Public School Examination Results
This afternoon [Oct.3] Education Minister Dame Jennifer Smith held a press conference to discuss the latest public school examination results.
Dame Jennifer said, “Since becoming the Minister of Education on November 1, 2010, I have constantly underlined the fact that we have much to celebrate in the public education system. You cannot have failed to notice that I am always congratulating students for their many positive achievements.”
“Lest I be quoted as saying that ‘everything is fine in our public school system’; let me be clear –the results I share today certainly set out a positive story, but we still have much to do and a long way to go. We have no intention of settling for good when we can be better. It is our goal to one day be the subject of a headline stating that – ‘Bermuda Leads the World in Education.”
28 minute video of the press conference this morning [Q&A begins at the 15 min mark]:
Chairman of the Board of Education Darren Johnston said, “Students, we are proud of you! You have proven that we can generate positive outcomes even while we are undergoing significant change.”
“For those students who did not realize their potential in this past school year please know that we haven’t forgotten your importance or needs. We continue to have high expectations that in the future you will also be honored for your achievements. Know that we remain committed to you and your success.”
Mr Johnston continued on to say that, “I am aware of the current environment and the increased temptation to find things we could be doing differently. Constructive views in that regard are welcome. However, let’s not reduce ourselves to point scoring using our students as the vehicle….let’s acknowledge that improvement in education is incremental and continue to push forward together to ensure we achieve our ultimate goal of realizing the potential of our people.”
Dame Jennifer said 96% of S4 students graduated, with 72% percent of the 2011 graduates achieving a GPA of 2.0 or higher. During the 2010/2011 school year a total of 577 external exams were taken by 350 public senior school students in the subjects of English, Mathematics, Science, Foreign Language, Technology, Religious Studies, Physical Education, Business Studies and The Art, and an overall pass rate of 90% was achieved, with 54% of the students receiving a grade of C or better.
Dame Jennifer’s full statement follows below:
Good afternoon,
Thank you for coming.
I welcome the presence of the Chairman of the Board of Education, Mr. Darren Johnston, the Permanent Secretary of Education Mr. Warren Jones, Commissioner of Education, Mrs. Wendy McDonell and the Director of Academic Services, Dr. Llewellyn Simmons.
In spite of all the doom and gloom others seem to see when they view education – I am pleased to share a positive news story about our graduation and external examination results.
Over the past several months, with the support of all of those persons who work hard to make a difference in the lives of students, I have been working to change the nature of the conversation we have about Bermuda’s public school system.
Since becoming the Minister of Education on November 1, 2010, I have constantly underlined the fact that we have much to celebrate in the public education system.
You cannot have failed to notice that I am always congratulating students for their many positive achievements.
Lest I be quoted as saying that “everything is fine in our public school system”; let me be clear –the results I share today certainly set out a positive story, but we still have much to do and a long way to go. We have no intention of settling for good when we can be better. It is our goal to one day be the subject of a headline stating that – “Bermuda Leads the World in Education”.
Before I continue, I have to respond to an unrealistic expectation that wants us to deliver examination results to the public before principals and staff have had an opportunity to see them.
The reality is that schools must first of all receive the information. Principals must then share that information with their students, teachers and parents. Cabinet and the Board of Education must also review the results. It is only then, that we are able to publish the information in the public domain.
Let me begin with the 2011 Graduation Results:
Ninety-six percent of S4 students graduated. This includes students who completed their graduation requirements in June; as well as those who attended summer school in order to complete the graduation requirements.
Graduation requirements mean that students must achieve a minimum of 104 credits – 62 in required subjects and 42 in elective subjects.
However, the Board of Education has set a target that requires students by 2012 to also have a minimum grade-point-average (GPA) of 2.0 or 70% in order to graduate. As a point of reference, seventy-two percent of our 2011 graduates achieved a GPA of 2.0.
Now the results of the External Examinations:
During the 2010/2011 school year a total of five hundred and seventy seven (577) external exams were taken by 350 public senior school students in the subjects of English, Mathematics, Science, Foreign Language, Technology, Religious Studies, Physical Education, Business Studies and The Arts.
The exams are administered by Cambridge International Examinations (CIE); Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA); and Edexcel.
An overall pass rate of 90% was achieved, with 54% of the students receiving a grade of C or better.
Our students also participated in the Cambridge International Primary Achievement Test (CIPAT) and the Cambridge International (Checkpoint) Examinations for middle school students.
