Latest news with #Alevels
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Looking back on A-levels: an educational milestone
With exam season over, A-level candidates across Cumbria now face the anxious wait for their results, and we're remembering the successes of past students. Will Crisp achieved A*, A, A and was going to Cambridge (Image: Chris West) A-levels(Advanced Levels) are subject-based qualifications awarded as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as school leaving qualifications offered by educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational authorities of British Crown dependencies to students completing secondary or pre-university education. Crunch time for West Lakes Academy pupils Callum Bowness, Luke Jennings, James Duguid and Sean Tait (Image: Newsquest) They were introduced in England and Wales in 1951 to replace the Higher School Certificate. A-levels give students potential access to a chosen university they applied to with UCAS points. They could be accepted into it should they meet the requirements of the university. Caldew School's Lucy Wright got the three A stars and one A needed to take her to Oxford (Image: Newsquest) A-levels are typically worked towards over two years. Normally, students take three or four A-level courses in their first year of sixth form, and most taking four cut back to three in their second year. A-level student Glen Brown was about to start an apprenticeship with Sellafield as a nuclear welding inspector (Image: Newsquest) This is because university offers are normally based on three A-level grades, and taking a fourth can have an impact on grades. Unlike other level-3 qualifications, such as the International Baccalaureate, A-levels have no specific subject requirements, so students have the opportunity to combine any subjects they wish to take. Netherhall student Jessica Douglas was heading off to Manchester University to study business management after doing well in her A-levels (Image: Newsquest) However, they normally pick their courses based on the degree they wish to pursue at university: most degrees require specific A-levels for entry. In recent years, doubt has been cast on the efficacy of A-levels and in 2023, the then prime minister Rishi Sunak announced sweeping changes to the qualifications. After receiving their A-level results, Netherhall students Chloe Pearson (left) and Rebecca Mitchell were both off to Northumbria University (Image: Newsquest) He announced that all 16 to 19-year-olds would typically study five subjects as part of the new Advanced British Standard, including some English and maths to 18. He said more teachers would be recruited and that it would take some years to implement the changes. Workington Academy's Beth Hilton, Lewis Maxwell, Heather Taylor and Glen Brown all did well in their A-levels (Image: Newsquest) One of the most striking aspects of the plan was that students would be able to combine both academic and vocational elements, with typically three major and two minor aspects. Cockermouth School's Alistair Martin goes in for a hug after getting his results (Image: Newsquest) However, it was cancelled by the Labour government after their victory in the 2024 general election.
Yahoo
03-07-2025
- General
- Yahoo
I switched my son from private to state. I wish I'd done it sooner
The A-levels are over and my eldest child Isaac is snoozing in his bedroom, the wonders of Lancastrian history now a distant memory. It's strange to think how the cliché that schooling is over in a flash has come to pass, and was in fact spot on. For Isaac, there won't be any more waiting around in the park for my younger children to finish playing after school, or getting to grips with the leaky local rural transport infrastructure, or lecturing me about American politics. Come September he will hopefully be off to university, grades permitting – and once more there will be a gaping hole in the household, usually filled with so much Isaac-shaped energy. But this won't be the first time that Isaac has fled the nest. In fact, he was a flexi boarder at his preparatory school Holmwood House School in Colchester from the age of nine and then weekly boarding at his public school Felsted in Essex. He was there for three years, from year 9 (aged 13) to end of year 11 (aged 16). But then – driven more by Isaac's choices than our own – we decided to switch him to the local state school near our home, Thomas Gainsborough School in Sudbury. Isaac had never been to a state school before – in fact, we bypassed primary and sent him to private school from day one. His nursery school headmistress advised us that Isaac would benefit from a smaller class size, and the only state school we managed to get him into was bilingual. We thought it might confuse him, so aged five he went to Holmwood, a mixed prep school. He did indeed benefit from not only from the education but also the sport and extracurricular activities. I found some of his old school work from year 1 the other day, and I could not believe how advanced it was and how advanced he was. By sending a child to a private school you are outsourcing a lot of grief. I recall seeing Isaac get into a scrap in the local park with some other boys during the holidays, when he was aged around 10, and I guiltily admitted to myself I was pleased I didn't have to marshal such mishaps myself continually – especially since I had four other younger children to care for. Having Isaac entertained during the week at prep school meant that I was not encumbered with endless arguments over screens and sweets, of which there