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A-level specifications being revised
LAHORE, June 14(Daily Times): Specifications for A-levels are
being revised under the UK government's education review policy that is held
every five years, Edexcel international development manager Alan Field told a
seminar titled, 2008 and Beyond - getting started, at a hotel on
Wednesday.
Field said that according to the new specifications, scheduled
to be enforced by September 2008, the units/modules in the courses would be
decreased from six to four.
Field said that all certificate-awarding
bodies in the UK like Edexcel had submitted their proposals regarding changes in
the specifications. He said internal assessment (course work) would be removed
in many subjects adding that only one form of assessment per unit were expected
to be introduced.
He said that tighter regulations would be applied to
combat the growing tendency of plagiarism among students. He said a new A*
grade, based on performance in A2 units/modules (second part of the course) was
also being introduced. He said the subjects biology, chemistry, physics and
music would retain six units.
Field said that the changed A-level
specifications, sample assessments, material and mark schemes would be available
on the Edexcel website by July. He added that the specifications and sample
assessments would be provided to the centres by the end of the year so that
teachers and students could prepare for the revised qualifications.
He
asked the participants, representing several schools of the city registered with
Edexcel, to contact the authority regularly over the internet to get the latest
information regarding expected changes in the A-level qualifications. He said
demand for education was growing and changing rapidly and at the same time was
increasingly harnessing the technologies available to assist both learners and
teachers to achieve more.
Field said further that the number of students
appearing in O-level examinations was reducing by 10 percent every year in many
countries because students were opting for more updated education like the
International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE). He said no
institute in the UK was offering O-level since it had been replaced by the
IGCSE. He said Edexcel would also produce a revised IGCSE based upon the best
features of the current IGCSE and O-level specifications.
Field said that
last year, 750 students in the UK were disqualified from Edexcel examinations
for malpractices, adding that 600 of them had been caught using cell phones
during exams. He said Pakistani students were among the best students appearing
in A-level exams across the world.
During the question-answer session
some participants, representing various schools registered with Edexcel,
expressed concern over the early departure of provincial education minister from
the seminar, saying that their students were facing many problems regarding the
conversion of marks of foreign qualifications like O and A levels. They said the
minister should have waited to answer their queries.
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| Education News | | Updated: 25 May, 2012 |
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