We don’t even have + or - grades, the most we have is A*, which in order to achieve that you have to be in the top 10% of the fucking country
There isn’t even a ‘UK’ grading system because each constituent country of the UK has its own qualifications
and most importantly, before you go insulting millions of British students as though they don’t work as hard as you:
Marking differs HUGELY not just between subjects but between YEARS. It takes into account how hard the paper is each year, so if the entire populace does badly, they lower the grade boundaries to reflect difficulty. AND TRUST ME, IT CAN GET VERY DIFFICULT. This is referred to as ‘Grade inflation’ (or deflation).
In certain subjects where grade boundaries appear low, it’s also to do with the fact that examiners are EXTREMELY stingy with awarding marks. In order to achieve just 1 mark (and take into consideration the time limit is usually set so that you have to work for a mark a MINUTE) you have to follow precise AOs, (assessment objectives) and with humanities subjects there’s usually four different AOs with various levels of achievement. The likelihood of hitting all these AOs within the time given is next to none, but you’re still pushed to do it.
So actually, if the grade boundaries are low, you should be pretty fucking worried.
Our qualifications, from A-Level upwards, are very, very specialised. Whereas in the US system you go on to major and minor to create a well-rounded curriculum we are made to pick one certain field of interest and study in (a fuckload of) depth. The grade system and the huge levels of scrutiny in examboards reflects the amount you are suppose to know for one particular subject. (and when I say how much I’m talking the precise grain production levels of all the 5-year plans during Stalinist Russia, for fucking example)
Sincerely, a British student who has to continually listen to privately educated politicians use these exact standards of over-simplification to justify their demonisation of the English, Welsh, Scottish or Northern Irish state school system.
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