I have an interest in Maths exams, especially as my son is at Cambridge University doing his PhD in Mathematics. He got 6 A* s at A level, and the highest Maths score in the country. Then he went to Cambridge, getting his Bachelors and Masters degrees. He went to local state schools – King Offa Primary, Bexhill High, and Bexhill College – with no extra help.
Then we read that this year students can get an A in Maths with just 55%, B with 45%. Which means these supposedly top students don’t know half of everything they have been taught!
Education certainly needs a government shake up. In our day 5% went to university, now it’s about 50%. 1 in 4 of adults have a degree. Much of education is become of little or no value, as employers say they have to teach basics to these uneducated graduates.
The only way to restore value to A levels and Degrees is to make them harder and only for the truly intelligent. Parents and grand parents are so proud of graduation pictures, let alone the students themselves.
Hey let’s just give everyone a degree! In their heart of hearts these people know they are not bright enough to get an A at A level, or go to university and get a degree. Were they to try to get into Cambridge, Oxford, Durham or a serious university they would be laughed at.
Paul Minter
Bexhill