would have been many. He boarded on and off whenever it suited. Every time there was a showing of Underdog or a Mexican-themed boarding night, Isaac would put his hand up – an evening with his mates definitely trumped one with parents trying to settle a teething baby as well as three unruly younger sisters. At the age of 13, Isaac had to take the Common Entrance and won a drama award. He was bright, enjoyed sport as well as music and was in all the school plays, so we chose Felsted on the basis that it offered a good all-round education and was fairly close to our home. The fees were admittedly quite a jump. At the time they were around £12,000 a term, including three nights a week boarding – this would now be more with VAT – whereas the prep school cost around £5,000 a term. He was happy at his school but as he got closer to his GCSEs, he told us that he wasn't keen on boarding any more – announcing at the grand old age of 16 that he would 'like to spend more time at home in [his] own bed.' We could have switched to him becoming a day boy but the school was 45 minutes away, and I baulked at the thought of managing the school run for five different children at five different educational establishments, which would test our logistics to the limit. At the time, Beatrice and Florence, then aged 13 and 11, were at Thomas Gainsborough School and Celestia, then eight, was at Bures Primary School. Benny, our youngest, then aged four, divided his time between two different village nursery schools. Plus, Isaac had decided to give up rugby. My husband Charlie was becoming increasingly nervous about him playing the sport, as he and his teammates were fully grown. Thankfully Isaac was understanding and agreed to bow out. I can't deny that we were anxious about switching him from what was a positive schooling experience to another. However, our daughters had been at Thomas Gainsborough for a couple of years and we rated it and its leadership. I had been nervous when they started but I need not have been. I was initially concerned the classes would be out of control, but every class is streamed and there's no difference in the quality of the teaching. You'll find the same issues in every school whether they are private or state. Teenagers face the same challenges, no matter where their parents send them. Once I had met the head of Thomas Gainsborough School Sixth Form, I was sold on sending Isaac there too. He was energetic and engaged with a great sense of humour. The possible rewards outweighed the risks, in our minds. It was decided that Isaac would finish his academic year at Felsted, do his GCSEs and then move to TGS for sixth form to study Politics, History and Economics. In September 2023 we dropped Isaac off at college for the first time. Although he didn't think he'd know anyone, he bumped into a friend he'd been at prep school with and someone else he used to play football with. At the end of the first day he came home beaming from ear to ear telling us about his new mates. I could tell he instantly felt at ease with his new friendship group. Now, two years later, I couldn't be happier about how his A-level experience has been. Although it has at times felt a lot like something out of The Inbetweeners, such as the time when I suggested throwing a dinner party for his birthday, it has been the making of Isaac and made our life a lot easier. Now, although he has an offer from Exeter and York, he is considering reapplying to Cambridge to study Politics and International Relations if he gets the grades. As I drove to his school today to pick up my two girls, I felt more than an inkling of regret that I wouldn't pick Isaac up there ever again, walking out with his new-ish friends, laughing at something or other with his old school backpack slung over his shoulder. He's said the friends he made during sixth form were some of the best he has ever made in his life. I think he wished he had had more time with them and that he'd met them earlier. I am not even sure whether the celebration of the end of Isaac's A-levels really differed to what he would have experienced at his boarding school. I doubt they sprayed each other in champagne, Brideshead-style – it's far more likely that they did what he and his sixth form mates did and went down the pub for a pint or two. Okay, so he missed out on a Speech Day with its interminable list of prizes followed by a posh sit-down lunch – but even then, when I went to one at his old school, I sat next to a woman whose daughter had just won Love Island! I remember thinking I wished I'd applied a bit of lip gloss for the occasion. And my battered Toyota definitely looked out of place amid all the smart cars. Admittedly his end of term wasn't quite like mine, where we sang Jerusalem or I Vow To Thee My Country and had a party. I still have the pictures of me wearing a rather awful pale-blue dress from Designers at Debenhams. There's no prom for Isaac, but they are going to Hintlesham Hall, a nearby hotel, for a leaver's dinner, with yours truly no doubt acting as chauffeur. I'm proud that Isaac has experienced the kind of great state education this country can offer – and what's even more important is that we got to enjoy more time with our precious teen before he heads off to pastures new. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
03-07-2025
- General
- Telegraph
I switched my son from private to state. I wish I'd done it sooner
