Lack of support to scrap AS-Levels, public consultation finds

There is little support for changes to be made to A-Levels in Northern Ireland which would involve scrapping AS-Levels, a public consultation has found.

Almost two-thirds of respondents to the consultation disagreed with the Department of Education's (DE) plan.

Thousands took part including students, teachers and parents, and the DE has said it will reflect on the proposal further before making a decision.

It has also abandoned plans to change the way GCSE grades are awarded to match those in England.

Sixth form pupil Ailbhe, who is studying A-Levels in French, Irish and History, told BBC News NI that AS-Levels had given her a "good base" for her A-Levels.

The proposals from DE involved qualifications run by the Northern Ireland exams board, the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA).

A-levels and GCSEs would remain, but it was proposed that AS-levels would be removed, making A-levels a two-year linear course without AS exams at the end of the first year.

In England, AS-levels were detached from A-levels in 2017 so AS-level results did not count towards A-level grades.

In Northern Ireland at present, students take AS-level exams halfway through their A-level course and they make up 40% of their overall A-level mark.

But the department wanted to remove AS levels which involve exams in Year 13 from A-Levels.

"Currently, many Northern Ireland students sit high-stakes exams annually from Year 11 to Year 14," the DE consultation stated.

"This is a matter of concern and means valuable teaching and learning time is lost through frequent assessments."

There are also plans to reduce the amount of topics studied at GCSE and A-Level and reduce the number of exams to two per subject.

Education Minister Paul Givan said that pupils in Northern Ireland were "over-tested," and that was one of the reasons for change.

A new A-Level in Gaeilge is set to be introduced for students in Irish-medium schools.

And at GCSE, there was a proposal to move to the grading system used in England and Wales, where a numerical system from 9-1 is used where 9 is the highest grade.

In Northern Ireland, GCSEs are graded using letters from A* - G.

A consultation on the plans attracted huge feedback, including around 5,000 responses from young people, 1,600 from teachers and over 1,000 from parents.

As well as taking A-Levels in French, Irish and History, Ailbhe took an AS-Level in English Literature.

"This year I've decided to just focus in on the languages and history," she said.

She said that she was happy to sit AS-Levels in the subjects as it meant what she had to learn was spread out over two years.

"In history last year we did the Bolsheviks and Nazi Germany, and then you can sort of forget about that and then focus in on what we're doing this year," Ailbhe said.

"Whereas if I was studying four different topics at the one time, I think it would be even more confusing."

She said that her AS-Level marks gave her "a good base" for A-Levels and helped her when it came to applying for university.

"I think if you were working for two years towards a couple of exams the pressure of those exams would be so much more," Ailbhe said.

"And I just definitely don't feel overwhelmed with the number of exams I have."

Jude, who is also a sixth year pupil at Shimna Integrated College in Newcastle, is taking A-Levels in Maths, History and Irish, agreed that AS-Levels should remain.

He said that modular courses, where exams were taken during GCSE or A-Level courses, "really takes the pressure off."

"If there were no modular exams and it was all linear at the end of your two years, there would be a lot more stress and pressure," he said.

But Jude had some sympathy with the view that pupils are over-tested.

"Last year because I did four AS-Levels I had ten exams or so, so it seems like there's a lot," he said.

"But equally you're not learning any less by being not tested in year 13."

"I think that splitting it up makes more sense."

But Jude did support a proposed reduction in the number of topics or amount of content pupils had to study in some courses.

Almost two-thirds of respondents disagreed with the proposal to scrap AS-Levels and make the A-Level course a two-year one with exams at the end.

"This is a particularly complex issue with a broad range of views," the department said.

Adding that it would "reflect on and consider this proposal further" before making a final decision on the qualifications policy framework.

There was also a majority who opposed changing most GCSEs to linear courses with exams taken only at the end of year 12.

The department has also abandoned plans to move to the 9-1 GCSE grading system as the consultation found the move was "broadly unpopular."

"This proposal was not supported by stakeholders, and critically would not fundamentally improve teaching and learning, raise standards or reduce workload, so it will not be pursued at this time," the department said.

Some of the other proposals were more popular, with a majority supporting limiting most GCSE and A level subjects to a maximum of two exams.

In a statement, Givan said there was "a clear need to ensure that CCEA qualifications taken by Northern Ireland pupils are of high quality and are fit for purpose".

"The consultation has demonstrated strong support for retaining GCSEs and A levels, while also recognising the need to streamline content and assessment to improve teaching and learning and reduce pressure on teachers and pupils," he continued.

"CCEA qualifications must continue to provide effective pathways and progression and keep pace with developments in a rapidly changing technological environment."