English schools are the best in the world???

[shadowavenger]

Reading the morning news, I came across this article. This is an insight into the appalling state of the UK secondary education system. The education system in the UK has traditionally been seen as one of the best in the world, and UK qualifications are recognised by employers and universities all over the world.

Comments

[sparkle_puppy]

In Maths, I was told that on the paper I took you needed approximately 20% to get a C.

Let me repeat that, in case you missed it. TWENTY PERCENT.

Yes it's 20%, but considering how much easier the Intermediate paper is and how many less topics you have to cover for Intermediate, the fact that they have a higher grade thresh hold isn't surprising.

And there are quite a few kids who are put in for Higher Tier who aren't as smart as you, and actually find getting more than 20 or 30% a struggle because the topics being taught in 2 or 3 lessons are so complexed that they need extra help which they can't have because the teachers are so hard pressed to finish a huge curriculum which is so vast there is rarely time for more than a week of revision before the exam.

GCSE Higher Tier Maths: Grade C - 22%

[sparkle_puppy]

Incidently, I'm quite proud of my mark. At least I passed it, which is more than I can say for some of the others in my class.

[shadowavenger]

I'm sorry if I came across as aggressive or diminutive in this. I didn't mean that the achievements of people who only get 20% on the higher tier paper are unworthy in some way. I know the way the papers and the exam syllabus are structured is utterly, utterly ridiculous (I was in a class of 20 and we didn't get a chance to do much individual work, I know class sizes in state schools can be more than double that