The Perils of Success - Comments

Good article.

However I have to say I understand the medias point. The criticism though occasionally upsetting and off-putting to students is not aimed at them but at the Dept. of Education in the Government.

The A levels standard of difficulty does need to be increased. I'm Irish and this year I got my Leaving Cert results. Many like to compare the Leaving Cert to the A levels because they’re both used for college but in reality the Leaving Cert is much harder. Students usually don’t take more than 3 A level subjects but in the Leaving Cert students take a minimum of 6 with most taking 7. So few people get all A's that yearly on results day the RTE news reports the number who did which is normally around 11 or so. The exams are harder and much broader but the A levels receive a similar 'points' rating for college application and many colleges have admitted to letting in A level students who received good grades but later find out that they have an extremely limited knowledge of the subjects. (admittedly all my info on the A levels may not be completely accurate, it's only what I've found online.)

I agree though that it isn't the students faults, its people who set the exam but the media is the only way to make them pay attention to what's happened with the exams.

Oh and good luck on your results, I know it's nerve wrecking waiting

Great choice of topic fo an article, I think :)
That's... cruel, really, of the meda to choose such a topic if it's just to get people to buy their product. Obviously A-levels are affecting such a giant portion of the public, so even mentioning them in the head title might get the editors etc some money for their papers.
If there are any students who consider the A-levels ridiculously easy =as the media apparently does= then a least the A* level might help them out now. But catering to the individual student rather than the masses isn't something I thought schools could handle anymore, so criticising the masses doesn' t achieve much after all.

I hope things work out for you and all other students, exams-wise :) Despite the selling tactics of newspapers hurting self-confidence for whatever unworthy reason.

Great article!

I wish you the best of luck.

Good luck to you too Sheepy (:

Interesting! I've always wondered what the A-levels were. In the States, we just have SAT's.

Nice article! Would be equally as nice if once in a while the papers shared your sentiment and stopped implying people aren't smart enough to take the A-Levels without them being "dumbed down" for us.

That being said, one day to go. As much as I'll enjoy the journey back to school to pick up and envelope, I'm not exactly looking forward to it.
Good luck, hope it all goes as planned for you.