SCHOOLS and colleges across Greater Manchester are celebrating their best-ever A-level results.
SEE the region's A-Level results here as they come in...
As students across the country received their grades, many head teachers and principals in the region reported a rise in pass rates and the number of students getting good grades. The results are expected to reflect the national picture.
Ministers and education leaders congratulated pupils on their achievements and rejected criticism that the benchmark qualifications were too easy.
Tony Andrews, principal of Xaverian Sixth Form College, one of Manchester's biggest colleges, said results had improved for the fourth year running.
He said: "It is a very mixed intake at the school. We are not selective and have a lot of people from inner city areas and very diverse ethnic backgrounds.
"We do not feel that exams are easier, but they are different from 20 years' ago. For each student who does well, it is like climbing Everest. It is a fantastic achievement."
About 580 pupils sat exams at the college. The number passing their A-levels was 98.6 per cent and 74 per cent got grades A-C.
Loreto College in Moss Side also reported strong results, maintaining its 99 per cent pass rate.
'Significant'
A spokeswoman said: "Given the nature of our students and the achievements we have gained this year, we think this is very significant."
Staff at Holy Cross College in Bury, where 700 pupils sat exams, said it was the best results they had seen, with 26 per cent of all results grade A - up 22 per cent the previous year.
At Oldham Sixth Form College - with 2,000 pupils, one of the largest colleges in the region - strong results were also reported, with 99 per cent of all students passing their exams, a one per cent increase on last year.
Principal Nick Brown said: "In the 11 years since we opened, there has been a huge increase in the number of students staying on to do their A-levels.
"We have students who come here with very good grades at GCSE and we believe they do as well or better than they would in a selective school."
Christopher Ray, High Master of Manchester Grammar School, declared a record result for his school, with more than 90 per cent of 185 students achieving A or B grades. A total of 110 of pupils achieved three A grades or better.
He said: "The area of standards is a complicated one but I don't believe that exams are getting easier, rather it is a case of examiners being clearer about what they want to test pupils on."
Other independent schools also reported record results, including St Bede's in Hulme and Manchester High School for Girls.
Comments
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I would like to see the pass rates broken down into subjects. I wonder how good the maths and science grades are?
The sad things is that they believe this too.
What is this obsession with grades and qualifications. Record numbers of students are in further education and yet we still have skills storages of doctors, dentists, engineers, etc, etc. What on earth are people studying, and is there any value to an A level if only one in a hundred ever fail. What we need is financial incentives for students to study in fields that the country actually needs so that we do not need to poach skilled people from overseas.
The ironic thing is thousands come out of further education with a degree only to end up completing for low paid jobs in retail, whilst wages for plumbers & electricians etc are much better and employers are crying out for skilled people.
as usual people are bitching that a levels are too easy ! these same people would probably have difficulty passing the 11 plus ? - why not give pupils & teachers a bit of praise for a change - the only problem i have with more pupils passing a levels, is that they are divalued in comparioson to what they were worth 10 or 15 years ago .
to dan de lion , wythenshawe
If you have A levels you are a perfect example of lower standards. When I passed my A levels in 1975 the spelling mistakes in your letter would have produced a failure in any subject taken, not just in English.
Jack - your use of commas is nothing to write home about!
Someone questioned how useful the exams are if only 1 in 100 fail...schools will do their level best not to put forward students who might not pass an exam just to keep their overall pass rates looking healthy. 1 in 100 would be a concern if every 18yr old was taking A-levels but that simply isn't the case.
Well done to all those who passed. I remember what hard work A-levels were and I only managed to pass two of them.
X, Planet X.
I realy dont like to have conversations on these pages, but where is your puctuation? Your comments are not an example of good English, no wonder you only got 2 A levels. I obtained 3 A levels in the 80s and another two this year. I can comment on which were easier as I have taken exams that were over twenty years apart. The two grade A s that I obtained this year were studied for while working in a full time job, not in full time education.