Both exams offer feedback on learners’ strengths and weaknesses in the curriculum areas of English, Mathematics and Science.
It is also important to note that Bermuda is the only jurisdiction where an entire public school system uses the Cambridge curriculum and is therefore the only country that requires all of its students to sit such exams.
Seventy-six percent of our Primary 6 students achieved ratings between satisfactory and excellent in English, 66% achieved ratings between satisfactory and excellent in Mathematics and 73% achieved ratings between satisfactory and excellent in Science.
In the Cambridge International (Checkpoint) Examinations, 71% of our students achieved a rating between satisfactory and excellent in English, 77% achieved ratings between satisfactory and excellent in Mathematics and 73% achieved ratings between satisfactory and excellent in Science. It should be noted that, at the middle school level, our students are performing near the worldwide Cambridge International average.
In addition, 16 Sandys Secondary Middle School Students took and passed the GCSE Mathematics exam.
Now I would like to share the results of senior school students who sat external examinations.
English – recorded a ninety five percent (95%) pass rate with sixty-two percent (62%) receiving a grade of C or better. One hundred and sixty eight (168) students took exams in English Language and Literature.
Mathematics – recorded a ninety one percent (91%) pass rate with seventy percent (70%) receiving a grade of C or better. One hundred and forty-two (142) students took the Mathematics exam.
Science – recorded a ninety eight percent (98%) pass rate with twenty percent (20%) receiving a grade of C or better. Sixty (60) students took the exams in Combined Science, Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Coordinated Science.
Foreign Language – recorded a one hundred percent (100%) pass rate with eighty-eight percent (88%) receiving a grade of C or better. Forty (40) students took the exams in French and Spanish.
The Arts – recorded a one hundred percent (100%) pass rate with forty three percent (43%) receiving a grade of C or better. Forty-six (46) students took the exams in Art, Art and Design, Drama and Music.
Technology – recorded a fourteen percent (14%) pass rate. Seven, (7) students took the exams in Information & Communication Technology.
Religious Studies – recorded a one hundred percent (100%) pass rate with ninety two percent (92%) receiving a grade of C or better. Twelve (12) students took the exam in Religious Studies.
Physical Education – recorded a one hundred percent (100%) pass rate with sixty-seven percent (67%) receiving a grade of C or better. Six (6) students took the exam in Physical Education.
Business Studies – recorded a one hundred percent (100%) pass rate with fifty-seven percent (57%) receiving a grade of C or better. Twenty three (23) students took the exam in Business Studies.
The next figures are a summary of subjects taken at the Advanced Subsidiary level (AS is the first part of the A Level qualification):
AS English recorded a fifty-eight percent (58%) pass rate with seventeen percent (17%) receiving a grade of C or better. Seventy-two, (72) students took the exam in English.
AS Art recorded a one hundred percent (100%) pass rate with one hundred percent (100%) receiving a grade of C or better. One (1) student took the exam in Art.
The introduction of the Cambridge Curriculum in 2010 for our core subjects was designed to address Recommendation 9 of the ‘Hopkins Report’: “Align the curriculum both vertically and horizontally.” (Graphs indicating student performance in relation to the Cambridge International average are in the background on easels)
I wish to commend teachers, parents, students and Department of Education staff for what has been accomplished in our first benchmark year with the Cambridge Curriculum.
According to Cambridge International Examinations, seventy-five percent of students worldwide achieve ratings between satisfactory and excellent. Therefore, Bermuda’s P6 students were at the worldwide average for English.
As a cohort, they performed ten percentage points below the worldwide average in Mathematics and two percentage points below the worldwide average in Science compared to their counterparts in 159 other jurisdictions.
We now have a benchmark for three of our core subjects.
At the Ministry of Education, we are involved in a deeper analysis of these results so that we can build on this first experience and set public targets by which we can be held accountable.
In telling you what our goals are, and then consistently and publicly reporting the results, it is our hope that feedback will be a key factor in motivating expectations and standards, and in improving students’ performance through improved delivery of teaching and learning.
I want to thank our principals, teachers and Department of Education staff for preparing our students for all of the various examinations. And in doing so, I recognize and congratulate our students for their work which has paid off in these graduation and testing achievements.
It is timely that on Wednesday we will celebrate World Teachers Day, our students’ results remind me of Benjamin Franklin’s quote: “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.”
We remain committed to teaching and learning.
I now invite the Chairman of the Board of Education to say a few words and then we will take questions.
80% of those students who “passed” the science exam couldn’t manage to get a C grade but 100% of the students passed their “religious studies” exams.
