Results
According to EducationGuardian.co.uk, in 2004, 50.4% of the 7246 entrants failed to achieve a grade at all, indicating that the awards are fulfilling their role in separating the elite. Only 18.3% of students attained the top of the two grades available, the Distinction, with the remaining 31.3% of students receiving a Merit. However, only time can tell whether this set of results is attributable to the qualification's youth, and therefore the lack of experience of teachers and small bank of past papers to refer to. There may also be problems with schools not being aware of the examination's existence, or not wanting to put candidates forward for it due to the high fail rate.
In addition, not all of the 'best' students take the AEA as some see it as an increased workload (both for teachers and students) even though theoretically it should not involve any extra work at all, and as it only occasionally forms part of a conditional offer from a university, many students see it as somewhat pointless. In addition, in some colleges and sixth forms, only students who are applying to Oxbridge are allowed to sit the exam.
Since the 2005/2006 application year, a Distinction has been worth 40 UCAS points, and a Merit worth 20 points. Bearing in mind that a grade A at A level is worth 120 points, this adds to the arguments against the AEA being a worthwhile use of school's time and resources. However, 40 points is the equivalent of two grade boundaries at A Level, and thus a student with A Level results ABB, for example, would be bumped up to the equivalent of AAA. It is also the case that the Advanced Extension Award requires no knowledge of academic material beyond the syllabus of its corresponding A-Level subject and thus rewards the student with a better understanding and appreciation of the material which the A-Level does not fully examine.
Read more about this topic: Advanced Extension Award
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