What are Level A's?

[Levente]

I have been wondering for a while now what the term "Level A's" mean. I assume that they are linked with math, physics, English and such, but could someone explain me what are people talking about when talking about those Level A's?

Here in Finland we have a different school system than e.g. in UK and I am not sure if we have something like Level A's. In case I would want to run for an airline job in UK in the future for instance I would probably need to have my Level A's, but how do airlines deal with national differences in education?

Thanks.

[This message has been edited by Levente (edited 04 May 2001).]

[Genghis the Engineer]

A-levels (or Advanced Level Exams) are exams taken in specific subjects at the age of 18 in England and Wales. Most students will take about 3 subjects, and they are graded A to E. (I did them in Maths, Physics and Chemistry, for example).

To get into a good University you usually need a collection of Bs and Cs at A-level, to get into Cambridge a row of As, to get into one of the less prestigious universities, usually a couple of D grade A-levels will just scrape you a place.

So if an employer is asking for good A-levels, they are really asking if you have good enough exam results to secure a University place.

Hope this helps,

G

[Levente]

Thanks G, that's all I wanted to know!

Levente

[piloteddy]

Genghis and Levente,

Just a little point about A levels.

Since the start of this year there is a new system that most schools are adopting. The old 'A-Level' has now been split up into a two year course, with you taking 3, 4 or even 5 subjects in the first year, which are called A/S levels . You then take exams at the end of the year (in May/June). These first year exams are the equivalent of half an old A-level and are supposed to give us students a broader range of subjects.

In the second year you drop some of the subjects so you only do 3. These are supposed to be taken up to the old A-Level standard but are now going to be called A2's.

Hopefully that makes some sence and that it helps you out a little bit.....Although next year they are supposed to change slightly again http://www.pprune.org/ubb/NonCGI/confused.gif

If you have any other questions i'll try and answer them as best I can.

----------------------------------
PilotEddy

[Checkboard]

So if A-levels are the end of high school exams, what are O-levels?

You only take three subjects! Five is the standard in Australia - I did Pure & Applied Maths, Physics Chemistry and English, for example.

[Fast Jet Wannabe]

Checkboard,

There are no such thing as O-levels any more either!

They were phased out in, oh... about 1764 :) But seriously I don't know the exact year O-levels ceased to exist, but surfice to say that the majority of our PPRuNe professional pilots will have passed, or at least been entered for, about 9/10 of them.

Now we do GCSE's. I think, although I'm not entirley sure, that these stand for Government Certificate of Standard Education. These are sat at the age of 16, and are the last manditory exams any British student will sit. These exams are graded A* - E, but I think you can also get N = Nearly a pass, and U = Ungraded.

The number of exams you sit varies slightly from school to school, for many good reasons (i.e. some schools do double science award whilst other school enter their students for 3 science exams - Physics, Chemistry and Biology). Personally, I have 10 GCSE's.

Assuming you get good enough GSCE results, 5 grades A-C is usually whats required, you can gain entry to a sixth form to study A-levels. (Or A2's as they are now called).

Incidently, I am due to sit my A-levels in June, but I am the last year ever of students sitting A-levels. Next June they'll all be sitting A2's.

Hope this helps!

FJW.

[foghorn]

Pedant alert :)

GCSE stands for General Certificate of Secondary Education. They were first introduced in 1988 (I did mine in 1989).

They replaced the older O-Level and CSE exams and are normally sat at age 16.

Initially grades were A-E, with A-C corresponding to an old O-Level pass and grades C-E corresponding to the old CSE exams. N is a near miss and U is an outright fail. When I sat them, D or lower was sometimes incorrectly called a 'fail' because it corresponded to a fail in the old O-level. Don't know if this happens anymore

The A* was added in the late nineties because so many people were getting A's that it was making them meaningless for entry to 16+ education. Not that the standards were being watered down of course :)

Upwards of 8 GCSE's at grade A-C is a good benchmark of academic achievement.

Checkboard

A-levels were mainly designed as a university preparation exam, and so it's only feasible to take three or four at a time unless you're particularly gifted/mad. Unfortunately good though they are at preparing you for uni, three doesn't give a very broad education for people ending their education at 18. To alleviate this there are new exams introduced this year: 4-6 'AS' levels at seventeen after one years study, with 2-3 being upgraded to 'A2' levels at 18 for university entry or just extra academic kudos.

Some people are whingeing about the extra workload on pupils, but I remember not working particularly hard during my A-levels (a lazyness which bit me on the bum hard when I went to uni).

Levente

The European Baccalaureate and International Baccalaureate are considired equivalent to A-levels for university entry - I guess that the airlines will accept these or could be convinced of the equivalence.

[This message has been edited by foghorn (edited 07 May 2001).]