Great.
Bermudian students are excellent at remembering fairy tales but few if any can tell you why the sky is blue.
You said it. People are remembering nonsensical fairy tales about mythical burning bushes, imaginary creatures in the sky that supposedly created us in six days, and some guy on a cross when they should really learn science & math and reality to better Bermuda.
This just goes to prove what’s wrong with Bermuda once again:
Terrible education run by ignoramus religious zealots who shun actual reality and science.
Your false god isn’t helping tourists come to Bermuda and it isn’t helping stem the flow of international business leaving Bermuda.
Wake up and smell reality instead of some ancient book designed for mind control and to keep people on their knees and for which offers no answers to life itself.
Religion is the worst thing for humanity and does nothing for us except hold us back and enslave our minds. It does more to separate us than bring us together. It promotes war, hatred and bigotry for those that don’t look and think as it does.
People want a “progressive” Bermuda? Try free thinking for once and stop spouting garbage from an ancient book that incorrectly tried to explain the nature of the universe and everything in it.
WOW! Never heard someone in Bermuda go that deep!
After 13 years we still have lots of work to do? PLP should be ashamed. And anyone who wants to re-elect them next year has sh!t for brains.
Couldn’t have put it better myself.
@ True Bermudian, I’ll bite. You obviously have beef with the Bible. That much is clear. Have you read it for yourself? If so, how did you come away with the following conclusions;
1. The Bible includes nothing about sience and math.
2. The Bible is designed for mind control but no other forms of education fall under this category.
3. Religion is bad for humanity / divisive? Everything that people get involved with becomes divisive. Politics, various organizations, schools, boards, sporting teams etc etc. Seems to me that People are divisive and not so much religion.
Your idea of “free thinking” is free from what exactly? Seems to me that a strong case could be made for just the opposite.
With all respect.
Now, here’s the thing- I am a fairly religious person, I believe in God and the Bible, and I’m also well-educated and believe in science. The two aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive. What bothers me is that religion is taught in the schools at all- that’s MY job as a parent. I do NOT want my child’s view of God and religion shaped by his educators. I am proud of our faith, we attend an active and vibrant church that does much good in the community, and is itself a community which we enjoy being a part of. Unless we send our child to a parochial school, then keep your hands off his religious education. Concentrate please on the things you’re supposed to- the ‘three R’s’ would be a fine start. That, in itself, should be enough of a task. What if we were Buddhists or Muslims??? Would that not be a violation of my child’s freedoms to teach him only about Christianity, and at that a sect that we don’t subscribe to? Leave religion out. It does NOT belong in our schools. Our faith and our relationship with God is personal, not public. Our witness to our faith is in how we live our lives. We need nothing more than that.
To celebrate student success is very important and the graphs really help demonstrate how well we are doing. But what does “(perormance rane 2-5)” mean? I have a sinking feeling we lost marks because it is supposed to be “performance range”.
it seems it is a font translation error in the computer transfer. It should be performance range
It has been a while since I’ve attended school
But wasn’t anything less than a C a fail…..so how
Can 90% pass and only 54% get a C or higher??
Besides…..you want to see how well our local
Schooling is doing….take a trip down to any bar/club after
10 pm and see what wehave created…
Aren’t D’s a pass?
When I was in school during the 80′s taking the old O’levels, which later turned into the GCSE exams, only a grade C or better was considered a pass. D and below were fails. When you moved on to the A levels then a grade E or better was considered a pass.
It goes to show how arbitrary the word ‘pass’ really is when used in statistics, what you have to look at is the standard of the exam. Take the Bermuda driver’s exam, it’s hardly a badge of honour to be able to say you passed that.
When I was in university in the late 80′s in the UK, you had to have a grade better than a C in O’levels (GCSE’s) or A’levels, otherwise you would not be considered for entry. Most courses needed minimum 5 O’levels and 3 A’levels.
a G and up is a pass, but most universities only look at D and up some only C
Very misleading when applying percentages! Real numbers should be provided when recording this sort of data. For example! 50% of my children have 9 GCSE’s. But I only have 2 girls! Get my drift?
OMG – these results are truly dreadful. Congratulations to the students that passed (i.e. a grade C or above), but the low number of entrants and the abymissal pass rate (i.e. a grade C or above) says an awful lot about the state of the government schools. This absolutely MUST improve. The old-fashioned ideas of discipline and hard work from both students and staff need to be immediately applied or the island is going to be in deep trouble. As for the ministry, you have found the Cambridge syllabus (good work by the way), stick to it, provide the resources and stop messing around with things.
