From the Gold Standard to Silver Service?

A level is the “Gold Standard” but this standard’s immutability is becoming more debated. Nonetheless an A level pass in a particular subject is frequently essential for a place on a degree course: gaps between a student’s actual attainment and a lecturer’s expectations are bridged (or not) by extra work done and extra support offered. For courses like Engineering on which a student normally embarks with an A level maths in hand lecturers now find they must pay extra attention to supplying additional learning support for maths such as workshops drop-in centres etc