The A-levels are over and my eldest child Isaac is snoozing in his bedroom, the wonders of Lancastrian history now a distant memory. It's strange to think how the cliché that schooling is over in a flash has come to pass, and was in fact spot on. For Isaac, there won't be any more waiting around in the park for my younger children to finish playing after school, or getting to grips with the leaky local rural transport infrastructure, or lecturing me about American politics. Come September he will hopefully be off to university, grades permitting – and once more there will be a gaping hole in the household, usually filled with so much Isaac-shaped energy. But this won't be the first time that Isaac has fled the nest. In fact, he was a flexi boarder at his preparatory school Holmwood House School in Colchester from the age of nine and then weekly boarding at his public school Felsted in Essex. He was there for three years, from year 9 (aged 13) to end of year 11 (aged 16). But then – driven more by Isaac's choices than our own – we decided to switch him to the local state school near our home, Thomas Gainsborough School in Sudbury. Boarding on and off Isaac had never been to a state school before – in fact, we bypassed primary and sent him to private school from day one. His nursery school headmistress advised us that Isaac would benefit from a smaller class size, and the only state school we managed to get him into was bilingual. We thought it might confuse him, so aged five he went to Holmwood, a mixed prep school. He did indeed benefit from not only from the education but also the sport and extracurricular activities. I found some of his old school work from year 1 the other day, and I could not believe how advanced it was and how advanced he was. By sending a child to a private school you are outsourcing a lot of grief. I recall seeing Isaac get into a scrap in the local park with some other boys during the holidays, when he was aged around 10, and I guiltily admitted to myself I was pleased I didn't have to marshal such mishaps myself continually – especially since I had four other younger children to care for. Having Isaac entertained during the week at prep school meant that I was not encumbered with endless arguments over screens and sweets, of which there would have been many. He boarded on and off whenever it suited. Every time there was a showing of Underdog or a Mexican-themed boarding night, Isaac would put his hand up – an evening with his mates definitely trumped one with parents trying to settle a teething baby as well as three unruly younger sisters. Wanting more time at home At the age of 13, Isaac had to take the Common Entrance and won a drama award. He was bright, enjoyed sport as well as music and was in all the school plays, so we chose Felsted on the basis that it offered a good all-round education and was fairly close to our home. The fees were admittedly quite a jump. At the time they were around £12,000 a term, including three nights a week boarding – this would now be more with VAT – whereas the prep school cost around £5,000 a term. He was happy at his school but as he got closer to his GCSEs, he told us that he wasn't keen on boarding any more – announcing at the grand old age of 16 that he would 'like to spend more time at home in [his] own bed.' We could have switched to him becoming a day boy but the school was 45 minutes away, and I baulked at the thought of managing the school run for five different children at five different educational establishments, which would test our logistics to the limit. At the time, Beatrice and Florence, then aged 13 and 11, were at Thomas Gainsborough School and Celestia, then eight, was at Bures Primary School. Benny, our youngest, then aged four, divided his time between two different village nursery schools. Plus, Isaac had decided to give up rugby. My husband Charlie was becoming increasingly nervous about him playing the sport, as he and his teammates were fully grown. Thankfully Isaac was understanding and agreed to bow out. The rewards outweighed the risks I can't deny that we were anxious about switching him from what was a positive schooling experience to another. However, our daughters had been at Thomas Gainsborough for a couple of years and we rated it and its leadership. I had been nervous when they started but I need not have been. I was initially concerned the classes would be out of control, but every class is streamed and there's no difference in the quality of the teaching. You'll find the same issues in every school whether they are private or state. Teenagers face the same challenges, no matter where their parents send them. Once I had met the head of Thomas Gainsborough School Sixth Form, I was sold on sending Isaac there too. He was energetic and engaged with a great sense of humour. The possible rewards outweighed the risks, in our minds. It was decided that Isaac would finish his academic year at Felsted, do his GCSEs and then move to TGS for sixth form to study Politics, History and Economics. In September 2023 we dropped Isaac off at college for the first time. Although he didn't think he'd know anyone, he bumped into a friend he'd been at prep school with and someone else he used to play football with. At the end of the first day he came home beaming from ear to ear telling us about his new mates. I could tell he instantly felt at ease with his new friendship group. It's been the making of Isaac Now, two years later, I couldn't be happier about how his A-level experience has been. Although it has at times felt a lot like something out of The Inbetweeners, such as the time when I suggested throwing a dinner party for his birthday, it has been the making of Isaac and made our life a lot easier. Now, although he has an offer from