I totally agree with you – BUT you forgot one group in that equation….the parents need to work hard too. We can’t leave it just to the students and the teachers…..
I’m sorry but getting a 2.0 gpa to graduate just doesn’t cut it. In the real world you need at least a 2.8. Some colleges will not look at anything less than a 3.0. We can and must do better!!!!
It’s hard not to be skeptical whenever the Graduation Rates are announced, I believe we have changed things alright. Like lowered standards just to make it look as if things are fine.
Don’t believe me?? Watch some of our graduates fill out a job application or present a resume …
Before I continue, I’d like to congratulate those student who passed the examinations sat.
You can only sit what you are given the opportunity of sitting.
The tone of the message delivered and the actual results do not match.Let us consider the (independent) external results. Even with just considering the 350 students that sat the exams the results are very poor.
577 external exams taken by 350 = (on average) less than 2 exams per person. This is extrememly poor. Especially when you consider all students should be taking English and Mathematics at a minimum.
Only 168 students took exams in English Language and Literature.62% gained grade C or above. Therefore 29.76% of the 350 students (that did sit external exams)achieved an average to better than average grade in English Language and Literature = NOT GOOD RESULTS
Only 142 students took exams in Mathematics. 70% gained grade C or above. Therefore 28.40% of the 350 students achieved an average to better than average grade in Mathematics = NOT GOOD RESULTS
STOP SELLING OUR CHILDREN SHORT and putting spin on the performance of Bermuda Education.
thank you for actually reading the results, on top of your comment would ‘le dame’ like to discuss how many students DID NOT sit ANY IGCSE exams last year or would that put her success into context?
Not OK,
The only thing that is not OK is you and your warped analysis of these results. If in your family, you have 5 children and 2 of your 5 children decide to sit an exam and they both pass, then you are concluding that 40% of your children passed which by inference alone, would indicate that 60% of your children failed. But that would be incorrect because the other 3 children did not sit the exam so should not be included in your analysis.
So yes the true picture is that out of 168 students who took the English exam, 62% gained a grade of C or better. Leave it at that and don’t put your spin on it. These 168 students did well and I am proud of them and I don’t believe in your false congratulations. You need to take an exam in data analysis
Let’s just say that the in the end, the Public School Kids still get into the same Universities as the Private School kids.
Um, NO, they don’t. Most public school kids can’t get into ANY university and less than 5% get into top level universities that private school kids do.
that is entirely untrue.
totally inaccurate Family man
I would certainly like to see where Family Man got his information from. Can you provide us the source? Otherwise, keep quiet!
Sorry – that just is not true.
if they do it is only because the S4 students have inflated imaginary grades that have no international equivalent, think about it most kids graduate with decent averages 18 but cant pass a math and english IGCSE that some students sit at 13. Talk about grading on a curve.
Getting into Universities is the last statistic that should be cited… you should look at who is graduating from University
Low standards mask low fulfillment of potential. Given the disproportionately high money spent per child in public education in Bermuda, results should greatly exceed CIE averages. Shielding children from high standards under the guise of “being positive” will leave them in for a rude awakening after “graduation”. The world will not be so accommodating. We can do much better Bermuda.
Recently seen on on the back of a Government vehicle: “Goverment of Bermuda”
BWAA-HA-HA-Ha-Ha-Ha!!
P.s. What is “perormance rane”. I’m assuming it is mean’t to read peformance range. I could be wrong though.
We noted that as well….the charts were provided by the Dept of Education – nothing we produced.
pahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa so embarrassing. They would not be able to cope in college if this is considered good results. Just think how much better those results are going to get now that there are 82 missing teachers……well………maybe there are some students that learn better in classes of 38 ! ! ! !
oh well………….
Sad that she can pass this off as good results.
Yes, the spin is dizzying. Always is.
Interesting..
Who is to say that the teachers are doing a decent job and that parents are not the ones pushing their child?
We can do better, but the results are not horrible IMO…
Im sorry, why so much negativity?
I think the results are actually much improved. And when compared to worldwide, we are not far behind and in some cases we are ahead.
I think it is great news that the graduation requirements are increased for next year, and that Dame Jennifer is releasing all the data so that we are aware of the standards.
It is so easy for many of you to be Mr and Mrs Doom and Gloom, but perhaps you can’t even interpret the results properly and see the positives!
