Schools had complained about exam timetable clashes

Changes were made for this year - but students' performances were patchy.

Mike Tomlinson's report on the exams identified two potential problems.

One was that there was limited time available for studying AS-level subjects, the other that all the exams in each subject were taken on the same day - so students became tired.

Now the exams watchdog in England, the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA), has said it will consult again on how best to manage the process next year.

Mr Tomlinson's report said: "The quality of work in AS papers, and in some cases the unevenness of performance across the paper, was noted.

"Some awarders judged that the limited time available in Year 12 (lower sixth form) to study for AS examinations could be the cause of some answers being limited in one or more ways.

"Others attributed this effect to result from the change to examining all AS units in a subject in one session."

Mr Tomlinson recommended: "In the light of the uneven performance at AS, the QCA should reconsider its earlier decision to examine all AS units in a subject in one session."

Saraansh found it tough going

At Preston Manor High School in north London, student Saraansh Dev said he had three one-hour economics papers in a morning, plus an hour and 45 minutes of physics in the afternoon.

"I was tired at the end of it - and mentally exhausted," he said.

The head of the sixth form, John Galligan, said: "I don't think the way the examinations were spread out last year was a major problem.

"Condensing it the way they have this year has caused added pressures and may well have affected some students' results."

Clashes

The introduction of the AS-levels, as part of the Curriculum 2000 changes, meant the number of exams being taken each year more than doubled.

The single-session approach was adopted this year to deal with timetabling problems thrown up last year.

Then, there were numerous complaints from schools and individual candidates about clashes.

Some students had to be isolated overnight in schools or teachers' homes, because a clash of subjects meant they were unable to sit exams at the scheduled time.

A spokesman for the QCA said it had been consulting people on the timetable and would do so again.

The scope for change was limited, because the exams had to be taken in a relatively narrow period.

"It's a case of consulting and seeing if we can come to a better arrangement for next year," he said.

Call for change

The Department for Education said: "The time tabling issues that were a significant problem two years ago have been tackled in a very coherent and serious way.

"This further question of time-tabling is one, amongst many points, Mike Tomlinson has flagged up in his report and which the QCA is looking into."

The Liberal Democrat education spokesman, Phil Willis, said the problem was that students were tested too much.

"When students are taking as many as 23 external exams within an 18-month period, the emphasis is going to be on testing rather than learning.

"After a year of Mike Tomlinson working diligently and an examinations system under pressure, absolutely nothing has changed.

"Liberal Democrats believe that the majority of AS assessment should take place within schools, using chartered examiners, rather than putting young people under extreme pressure for little gain."

The Association of Teachers and Lecturers said it was time to review the "all-in-one-day" decision.

"Examinations should assess knowledge and understanding: candidates have already proved they have the stamina to deal with the demands of their courses," said deputy general secretary Gwen Evans.

I took my AS levels this year, and found that the stress of having important exams (GCSEs then AS levels) two years in a row was intense: it will presumably only get worse as next year I take A2s. Taking many papers all on one day was a nightmare too: one one day I had 3 hour long chemistry papers followed by two one and a half [hour] history papers. I also had an exam the day before and one the day after: this really is excessive and unfair of the boards to put the papers all on the same day for one subject. I would also challenge those who complain the exam system is getting easier to take 11 GCSEs one year, then take 5 AS levels the year after and 4 A2s the year after that and still say that students today are getting an easy ride! you ask for solutions to the problems: scrap ASs: there is too much to learn in too short a space of time for them to work well.
Frances Lee, England

Yet again, Computing and ICT are very difficult to get A-C grades in compared to nearly every other subject. Computing especially is very hard!! It's easier to get a decent grade in Dance than it is a subject like Computing!!! Dance!!!

Examination boards are determined to discourage GCSE pupils from carrying on and studying proper subjects such as Maths and Computing in the sixth form by making other Mickey Mouse subjects like Media Studies, Dance and Psychology easier to get grades in. The first thing that QCA needs to do is stop pretending there isn't a problem with wishy-washy subjects and start recognising that MIckey Mouse and his friends do exist! These A levels should not have anywhere near the same UCAS weighting as proper subjects. Heads of Department like myself are becoming increasing demoralised at the difficulty of our subject, the amount of work we have to get through, the complexity of the topics, the difficulty of keeping up to date with topics, and the lack of action about it.
Dave, uk

Based on my daughter's experience this year, the AS exams introduce another level of testing with is extremely stressful following GSCE and can be demotivating if university select applicants on the basis on predicted results. If universities introduce entrance exams this will compound the problem. Universities need to move to an selection process based on actual grades, and the AS should be dropped in favour of a baccalaureate.
Godfrey Craik, UK

Most Scottish Higher students are required to study five or more subjects per year, they therefore leave school with a wide portfolio of abilities. Scottish students are also less likely to drop out of university education than any other area of the UK. The problem with the English system is that it pays to much heed to the whingers and wimps. Time to toughen up I think.
Simon Flinn

AS-levels - what a complete waste of time! So far as I can make out, all AS-levels do is distract students from studying their chosen A-levels. How many employers require a set number of AS-levels? Scrap these nonsensical exams, and get back to students actually learning their subjects, rather than exam techniques.
Bryn Roberts, Yorkshire, UK

The person in your report is complaining that he had to do 3 hours of exams in the morning and 1 hour 45 mins in the afternoon. This may sound a lot but if he goes on to study some subjects at a prestigious university such as Cambridge he is likely to have 3 hours in the morning and 3 hours in the afternoon of exams for 2 to 3 days straight. Surely A-levels should prepare students for this kind of workload?
Grant Hill-Cawthorne, UK

As more and more people do well at A-levels it becomes much harder for Universities to differentiate by grade and so identify good candidates. Also, as exams are getting easier it devalues the grades of those of us who did our A -evels many years ago. Grades should be awarded so that 10% of candidates get an A grade, 20% get B, 30% get C, 20% get D, 10% get E, 5% get F, 5% get U. This should be consistent every year across every subject.
Jonathan Roberts, UK

AS levels should not expect students to take all subject exams in one day. This is very stressful, additionally dyslexic students who need extra time to do exams are under even more pressure. This was evident in my son's results which show two C grades when Bs were confidently expected. No one can be expected to retain full concentration for 8 hours at a stretch, certainly not school children and most certainly not dyslexic children who find concentration difficult in any case.
S Kenny, uk

I doubt very much if, after 'consulting' all year QCA haven't sorted out the problem of AS exams, it will make any difference to anyone 'consulting' for another year again. I teach Computing. There are a number of major problems in AS and A2 Computing.
1) The AS (and to a much greater extent the A2 syllabus) is far too big.
2) Because of the excessive demands of coursework in both the AS and A2 year, we again have little time to work on the syllabus.
3) The exam board that I work with shows a contemptible attitude to improving the syllabus.
4) Why we need two exams for AS students in May is beyond me. There should be one 2 hour exam per subject in addition to one piece of moderate- length coursework, and it should be in the last week of the term (about the middle to end of July) to ensure I can properly teach the topics. This is assuming that the A2 syllabus is made more realistic in length which means it is shortened.
Dave Cooper, UK

Having all the subject exams on one day removes much of the advantage of a modular scheme and increases the risk of a student suffering by being off colour on the one assessment day of the year. Why not set the exam timetables first, with a reasonable spread? Then colleges could advise students not to take combinations which clash. Some degree of collaboration between the exam boards would be required.
Martin Pitt, UK