Exeter and York, he is considering reapplying to Cambridge to study Politics and International Relations if he gets the grades. As I drove to his school today to pick up my two girls, I felt more than an inkling of regret that I wouldn't pick Isaac up there ever again, walking out with his new-ish friends, laughing at something or other with his old school backpack slung over his shoulder. He's said the friends he made during sixth form were some of the best he has ever made in his life. I think he wished he had had more time with them and that he'd met them earlier. I am not even sure whether the celebration of the end of Isaac's A-levels really differed to what he would have experienced at his boarding school. I doubt they sprayed each other in champagne, Brideshead -style – it's far more likely that they did what he and his sixth form mates did and went down the pub for a pint or two. Okay, so he missed out on a Speech Day with its interminable list of prizes followed by a posh sit-down lunch – but even then, when I went to one at his old school, I sat next to a woman whose daughter had just won Love Island! I remember thinking I wished I'd applied a bit of lip gloss for the occasion. And my battered Toyota definitely looked out of place amid all the smart cars. Admittedly his end of term wasn't quite like mine, where we sang Jerusalem or I Vow To Thee My Country and had a party. I still have the pictures of me wearing a rather awful pale-blue dress from Designers at Debenhams. There's no prom for Isaac, but they are going to Hintlesham Hall, a nearby hotel, for a leaver's dinner, with yours truly no doubt acting as chauffeur. I'm proud that Isaac has experienced the kind of great state education this country can offer – and what's even more important is that we got to enjoy more time with our precious teen before he heads off to pastures new.
The Independent
01-07-2025
- Business
- The Independent
If a third of entry-level jobs are going to AI this is how students need to adapt
The rituals unfold as they always have: hushed shuffling inside a stuffy exam hall, nervous energy silently bouncing off the walls; an impossibly loud clock, counting down to impending doom. This week, up and down the country, rows upon rows of students will sit hunched over their desks clutching 'lucky' pens; praying that their hard work has been worth it. It is, of course, A-level season, which, done right, is supposedly the coveted, golden road to university, graduate jobs, money and a life lived right. Yet, this year feels a little different. Beyond the double doors of the sports hall, the world is changing at a rapid pace. While the next generation of workers study harder than ever, the qualifications they've been told hold the key to the next important step are suddenly in question: artificial intelligence (AI) isn't only analysing data and producing basic graphic design, but diagnosing illnesses and drafting legal documents, too; today's path, no matter how well they score, is muddied. This is a youth whose strange paradox means that the entry jobs and world they're preparing for may no longer exist by the time they reach it. For graduates, recent and future, it's not exactly optimistic. There's barely a corner of the job market left unaffected, and now even industries that were once considered safe – in medicine, or law, for example – are beginning to utilise AI and automation at the expense of human work. This week, Business Insider reported new data that confirms that companies are hiring less, having found that, over the last three years, 'the share of AI-doable tasks in online job postings has declined by 19 per cent'. The report continued to say that further analysis led to a 'startling conclusion: the vast majority of the drop took place because companies are hiring fewer people in roles that AI can do' – and they are hitting junior, entry-level roles first. This month, the first law firm providing legal services via AI was approved by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. While many firms are using AI to support and deliver a range of back-office and public-facing services, Ltd will be the first purely AI-based company. It is announcements like this that are causing enormous worry for a generation who are looking to get their first foot on a career ladder. 'It means that the graduate job market has changed dramatically, in a very short period of time,' a careers consultant at a leading London university tells me. 'AI is causing a huge amount of uncertainty and a lack of confidence, both on the side of the employers and the students and graduates.' Where are you supposed to begin now, then? How do you navigate getting that first foot on the career ladder once the (promised) stepping stone has been whipped away? 'Even people who work in affected industries themselves aren't sure,' she adds. 'They know what the pipeline was back in their day, but now they really don't know how this is all going to affect recruitment and, ultimately, career trajectories and the traditional ladder.' We all know that AI is fundamentally warping the workplace as we know it – what experts are trying to work out now is exactly how, and how fast. According to reports from PwC, McKinsey, and the World Economic Forum, around 60 per cent of current jobs will require 'significant adaptation due to AI' over the next 10-30 years or so; by then, AI will simply be another integrated part of our day jobs. Goldman Sachs goes one further: by 2045, their research finds, up to 50 per cent of jobs could be fully automated, and estimates that 300 million jobs will be affected by AI. Not even that A* in history can compete. But while these projections feel far into the future, recent reports show that AI is already having a significant impact today. Already, there are a lot fewer opportunities, and according to the Financial Times, UK graduate job listings dropped from 7,000 in 2023 to 5,800 in 2024. That's a drop of 17 per cent. This means those on the market are more competitive than ever. In 2024, employers received an average of 140 applications per graduate vacancy, according to a report from Times Higher Education; a 59 per cent increase from the previous year and the highest number recorded since 1991. 