the ability spectrum.
[50] Many universities administer their own entrance tests such as the BMAT and LNAT for specific courses, or conduct interviews to select applicants.
These were initially moderated by Ofqual but, owing to numerous problems, candidates' final grades reverted to those supplied by centres.
[65] With increased modularisation of subjects, the amount of time that young adults are spending being examined in the UK has risen considerably.
[72] As a result of dislike of the modular system, many schools now offer the alternative International Baccalaureate Diploma qualification.
[73] Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair suggested in 2013 that one state school in every county should offer the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme as an alternative to A-levels.
Thus, while the purpose of Curriculum 2000 was to encourage students to undertake contrasting subjects, to broaden their 'skill-base', there is a tendency to pursue similar disciplines.
Students applying to universities before receiving their A-level results typically do so on the basis of predicted grades, which are issued by schools and colleges.
[76] A recent UCAS consultation rejected the implementation of PQA following opposition from universities, schools and awarding bodies.
Ofqual advised that the 2020 A-level exams should be cancelled, students be given a completion certificate, and universities widen the intake relying on a higher drop-out.