Same thing i was thinking “goodluck” and our young people are reading these comments and saying geesh, still not good enough for my country yet none of these already educated people would even step up into the Mirrors Program, Youthnet or the Big Brother and Sister program to either tutor me or give me a bit more motivation about life and education, which alot of these youths just do not have.
If we feel the education system has failed it is because we have allowed it. We are suppose to be paving a way for the future generation just how it was paved for us. But no, all we continue to do is create blockages of negativity and point fingers at politricks and then we wonder y our young people get higher marks in “fairytales”? How long are we to continue sitting in on the ‘magic shows’?
To the youth who aren’t excelling as well as the others…you are not failures and don’t ever let anyone make you feel and think you are. Don’t be afraid to ask and seek for one on one help with your teachers and your peers too. Speak with your teacher after class for that extra help that’s what they are there for. If you are faced with troubles at home or outside of school, don’t let it discourage you or hold you back, I KNOW you have the potential and more importantly you have the resources available in school to boost you through. There’s no difference between you and a private school student, they get bad grades to.
Stay encourage young people….keep strong willed – YOU WILL NEVER FAIL UNTIL YOU STOP TRYING.
I am not surprised that our education system is not working. The people who run the Department of Education can’t spell and haven’t heard of proofreading! “Perormance Rane” sounds like some new R&B group.
Maybe Specialgirl4 did the chart.
“Perormance Rane” is a new R&B group, with the Dame as lead singer!
Please Jenifer,
C is a Pass?? which century are we in??
in UK and Canadian Universities a ‘D’ is a pass
So people think its the PLP’s fault aye? Ha, I went thru public school while the ole UBP were in power and it wasn’t that great either! I eventually went to university but prior to starting Bda College, my standards were not up to par. Let me tell you, the majority of the other kids starting with me had the same problem! They were just not making the grades needed to enter BDA college on a College level. Then again the curriculum under the then Gov’t was to keep the people down. Hence the choice of cutting out the Trades schools, and increasing the standards.
WE ARE TALKING ABOUT THE NOW AND THE FUTURE. We can’t change the past ..The PLP have had 13 years to change the up to now and the independent results showing their progress are in fact AWFUL. Some students may have done brilliantly , but across the 350 and the whole of the Public school year for that age group the results are a DISASTER.
The spin by comparing to a world average is an insult. At the high level, let us have a metric measuring performance per head for the whole of that public school year population and a similar measure including a cost per head metric and use these as a baseline for year on year performance. Education is a results business, let us start measuring the real results compared to our real results and strive to improve every year. Comparing us to different baselines every year means nothing for year on year performance, its apples v oranges and is pure SPIN
I am not even going to acknowledge the merits of this comparison. I am going to speak to the bigger picture, one that no test score can obscure. The fact of the matter is, these so-called standardized testing and the results they give, does not measure a child’s intelligence or performance.
Intelligence is way to diverse amongst individuals, to be measured by the testing systems popularly used. For example, These tests does nothing to determine a child’s critical thinking ability and problem solving skills, as it pertains to real world applications. Test results are just gimmicks used by politicians to give us the perception that they are doing the people’s job. But is it really benefiting our children and by extension, Bermuda.
What we need is an Education system that will educate each and every child. Educate them in a way, which will see them maximize their fullest potential. For this to be done, such a system must first recognize that they are all different and as such, they will have a variety of intelligences in varying degrees.
We cannot put all the emphasis on academical intelligence and expect that magically, we are going to also produce good tradesmen. To put this in perspective, when I say academical, I am referring to the the folks that will pursue a carrier in the world of academia. Tradesmen also need academics but in a different way.
To get back to the point, we tend to put all the emphasis in one area and by doing that, we totally ignore the fact that we are dealing with individuals. If the education system is to be successful, we must embrace all the other forms of intelligence, which are as important. To put it scientifically simple, we are neurologically wired to do different things.
To make the point, why do you think that some people can sing and others can’t. The singer has an innate ability to sing and there are varying degrees to this talent set. If this singer is to succeed, in what is an highly competitive area, all the right things must happen and one of them being, she has to be in an environment that says singing is a good thing.
So likewise, if your carpenter to be, finds himself in a Bermuda that says, only the Accountants and Insurance executives are important, then this Carpenter to be, will never be. He didn’t know that he could have been a good carpenter, all he knew was, he found it difficult to learn math and have always struggled to read. He couldn’t remember anything they thought him about history, geography or anything else for that sake. He struggled to learn his time tables when others found it so easy to do.
