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

poet123

celyn90 wrote: »

I must admit, I don't miss admissions interviewing, I really don't - it's awful having to choose between a stream of bright, talented and wonderful young people, the majority of whom you'd just know would be fine. We put a lot of pressure on our youngsters these days, we really do.

I'm with poet123 on this - where would she be happiest studying? Everything else is fixable, but if she hates the environment, it'll not be a good experience for her and will make everything harder.

I am with you on this too. I bet it is hard, knowing that they will open that envelope and be crushed if it is a rejection, and that ultimately, they may have been wonderful students but someone else just ticked another box and sneaked over the line ahead of them.

In the last couple of years I have been on school interview panels and I have felt that same emotion looking at the bright, enthusiastic young NQT's sitting opposite me. In most case several of them would have done an excellent job and the separator was something they had no control over. Usually a gap in the current staff knowledge that we had identified at interview one of the other applicants just happened to plug.

poet123

Katem wrote: »

My DD got all A/A* at GCSE but A levels (especially for medicine) are a different kettle of fish. Her ambition was to do medicine too. She went on all the recommended uni information courses/weekends etc and to a conference and decided it wasn't for her in the end. This was after wanting to do medicine for many years.

If you attend a state school, some universities look favourably upon this, and have special schemes, with guaranteed places/lower offers for state school pupils.

I think that is where my son is at now.

Katem

poet123 wrote: »

I think that is where my son is at now.

she actually decided medicine wasn't for her because a lot of the information she was given at this conference was about social class and standing and how much money was to be earned. There was very little about patients or patient care mentioned, and when questioned, a lot of the Yr 12 students at the conference said they wanted to do medicine because of the money, or because Mum/Dad was a doctor and they'd grown up in that arena. DD1 was totally out of the loop and shocked that patient care wasn't mentioned. She's now decided to teach, and although she'd have been a good medic, she'll be a better teacher

CruisingSaver

Katem wrote: »

she actually decided medicine wasn't for her because a lot of the information she was given at this conference was about social class and standing and how much money was to be earned. There was very little about patients or patient care mentioned, and when questioned, a lot of the Yr 12 students at the conference said they wanted to do medicine because of the money, or because Mum/Dad was a doctor and they'd grown up in that arena. DD1 was totally out of the loop and shocked that patient care wasn't mentioned. She's now decided to teach, and although she'd have been a good medic, she'll be a better teacher

As someone who works for the NHS, albeit it in a non-clinical role, I find the statement highlighted to be quite shocking.


What we need in the service are people who do care about patients and providing the best patient care, not people who are only in it for the money and/or social status.


It's a real shame that young people such as your daughter are put off medicine as a career due to an inappropriate emphasis on money and social status.


CS

Westward_bound

Katem wrote: »

she actually decided medicine wasn't for her because a lot of the information she was given at this conference was about social class and standing and how much money was to be earned. There was very little about patients or patient care mentioned, and when questioned, a lot of the Yr 12 students at the conference said they wanted to do medicine because of the money, or because Mum/Dad was a doctor and they'd grown up in that arena. DD1 was totally out of the loop and shocked that patient care wasn't mentioned. She's now decided to teach, and although she'd have been a good medic, she'll be a better teacher

Would this be a paid-for conference (Med-link or similar)?

FBaby

Thank you very much for all the fantastic informative advice. A lot of food for thought which is what I was hoping for.

CruisingSaver

FBaby wrote: »

Thank you very much for all the fantastic informative advice. A lot of food for thought which is what I was hoping for.

Good luck to your daughter FBaby. My DD is the same age so whilst she isn't considering a career in Medicine the information in this thread has been interesting for me to read too.


CS

celyn90

poet123 wrote: »

I am with you on this too. I bet it is hard, knowing that they will open that envelope and be crushed if it is a rejection, and that ultimately, they may have been wonderful students but someone else just ticked another box and sneaked over the line ahead of them.

In the last couple of years I have been on school interview panels and I have felt that same emotion looking at the bright, enthusiastic young NQT's sitting opposite me. In most case several of them would have done an excellent job and the separator was something they had no control over. Usually a gap in the current staff knowledge that we had identified at interview one of the other applicants just happened to plug.

We would write to all of them and make sure we reminded them they were bright and we thought they'd do well whatever their path, but I know it is no consolation. It sticks with people - I know people in the 30s/40s who are very anti Oxbridge because they were rejected for an undergraduate place when they were younger.

It's hard, especially as we'd only have a couple of places to fill (I am as soft as anything, I'd have admitted the vast majority of them if it were possible ) A rejection at that age can be really crushing; bright students often aren't used to rejection either, so don't have a coping strategy. I do a lot of work in schools still and am still involved in examinations at that level (I used to teach before going back into academia and I do miss the students) - and one thing that always strikes me is the pressure the kids are under and how hard they (and their schools) work towards the next step.

I work for the OU now, we admit everyone

JustKeepSwimming_2

If your children are considering doing science A levels here's a few other points to consider asking the school -

- how many science lessons are not held in labs but in other rooms?

- how many A level teachers are teaching classes out of their specialism? How many have done so during the last 3 years?

neverdespairgirl

JustKeepSwimming wrote: »

If your children are considering doing science A levels here's a few other points to consider asking the school -

- how many science lessons are not held in labs but in other rooms?

- how many A level teachers are teaching classes out of their specialism? How many have done so during the last 3 years?

At A level, I'd hope that the answer to that second question would be "none and none!" (apart from if a teacher was away ill or something, not a regular thing).

A level classes at my school were a max of 12 pupils. My geography A level class went up to 13 after a few weeks in the Lower Sixth, owing to 2 people changing to the subject, and in the Upper Sixth they split the class into one of 7 and one of 6 instead.