I get sick every year of people putting down these youngsters that have worked hard to achieve their grades.
A levels have changed and for the better in my opinion.Whereas years ago people learnt a great many useless facts, many of the subjects now want reasoned opinion something the older generation don't like to admit to.
The other subject that is always brought up is that everybody passes their A - levels at top grades. No they don't.
My local high school, which has a very good reputation,takes in about 240 students at eleven.
By the time these students get to sixth form the numbers drop to about 100.Some pass rate at A level.
At the end of Upper Sixth form they publish the results in our local newspaper.The number getting the very top grades is quite small.When you relate this to how many students started at eleven I think the education system is fundamentaly failing these people.
Instead of droning on about A level grades I think the Universities in this country should get themselves into the Twenty First century.
Both my children have been to 'Red Brick' universities recently and I have been apalled to listen to some of the stories I have heard.
Why don't the Professors and Lecturers spend say 10 minutes at open days interviewing prospective students?
I guess that within say 10 questions they would have gleaned if the student was a) interested in their course and b) understood what subject they were proposing taking.
The drop out rate at Universities at this country is a disgrace but this is swept under the carpet.
All you hear from the Universities is lets have an A* grade so we can choose students. What a load of nonsense. What they need to do is get off their backsides and put some effort into the selection process.Their minds would soon be focussed if they were measured on results from the start of the course until the end by independent inspectors and paid on results from the beginning .
I always dread the A-Level results and such coming out for this reason - people start bitching about the fact that the exams are getting easier. It only seems to be in recent years that they've brought this to the fore in the media, but the statistics on the news today said that the pass rate has risen for the last 24 years, so why is it a moaning point now?
It seems to be a catch 22 situation: If the pass rates were average, or low, people would be complaining that they were too hard, but because they are rising every year, people say they are too easy? Why can't it just be that the people that actually have the motivation to stay on and take part in further education actually have the motivation to see it through, and do well at the subject they are studying?
I agree with the comment that people mostly come out of University with a degree and end up working behind a checkout in a Supermarket or something, but how much of an insult must it be to these people that have just spent 2-3 years of their life working towards these results, for Politicians to turn round and say "Oh, your exam must have been too easy", it seems to me as if they are saying that people who got these grades aren't intelligent enough to have achieved them; why not a hearty "Well done" for them, and good luck with your future?
well done to everyone who passed their A levels. It must be great knowing you can get into University on the fact that the standards are so low. It only used to be brainy people who got into uni or the top 10 per cent, now any chimp can get in, and i dont buy that people from a poorer background didn't get as good an education back say in the 60's and 70's codswollop- my dad went to university and he was from a Salford council estate- you either have brains or you dont. Personally i was an average B student at college- and i never deemed myself brainy enough to go to university- so instead of wasting my time doing some meaningless film studies course i got a job. I got accepted to all the ones i wanted- which to me said 'well if i can get in on B's then anyone can get in. Its pc madness.
Jack, I love having conversations on these pages. I don't write with the expectation that someone won't hold me to account for the content of my comments or my apparent lack of punctuation (although as a proof-reader I couldn't really identify the source of your complaint). Could it be that having already sat A-levels you were prepared for learning at that level and therefore found it easier the second time round. Or that the expperience you gained over 20 years may have contributed to your success? I think that's what people refer to as 'learning'. I hear it's supposed to make things easier when you repeatedly do them. I found my masters easier than my degree as I was used to studying at that level. I'm hoping the degree I start in September will be easier still. Congratulations on passing your A-levels by the way, even if you do seem to think you aren't entitled to much credit as they are so easy now.
The reason A level results are getting better is because schools and colleges are forced, by the Government, to teach towards exam results and league tables instead of to the individual pupil's ability. Students are now better at taking exams because they are tested time and time again throughout their school life. It's nothing like when I was at school in the 60s and 70s. Give the students and teachers a break. If you've got a gripe - take it up with the Government!