GCE "A" Level

Discussion in 'Off-Topic Discussions' started by Kane, Oct 28, 2002.

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  1. telfax

    telfax New Member

    UoL

    I promise this will be a short response!

    Work WITH the UoL folks and they'll help you! Although their admissions criteria are tough it is thus so because UoL adopts a specific 'type' of assessment! Basically, you study, read, learn (hopefully) and amass deatailed information (hopefully) and pass the type of unseen written examinations (sample type questions given in my previous email re 'A' levels) and, depending on the 'quality' of ou written essay-type answers you get through your London degree! You can go back to my original email re 'A' levels. But, to prove the point, an English Literature question in an examination such as:

    IN SAMSON AGONISTES, MILTON PURGED HIMSELF OF SOME PERILOUS STUFF THAT HAD FESTERED THERE SICNE HIS WIFE'S DESERTION. DISCUSS. This question could be set at any level of examination! Even at doctoral level where course work is involved-as would be the case in North America! Of course, the level of critical anlysis, detail and depth of research will vary! But therein lies the difference in the systems! A British PhD candidate may spend 3-7 years researching the textas, etc to support or deny this 'hypothesis'!

    telfax
     
  2. telfax

    telfax New Member

    Apologies!

    It's 8.30pm here (UK) and I've been awake since 3.20am so feel very tired and apologize for typo errors! 'telfax'
     
  3. Kane

    Kane New Member

    A Level Canadian Equivalent.

    http://www.esmarkt.com/Education_Systems/Canada/canada.html

    Does England feel the same way? Hopefully U of L will elt me know soon?

    Frank
     
  4. John Roberts

    John Roberts New Member

    Kane, as noted in your assessment of the OAC to the 'A', it has been past practice in the UK to accept the OAC subject as an equivalent to 'A', but with the qualification they always look for people that have a mark above 60, better still if it's a 70+.

    Cheers.

    J.R (ic)
     
  5. tokyomike

    tokyomike New Member

  6. tokyomike

    tokyomike New Member

    I am a Brit who recently had his UK qualifications evaluated by one of the US "recognised agencies" for the purposes of starting a higher degree at a US university. (This appears to be a requirement of most US universities who consider foreign students).

    WES (World Education Services Inc) evaluated my pre-university "credentials" as follows:

    (summarised):

    GCE, Ordinary level (o' level)
    US Equivalency: High school diploma

    GCE, Advanced level (A' level)
    US Equivalency: One year of undergraduate study

    (I did my A's in '85, so things may have changed since then).


    On a totally different subject, I thought the following statement was very interesting:

    "US Equivalency Summary: High school diploma, bachelor's degree and master's degree in business administration from a REGIONALLY ACCREDITED INSTITUTION". (my emphasis)

    I know I would be flogging a dead horse on this forum concerning RA, but if this is not evidence that RA is the gold standard in the US, I do not know what is. US universities want to know the equivalency of foreign credentials in RA terms.


    One more comment to "telfax" who stated that o' levels are enough to get into a UK university. This was my experience:

    We went for interviews to the top two or three universities of our choice BEFORE we sat the A' level exams. Partly based on these interviews, each university would then set target grades which you would have to achieved in the A' level exams to get into the university. There was a lot of pressure to get good grades at A' level and I remember one teacher telling us that the biggest obstacle we would have to get a degree at a university was to get in in the first place. (Again, things may have changed).


    To Kane's original enquiry: If the UK does not accept tranfer credits in lieu of A' levels, it may be helpful to check out this site:

    http://www.ool.co.uk/ALEVELS.HTM


    tokyomike

    BA hons (Nott)
    MBA (OUBS)
     
  7. Professor Kennedy

    Professor Kennedy New Member

    A level English not British

    Just in case yet another aspect of life in England becomes 'British' by default, I introduce the difference between English and Scottish pre-university qualifications.

    The two educational systems are separate: the Englsih 'A' level is an advanced qualification compared to the Scottish 'Higher', but the former is a specialist qualification and the latter a grouped generalised qualification. Two 'A' levels do not compare to three, or four, Scottish Higher Certificates because either set would get you entry a British University.

    The Scottish system is based on the candidate showing he or she is educated across three or four subjects (it used to be five) to a standard; the English is based on the candidate showing that he or she is educated to an advanced level in two or three subjects. The 'A' level will get you into first year in a Scottish Univeristy with two passes and to the second year with three passes.

    It would require three or four Highers from Scotland to get you into the first year in an English university (though breadth is possibly a surer test of competence - but leave that aside). I entered a Scottish University with both 3 A levels and three Highers into first year by choice (I did not declare my 3rd A level - I have always had an 'awkward' streak).

    The education debate current in the UK suggests that hyper specialised entry (English A levels) is not as useful as more general entrance (Scottish Highers) and, given recent scandals of grade inflation and deliberate downmarking of good passes in the English A levels to lower the general pass rate, the prospect of adopting the French style 'Baccalaureate' (a generalist qualification) is now very real. This would take us back to the 'five passes rule' of the old Scottish Highers.

    If you are thoroughly confused by all this, consider research we did some twenty years ago where we found that a student's performance in the English 'A' level or the Scottish 'Higher' was no predictor in the subject of either entrance qualification of their performance in the same subject degree result of that student!

    In fact, students entering a discipline did best at univeristy if they had NOT studied the subject to 'A' level, but marginally it mattered positively if they had studied four or five Highers in any subjects.

    From my memory banks of past hotly debated issues in UK education.
     

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