Teenagers could find it harder to get into university after it emerged that
AS-level exams would be downgraded as part of the higher education
admissions process.
A new points system drawn up by the Universities and Colleges Admissions
Service (UCAS) proposes cutting the value of the AS exam sat in the first 12
months of the sixth-form.
>> 'The contradiction at the heart of A level
reform'
At the moment, the qualification is worth exactly half a full A-level.
But from 2017, it is proposed that the value of the AS will be cut to 40 per
cent as part of a shake-up of the university entrance system.
UCAS said the move was designed to reflect Government reforms in England that
no longer view AS as “equal in demand” to the full A-level.
It coincides with a wider plan to “decouple” the AS from the A-level and run
them as completely separate qualifications for the first time.
But the director of one leading private schools’ group criticised the latest
move, saying it represented an attempt to further “devalue” the AS.
It is likely to make it harder for students to use the qualification to stand
out in the university admissions process. Reforms may also sound the death
knell for the AS altogether because of the lack of incentive to run it.
Universities such as Cambridge have been strongly supportive of the AS-level,
saying it provides a strong indication of students’ abilities just before
they make applications.
But Cambridge last night dismissed the significance of the latest reform,
saying they did not use UCAS tariff points and it would have no effect on
the admissions process. Oxford fails to include AS results in admissions.
The comments come amid continuing controversy over an overhaul of A-levels in
2015.
Currently, pupils sit AS exams at the end of the first year and A2 in the
second year, with results combining to form overall A-level grades.
But ministers have warned that pupils spend too much time taking exams and
want to turn A-levels into “linear” qualifications – with all tests at the
end of the two years.
AS-levels will still be retained – worth roughly half an A-level – but they
will not count towards the full version of the qualification.
It had been thought that many pupils would continue to take several AS-levels
alongside the standard three or four A-levels to “top up” their university
application form and make them stand out from the crowd.
But in a report, UCAS has proposed downgrading the relative value of the AS in
terms of the number of “tariff points” the qualification carries.
At the moment, it is worth 50 per cent of the full A-level, but from 2017 this
will be cut to 40 per cent.
It is designed to reflect the fact that course content taken in the first year
of the A-level – when the AS is sat – is easier than that taken in the
second.
The change forms part of a wider reform of the tariff system that will involve
creating a new 12-point scale to enable more straightforward comparisons to
be made between qualifications.
Although universities are not forced to use the tariff system, it provides a
clear guide for academics about the relative value of one exam over another.
Kevin Stannard, director of learning at the Girls' Day School Trust, which
runs a series of leading independent schools, said: “The main concern for
schools is the way that positions are emerging in a piecemeal way, and the
mixed messages that result.
“The 'devaluing' of AS is proposed alongside the continued support for the
qualification being shown by universities. And there remains the uncertainty
about how much of the reform itself will unravel if there is a change of
Secretary of State in a year or so.”
But Barnaby Lenon, chairman of the Independent Schools Council, and former
headmaster of Harrow, said: “Anyone knows that the AS-level is the easier
part of the A-level anyway and the previous weighting given to it was
perhaps too high. I don’t think universities have been influenced by the
UCAS tariff for AS in the past and they won’t be in the future.”
The new UCAS points system works by multiplying a qualification’s size by the
measure of the grade achieved.
Under the new system, an A at AS will be worth just under 42 per cent of the
points for an A at A-level. A B grade at AS will be worth 33 per cent of the
points, compared with 42 per cent under the old system.
Helen Thorne, UCAS director of policy and research, said: “In order to
minimise disruption for universities, schools and colleges we are proposing
that all current qualifications with tariff points will transfer across and
shifts in the relative value between qualifications have been minimised.
“However, one significant change is to the value of the AS-level. That’s
because Ofqual has stated that an AS is not equal in demand to an A-level,
so we propose to reposition the AS at 40 per cent of an A-level rather than
50 per cent.”
A spokeswoman for Ofqual, England's exams watchdog, said: “We have stated that
the level of challenge and demand in the new AS will be the same as it is
now.
"The AS qualification will be less demanding than A-level, as it is now,
and can be taught alongside the first year of the A-level, which is also the
same as the current situation.
"The UCAS tariff system and any changes within it are a matter for UCAS
however we will be formally contributing to their review.”