The truth of the matter is, this carpenter to be also needs to know math, he doesn’t need to know calculus but he needs math. He also needs to be able to read, not necessarily fast, but he has to read effectively. Once these are mastered, the limit is the sky.
So why did he struggle in math, when his natural abilities will depend on him having a good comprehension of math. The answer to that is, the same neurological wiring that gave him his Mechanical aptitude, is the same one that says, he can only excel at math, if thought in a piratical manner. The mechanical gifted brain is an innovative one, a piratical one, one that does not see abstract math, it only sees math as it pertains to real world problem solving. These are the brains that are responsible for all the mechanical inventions we now, come to take for granted. Automobiles, Washing machines etc.
So where does this Carpenter to be finds himself, in a Bermuda that’s adverse to him. This again will depend on a different set of neurological wiring, combined with the immediate environment he grow up in. If he was fortunate enough to be born into a family (single or both parents) which was able to give him love and support, then he may be your average gas station attendant or your average clerical staff that just can’t seem to excel at what he is doing. He never found his niche in life so to speak but at least he is now a productive citizen in society.
So given his particular set of circumstances he will be alright, if even just.
Thanks, to the environment he was raised in, he is OK. He will be OK, even if was born with the Warrior Gene mutation and or a temporal lobe defect that my have predispose him to violence. This violent side was never triggered, thanks to the loving and nurturing environment, he grew up in. Bottom line is, his environment and family support had negate any negative tendencies he may have.
However, if this Carpenter to be was born with the Warrior Gene mutation and or a defect in the Temporal lobe of the brain, born to a parent or set of parents, that was, for whatever reason, unable to give him the love and support which would foster an environment for success. Then you will find this Carpenter to be, possibly, pointing a firearm at the next gun victim to be, then blowing out their brains out and not even think about it the next day. Or he may have been caught and doing time for his murder at a cost of almost $100K per year. Now if we were smart, we could have educated five of them with the same investment.
Moral of the story is, if we don’t educate them all, and I mean all. We will surly be paying for it big time, in years to come. We have already lost a generation since 98. The generation we lost will be filling the ranks of the ones that have been locked up. Why I do I say from 98. This was when we got a new government, one that should have been able to fix the wrongs of the past, which includes the education system. This was a missed opportunity to do the reforms Bermuda needed to take us to the next level.
Instead, it was business as usual, at a time when we needed some radical measures to reform the system. So now we are still praising an education system that has failed our children and continues to fail our children.
Very well said!!! Truth be told, thank you.
Congratulations to the students who did well, but the results overall look terrible to me. A C grade or above is generally regarded as being a decent pass (although Min Ed apparently defines any grade at all, including D, E or F, as a ‘pass’). If you take English, 62% of 168 got C or above. That is 104 students. So that means 30% of the 350 total students passed English. If you do the same calculation for Maths, the pass rate, compared to total students, is 28%. For Sciences, it’s 3.4%. For Business Studies, where 13 out of the 350 took the exam and got a C grade, it’s 3.7% of students who got a C grade.
Not exactly stellar results are they.
RBK, MOED doesn’t make up the ‘pass’, it is a Cambridge standard world wide that passing grades are A to G. Please look it up. It is rather easy to fact check.
The MOED actually establishes a higher standard of looking for grades of C and above.
Why would the minister identify grade C and above, if it has no significance? We all know it has a significance. It isn’t a “higher standard” made up by the MOED, it’s a standard that most further education institutions look for, and that most employers would look for.
I’m not making this disctinction to criticise the students; I’m just trying to make sense of the stats we’re given, which are murky and, I think, misleading. Look at the Technology subject. 7 students took the exam; only one “passed”, but evidently with a grade that was D or below. The other 6 didn;t grade at all. Out of 350 students, one gets somewhere between D and G.
… I just realised that “Not OK” made exactly the same point as me, but hours earlier!
ALL just in time for an election. Wow amazing.
Figures can lie and liars can figure…
They have only published the good results not the bad ones…
Ask anyone from the UK & they will tell you Cambridge been “DUMBED DOWN” so more can pass….
Grades A, B and C are what used to be grades 1 through 6 (which were passes) Grades 7 8 and 9 were fails.
In these days they don’t like the word fail so they give you a grade d,e,f or g.
Similar to when they tell kid’s “Everyone’s a winner” for entering races which is absolute rubbish. There is only one winner and once kids grow up they realise that.