Universities bribed £1000 to accept D students! - Are degrees becoming useless?

celyn90

candyflossing wrote: »

In Chemistry (Exexcel) it hasn't changed for 5/6 years, and the changes made in 2000 were simply re-arranging the units, but much of the material remained the same. We were given past papers from 6 years before as practice and they were pretty much the same difficulty level, if not easier, in my opinion.

I have taught the stuff for a long time. It's likely you were given the past papers relevant to your subject to be answered in respect of the current syllabus. Bits drop out of the syllabus and are replaced depending on what is relevent at the time. You will find, for example in Chemistry now, a lot of environmental science that wasn't there 5 years ago, but how lead-acid battery works probably isn't mentioned. The bits that don't change tend to be the bits that are related to practical courses and the fundementals - such as kinetics and basic organic reaction mechanisms and structures.

You will also find that the changes on syllabuses are not only to do with the information that needs to be covered but the depth in which it needs to be covered. So if you sat the old papers, even if the questions are the same the way in which it would be marked is likely not to be the same as different emphasis is placed on different things.

I see a lot of exam papers each year

vixarooni

i always think that GCSE's and A -levels happen at a really dodgy time for teenagers. I tried harder in my SATS in year 9 than i did in my GCSE and A levels. When i hit 15/16, i discovered things that were more important to me (at the time) than learning. At that age you cant see past tomorrow and youre going through so much in terms of hormones ect that you kinda cant be arsed! I didnt do too bad in my GCSE's, i got some B's and C's mainly, A levels went down even more to just C's. I only fully grew up in the 2nd year of my HND when i was 19/20 it suddenly dawned on me that the rest of my life is kinda dictated by how well i do now, but the first year affected my overall score sadly. Now in my degree im continuting to try.

i just know alot of my friends feel the same way as i do, and alot of people have regrets about how little they tried as a youngen.

Cardelia

candyflossing wrote: »

In Chemistry (Exexcel) it hasn't changed for 5/6 years, and the changes made in 2000 were simply re-arranging the units, but much of the material remained the same. We were given past papers from 6 years before as practice and they were pretty much the same difficulty level, if not easier, in my opinion.

No they weren't! What happened to Raoult's law? It went, completely. The whole topic was just taken out. VSEPR was considerably reduced in scope, stereoisomerism of transition metal complexes was taken out, d-orbital shapes have gone, the mathematical treatment of kinetic equations is much less than it used to be... I could go on. In short, the A-level syllabus was butchered when AS-levels were brought in.

I sat the 2000 A-level exams (hence I knew the syllabus) and I saw the revised syllabus for the new AS level courses. The amount of material which was taken out was shocking, and all the bits which were taken out were the hardest and most challenging parts.

celyn90

Cardelia wrote: »

No they weren't! What happened to Raoult's law? It went, completely. The whole topic was just taken out. VSEPR was considerably reduced in scope, stereoisomerism of transition metal complexes was taken out, d-orbital shapes have gone, the mathematical treatment of kinetic equations is much less than it used to be... I could go on. In short, the A-level syllabus was butchered when AS-levels were brought in.

I sat the 2000 A-level exams (hence I knew the syllabus) and I saw the revised syllabus for the new AS level courses. The amount of material which was taken out was shocking, and all the bits which were taken out were the hardest and most challenging parts.

Completely correct (I did mine a bit before then, but I still remember having to chant Raoult's law in class!).

But then I was never taught what a "biofuel" is or how sunscreen works - which is quite difficult to teach properly when the concepts surrounding the interactions of radiation with matter aren't there any more.

Zinger549

candyflossing wrote: »

BTEC is listed under 'alternative requirements' in some unis. I'm not sure whether other requirements are needed too though..

If you do the BTEC National diploma or Certificate then you can get in to UNI. Not all UNI's will accept it but some of them will. There equivalent to A levels. Certificate = 2 A levels. Diploma = 3 A Levels.

System

I had no idea that you could get into uni with BTecs and GNVQS until recently, or I would have gone to college and specialised in my chosen subject, rather than struggle through 3 A-levels on topics that were barely linked to my degree!!