'The anxiety in this cohort of students is off the scale,' explains futurist, author and Gen Z and Gen A expert Chloe Combi. 'But this situation has revitalised a conversation about which subjects are necessary. Every kid that's gone through exams and university in the last decade has been told 'learn to code', over and over again. But rapid progress suggests some of those high-employment computer science degrees might even become obsolete. In so many cases, there's an AI programme that can do that in a micro proportion of the time it would take a human to do the jobs these kids have been told to aim for. It's awful – and it's not like they've been given or followed the wrong advice, far from it. They've just been given advice that's become outdated in the blink of an eye.' With white-collar, middle-class jobs now under more threat than ever, many are turning to more traditional blue-collar work – becoming an electrician, plumber, healthcare worker or hairdresser – sparking conversations about the power of the working class being revalued under this new industrial revolution. Outside of trades, the advice is tentative but also reevaluates what is valuable. Investing in skills like critical thinking, strategic creativity, or very human traits like storytelling, negotiation and persuasion may now prove more lucrative than anything more traditional. The expert itself, has some ideas, too. 'As AI like me becomes more integrated into the workplace, students need to adapt intelligently,' the tool explains, in its ever-creepy self-aware tone. 'Don't only aim for a specific job title – those may not exist in a few years,' is its first point. 'Instead, study fields that build foundational thinking.' Next, it advises to 'combine technical and human insight' by, for example, taking a degree that blends fields, like philosophy and AI ethics, or computer science and psychology. Finally, back to the same point – don't specialise in your career if you can help it; 'be adaptable, not replaceable', it warns, quite bleakly, and 'learn how to work with AI, not compete against it'. That black hole of uncertainty is only expanding. 'In the next 10 years, there's going to be a very necessary transformation of the university system,' Combi says. 'Unless you're very privileged, I believe, a degree that's learning for learning's sake is going to become obsolete. Hopefully, there'll also be a massive resurgence of apprenticeships, and hands-on apprenticeship degrees, which are a combination of the practical and theoretical.' To be fair, this has been necessary for a long time. The promise of apprenticeships as a solid alternative to expensive degrees never really followed through – a combination of historical class bias, the stigma of 'less prestigious' vocational qualifications and a lack of policy and funding has consistently held the idea back. But that could now all change. For now, the quotes have been learned and the equations solved; the sleepless nights and frantic panics will soon be over for another year, and another generation of A-level students who lived to tell the tale. But though it might be unpredictable, they have an exciting road ahead: one that could be the perfect challenge for a digitally-fluent and adaptable Covid generation. If anyone can adapt, it will hopefully be them. It won't be until after they've picked up those long-awaited results in August that the real test will begin: not the one they just sat, but the one no one prepared them for.
The Guardian
18-06-2025
- General
- The Guardian
London's BSix college helped me gain qualifications and integrate into British society
I feel saddened by the news about BSix college in Hackney, east London, losing its A-levels (Staff and students fight loss of A-levels at London college helping disadvantaged learners, 10 June). I am for ever grateful to have been a student at BSix. I came in the UK as an unaccompanied minor aged 16 and English isn't my first language. I didn't understand a word of it. A friend of mine helped me get into BSix to learn English in January 2007 – the course was called English as a second language (Esol) then. The staff really supported me until I was confident enough to read, write, listen to and speak English. After a year, I was given the opportunity to do my BTec first diploma in sciences, equivalent to GCSEs, and GCSE English and maths. Afterwards, I did my BTec national diploma in sciences for two years, equivalent to AS and A2, which enabled me to go to university to study biomedical sciences and then further my studies in adult nursing. I am currently working as a theatre nurse in Eastbourne district general hospital. I would say that BSix gives great opportunities to young people from different backgrounds to get basic requirements to further their studies in the UK. It hugely contributes to our integration into British society and we later contribute positively towards the development of the NikoulareEastbourne, East Sussex
