'A' level good results: good teaching or academically able pupils?

Fieldsofgold

daisiegg wrote: »

You're welcome.

I meant to add, as a teacher (and I hope not a bad one) I often feel pretty redundant with the absolute top students. I sometimes look at them and think 'you'd be doing just as well whether I was standing here or not!' You give them the information/material and they just fly with it. It is amazing to see. It is the middle - those trying to scrape from a B to an A or those trying to turn their C into a B - who I can really work with and help. And I suppose for them, a poor teacher might mean that the B stays a B and does not scrape into an A, and the C student who could possibly be encouraged to get a B just gets a C. But even in classes with 'bad' teachers, you get students achieving top grades - because they are just that good that they would get those grades no matter who taught them. If your daughter is like that - and you really are sure - then her teacher is right. She will thrive wherever she goes.

I'm sure you're a good teacher and I'm not being critical but don't you find that statement rather depressing?

themull1

Between the two - i think better kids rather than better teachers, but i also think its easier to get a good grade in GCSE's and A levels than it was twenty years ago. I think the exams are easier.

Fieldsofgold

FBaby wrote: »

No grammar schools in our county, only very average rated colleges, or private schools. Secondary schools are suddenly starting to offer 6th form, because they need money with the independent schools which have opened in the area. That includes my DD school's but it will be the first year they open, so will have no clue if they've got it right or not.
.

I wonder whether you've missed the word "boarding" " in my post?

I certainly wouldn't encourage her to attend somewhere whose teachers didn't have a great deal of experience of teaching A levels - it's too important for her to be someone for them to practise on!

Mojisola

daisiegg wrote: »

But why should she, if she is set on being a doctor?

I wanted to be a teacher. No one said to me 'ok but have you looked at being a teaching assistant, a private tutor, a dinner lady, a university lecturer...'

It is perhaps rare but not impossible to know what you want to do at a young age.

I'm not saying she should - she may be set on being a doctor and will see it through to the end. Many of the doctors I know say they knew from a young age that that's what they wanted to be.

However, she is still young and may not know all the options that are available in the health service. I wouldn't want to deter any of my children from what they wanted to do but I would also want to make sure they had considered all the options in case something else suited them better.

It may be that she would enjoy being a physio or podiatrist or a medical researcher (to pick a few examples at random) - I'm just saying explore the possibilities.

claire16c

stardoman wrote: »

It might also be about how strict they are about who they let do the A Level courses. My son's school boasts that of all pupils taking 3 A Levels they get an average of 2 As and 1 B. Must admit I was very impressed by this.

However, going through the process to get my son onto an A Level course is proving difficult. They will only accept pupils who get an A or A* at GCSE level . Even a B is not good enough.

My son is predicated to get pretty much all Bs, though in his mocks he got a few A*s. They are still trying to get him to go for the BTEC courses as they say that they are more practical and easier to get.

I had a meeting with the school on Wednesday last week and I thought it was pretty much sorted. She put the case for the BTECs but I put mine for the A Levels. Then on Friday she has a chat with my son and has managed to put him off the A Levels by telling him that as he will only be doing 3 subjects it will reduce his choice of university.

So though the private schools might get better results, are they more choosy about who they let onto their courses. Our local college will have anyone as long as they get a C grade.

That doesn't make sense - how can only doing 3 subjects reduce his choice of unis when 3 A levels is the standard amount?! And a Btec is one subject?!

At my school you needed a B to do the A level after. I think if you only got a C you'd struggle as C isn't exactly hard to get, but asking purely for As and A*s seems a bit tough.

Fieldsofgold

Mojisola wrote: »

I'm not saying she should - she may be set on being a doctor and will see it through to the end. Many of the doctors I know say they knew from a young age that that's what they wanted to be.

However, she is still young and may not know all the options that are available in the health service. I wouldn't want to deter any of my children from what they wanted to do but I would also want to make sure they had considered all the options in case something else suited them better.

It may be that she would enjoy being a physio or podiatrist or a medical researcher (to pick a few examples at random) - I'm just saying explore the possibilities.

Apparently research shows that the career of choice for those who don't get into medical school is accountancy rather than any health related field.

Person_one

Fieldsofgold wrote: »

Apparently research shows that the career of choice for those who don't get into medical school is accountancy rather than any health related field.

This is true, I was surprised as well when I found out, but then less surprised once I gave it some thought.

No other health profession offers the same social status and earning potential as medicine.

silvercar

For medical school, as well as high grades, you need a very good personal statement on your UCAS form and work experience. A lot of medical school departments will also expect you to score highly in BMAT.

silvercar

claire16c wrote: »

That doesn't make sense - how can only doing 3 subjects reduce his choice of unis when 3 A levels is the standard amount?! And a Btec is one subject?!

Standard amount, if there is such a thing, is to take 4 subjects in the lower sixth to AS level and then follow 3 of those subjects on to A level.

If you only start off with 3 subjects, you don't have the flexibility to choose which one you drop after one year. It also gives you a lower UCAS score as AS levels score at half the full A level rate; this is less important for high achievers.

mrcow

daisiegg wrote: »

You're welcome.

I meant to add, as a teacher (and I hope not a bad one) I often feel pretty redundant with the absolute top students. I sometimes look at them and think 'you'd be doing just as well whether I was standing here or not!' You give them the information/material and they just fly with it. It is amazing to see. It is the middle - those trying to scrape from a B to an A or those trying to turn their C into a B - who I can really work with and help. And I suppose for them, a poor teacher might mean that the B stays a B and does not scrape into an A, and the C student who could possibly be encouraged to get a B just gets a C. But even in classes with 'bad' teachers, you get students achieving top grades - because they are just that good that they would get those grades no matter who taught them. If your daughter is like that - and you really are sure - then her teacher is right. She will thrive wherever she goes.

I feel exactly the same about my A level pupils. (We probably don't even teach the same subjects).

I don't think it's "depressing" about the top end students (as someone mentioned above). I just try and make sure that I give them as much challenging material as i can. Some kids are just born to get 90%+ for whatever they study at A level. That doesn't at all mean that the lessons aren't relevant, or that they aren't learning anything!