Almost 400 A level candidates from the Department’s five secondary schools will receive results this Thursday (14 August). They will be followed by 870 GCSE and equivalent candidates on Thursday 21 August.
Paul Craine, Co-ordinating Adviser for 11-19 Education with the DEC, said changes to the format of exams had prompted regulator Ofqual to predict a ‘much greater than normal variation in this summer’s results’ and would make comparisons with previous years’ results harder.
For the first time in over a decade, A level students have not taken modular exams, accruing marks as they progressed, but will rely on final papers for their grades. The students obtained AS level results at the end of Year 12, securing university offers based in those results, and have continued to study the second half of A level, known as A2, in Year 13.
This cohort of students had a difficult year in 2012 when, as Year 11 students, their GCSE results were affected by the much-publicised grade boundary changes.
Mr Craine said the Universities’ and Colleges’ Admissions Service (UCAS) Track website would give some students a hint of how they had fared from 8am on results day, revealing whether they had been accepted by their chosen university.
‘Students and parents should recognise that there is a risk with checking how they did this way,’ he cautioned. ‘If the news is disappointing, there will be no-one on hand to help with the decisions that need to be made. UCAS Track does not tell students their results so students still need to pick these up from school.’
He encouraged A level students to take advantage of the support on offer in the next fortnight.
‘It’s hoped all students will obtain the grades they need but there are always some who don’t do as well as expected, or do better than expected, and they should seek advice from schools or the Department of Economic Development’s Careers Service.
‘Students should attend schools at the time notified to them and should go prepared, taking along UCAS letters and numbers, conditional offers details, exam results so far, course choices, UCAS personal statements and important phone numbers. In case they have just missed out on required grades they should be ready to put their case forward, quoting any mitigating circumstances.
‘As well as the Clearing system for students who have not met the requirements of their university offers, there is ‘Adjustment ’ – when students who have done better than expected can look around for a course or university that carries higher entry requirements.’
However, Mr Craine said students need to carefully weigh up deviating from their plans if they have the chance to. ‘Students spend three or more years at university and it’s important they are happy and settled, so opting for a course they haven’t looked into, at a university they haven’t considered in a city they haven’t visited is a big decision and one students should discuss thoroughly with their family and their school.’
This year’s GCSE’s have been largely linear rather than modular – the biggest change to GCSEs in England so far under the Coalition government.
Those results will open doors to further study in sixth forms or at the Isle of Man College of Further and Higher Education or for employment. In recent years, more than half of GCSE students returned to school and over 30% enrolled at the College, with 6% entering employment.
‘It is vital that GCSE students receiving results have thought through their options and are ready to seek advice from schools, the College or the Careers Service,’ Mr Craine said. ‘It is also important for students to reflect on the wide range of other skills that schools have helped them develop.
‘The Six Rs of the Manx curriculum – readiness, resilience, resourcefulness, reflectiveness, relationships and remembering – will be as important in the week ahead as the qualifications themselves.’
Mr Craine said it wouldn’t be clear what impact changes to the format of exams would have until results were analysed, but he said: ‘Pupils and teachers in schools in the Isle of Man have been aware of these changes and have worked exceptionally hard to deliver success under these new rules. There has been considerable emphasis on revision and exam preparation and schools have maintained a focus on high aspirations.’
Mr Craine said the Island’s results are not comparable with those published in the UK. There, results relate to all exam entrants, including students of all ages in colleges and students at independent schools, whereas the Isle of Man data relates solely to 16 and 18-year olds at the DEC’s five secondary schools.
