New A* grade gets mixed reaction (From St Albans & Harpenden Review)

New A* grade gets mixed reaction

2:18pm Monday 18th August 2008

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AS A Level graduates embark on their next step, students starting the two year course next month will be the first to be able to achieve an A* grade.

The new grade, awarded to those who gain 90 per cent or more in an exam, will highlight the best of the best as pass rates rise for the 26th year running and one in ten of the 300,000 A Level candidates now gain three A grades.

Linda Graham, deputy Head Teacher of Roundwood School in Harpenden, believes the grades could put an extra weight on the shoulders of young students.

She said: “I can’t see why we can’t just release students’ marks to tell universities if they are top As or not.

“I think this could put more pressure on students.

“But I remember when A*s first came out for GCSEs and we had the same debate, and that has worked fine. So maybe the pressure could just be a temporary thing for the first few years of students.”

David Viney, Director of Sixth Form at Marlborough School in St Albans, disagrees.

I think the new grade is a really good idea. If a student’s got over 90 per cent that should be recognised so university’s can pick out the best, most able students.”

Students have also treated the news with mixed reactions.

Maya Mercury, 18, who picked up a B and two Cs in her A Levels, said: “I think it’s really only for place like Oxford and Cambridge to know really good students which is fine, but it could just be that the only people who end up there are those who have been to private schools and push other people out.

“And it will put more pressure on other students.”

Jake Scott, an AS Level student from Marlborough School in St Albans, gained four As and a C in his results this year and thinks it would benefit students like him to aim for an A*.

He said: “I think it’s a good idea, it would be great to be recognised if you had done that well in a test.”

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