Exams and Coursework

[Meph]

You got an E?

Yeah. That was for Physics. It was barely a pass.

But yeah, the grades are like this for A-Level:

A*, A, B, C, D, E and U.

U is a fail, and you can only get an A* grade at A2 (year 13).

Did anyone else get exam results recently?

[Bad Player]

Gratz on your good grades, Meph!

When did you take the exams, tho?
(Read as: How long did you have to wait for the grades?)
((Read as: Did you have to wait the entire summer for the grades?! ))

[Meph]

Thanks. And I did them in May.

TheyThey aren't multiple-choice exams like you get in America (at least, that's what I gather from The Simpsons ). They're written ones, and they all have to be marked externally, so it takes a while to get through thousands of them each exam season.

Here's the environmental studies exam from last year: http://store.aqa.org.uk/qual/gce/pdf/AQ ... -JUN10.PDF

[Bad Player]

American exams (at least standardized tests) are usually a multiple choice section, and then a section or two for essays/free-response/short-answer/open-ended problems (depending on the subject)

[Meph]

How long does it take to mark the written parts?

[Bad Player]

(I'm assuming you meant 'mark' there......)

But it depends on the exams... There are three groups of standardized tests. First is the state-wide tests. I only have the experience of one state's standardized tests (not explicitly saying, but I've never gone to great lengths to hide my general geographic area...) which I think are the quickest. The teachers grade the exams of the school, so in theory it should be about the same amount of work as if it had been assigned in-class. Not to mention there are deadlines. (Our state English exam took place over two days, and before the exam started on the second day, my teacher told me my grade on the first half, so it shows how fast that was graded )

The SAT and ACT only have one essay, and it's pretty short; no more than two hand-written pages. It takes 3 weeks for the scores to be posted online. It's only one essay per student, but since it's so many essays--not to mention lots of multiple-choice--it takes a bit longer.

And lastly, the APs, which take the longest... A month and a half. IIRC, they send all the AP exams to the AP Exam HQ (I think maybe in Texas) and grade them there. There can be quite a few tests per student, and more of the test is essay-writing (compared to SAT/ACTs at least... might depend on the AP and state exam). Plus the essays are usually a bit more complex than the other tests, and the rubric is a bit more complex for the APs, all of which contribute to a longer time to grade.



...Phew. I'm not sure there's a more boring topic than the grading technique of standardized tests ^^'

[Meph]

Hmm. That's not very many exams, then.

Now I uynderstand why they say Britain is the most tested state in the world.

[Bad Player]

Well, there aren't 3 exams, just 3 types of exams There are... maybe... 6~8 state exams. Whether you take the SAT/ACT once or both a bunch of times varies from person to person, but it usually isn't that many. But then you can literally take as many APs as you want (I mean, not technically... but I doubt anyone is going to reach the 20-something max xD)

[Meph]

I'll repeat: you really don't have that many exams.

[Bad Player]

Well then, I guess I'll just leave it at that, and bask in the glory of not having had to do many tests~

[Meph]

Ha! Yeah!!! Now you see that I'm right and that we... have... more... exams....

Damn it.

[Bad Player]

(Although I can't exactly 'see' that you have more exams, since you haven't said which ones you Brits gotta take )

[Meph]

In A-Level, each course is split up into four units that each test you with either an exam or coursework (most are an exam). You do two units in Year 12 and the other two in Year 13. To pass A-Levels, you'll have probably done at least 14.

And then you've got the GCSEs that you do in Years 10 and 11. So that's... er... well, there's nine exams for the sciences, one for English, three for maths, and then there's about four others, so that's... hmmm 17. That's... more than I thought.

Damn it.

[Bad Player]

Oh, I also completely forgot about the PSAT and SAT2's. That adds 3~4 exams, but they're both all-MC.


So... What exactly are the GCSEs and A-Levels? That is, why do you take them? (ie, state exams to pass high school, SAT/ACT for college admission, APs for college credit)

[Meph]

First you have SATs in Year 2 and Year 6. They're just for assessment.

GCSE's are called Level 1 (for grades below a C) and Level 2 (for grades above a C) qualifications. They're your basic ones that you can use to get an OK job or go to college with.

If you choose to stay in school, you do A-Levels, which are Level 3. You can use them to get a better qualification or go to university.

And university degrees are Level 4.