A-level
A-levels, short for "Advanced level General Certificates of Education" (compare this with O-levels or "Ordinary level GCEs") are non-compulsory examinations taken by students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (but not Scotland, where the equivalent is called Advanced Higher Grade) at the end of secondary education — typically at age eighteen. They are available in a wide range of subjects. The name "A-levels" is also given to the qualifications awarded. They were introduced in 1951, replacing the previous award, the Higher School Certificate (HSC).Because British students often apply to universities before they have taken their A-levels, the universities consider predicted A-level results (made by students' teachers) when considering whether or not to offer places to applicants. An offer of a place will usually require students to achieve a minimum set of grades (e.g. obtain three grades in your upcoming exams: B, B and C) in the A-levels before they are officially admitted. A-level results are published in mid-August, allowing students and universities to organise university places to commence study in September or October of the same calendar year.
Following changes introduced in 2001, an A-level now consists of six modules studied over two years. Three modules are assessed at the end of the first year, and make up a qualification called the "AS-level" (or Advanced Subsidiary level). Another three modules are assessed at the end of the second year (which make up a qualification called the "A2": an AS and an A2 in the same subject constitute a complete A-level). There is an opportunity in the second year of study to retry any AS modules that have gone badly, and many students take advantage of this. An AS level is a qualification in its own right, and need not be continued to A2 level to be considered by universities or potential employers.
Modules are assessed either by exam papers marked by national organisations, or by coursework. Three organisations set and mark exam papers in England (AQA, Edexcel and OCR). There is also the CCEA in Northern Ireland and the WJEC in Wales.
The number of A-level exams taken by students varies. Three is usually the minimum required for university entrance, although some students take four or five A-levels, and a few take even more. However, the students that rack up large numbers of A-levels typically take subjects such as languages (which they spoke fluently already), sciences/mathematics (which scientifically-minded students can absorb very quickly), or General Studies and Critical Thinking (which do not require specific learning).
A-levels can go quite deep into their subjects, but they have been criticised for lacking the breadth of European-favoured qualifications such as the International Baccalaureate, or the curricula found in American high schools, since most A-level students do not study more than 3 subjects.
For many years, the average grades achieved by A-level candidates have been steadily rising. The government and teaching bodies maintain that the improved grades represent achieving higher levels of understanding due to improved teaching methods, but many educationalists and elements of the popular press argue that the change is due to grade inflation and the examinations are getting easier. A third view is that, as schools come under increasing pressure to improve their examination results, pupils are being coached to pass specific examinations, at the expense of a general understanding of their subjects. Universities have complained that the increasing number of A grades awarded makes it hard to distinguish between different students at the upper end of the ability spectrum.
A-Levels are graded from A to E, along with a fail grade, U (for Unclassified). Originally, they only distinguished between a pass and a fail, though a fail was divided into two, one meaning that the student failed at A-level but passed at the O-level equivalent of that subject, and the other meaning that the student had not passed at either A-level or O-level. In 1953, another grade was introduced, the distinction, for high passes. Due to complaints from universities regarding the problem with distinguishing between pass grades, in 1963, a grading scale close to the current one was created, but retaining an O-level pass between the grades E and U. When GCSEs were introduced, the O-level pass was dropped, replaced by a grade N, standing for 'Near miss'. This was dropped when the AS and A2 system was adopted.
On a less serious note, the NEWTs (Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests) in the Harry Potter books are a thinly-disguised reference to A-levels, which British author J. K. Rowling took.