Latest news with #ALevels
Zawya
4 days ago
- General
- Zawya
President Ramkalawan Honours Seychelles' Top Cambridge Achievers
President Wavel Ramkalawan, accompanied by First Lady Linda Ramkalawan, hosted a prestigious ceremony at State House Friday morning to honour Seychelles' highest achievers in the 2024 Cambridge IGCSE and A-Level examinations. The event marked a departure from conventional recognition ceremonies by placing special emphasis on the vital role of parental and familial support in students' academic success. Surrounded by proud parents and educators, the ceremony celebrated not only academic excellence but also the collective effort behind each student's achievement. In his address, President Ramkalawan commended the honourees for their unwavering dedication, perseverance, and discipline. He acknowledged the essential support of parents, teachers, and school leaders throughout the students' educational journey and urged the young scholars to act as ambassadors of excellence and agents of national progress. "You are a beacon of light for the generations and show that there is a better way," President Ramkalawan told the assembled students. "Your effort, your perseverance, your discipline – all these were required for you to achieve such good grades. You are giving us hope today that Seychelles can produce good education at this level." The recognised students distinguished themselves among more than 200,000 candidates from over 130 countries who sit for Cambridge examinations annually. Their accomplishments not only underscore national excellence but also reflect Seychelles' presence on the global academic stage. Among the standout performances were Laurent Joseph and Shaun Leste, who jointly secured first place globally in their respective subjects. Ellie Mondon, Jayabalaji Gunasekan, and Lia Frichot also earned joint eighth place worldwide in areas including English as a Second Language, Computer Science, Environmental Management, and French as a Foreign Language. President Ramkalawan further announced a subsequent national recognition ceremony scheduled for July 2025, aimed at honouring a broader cohort of high-performing students across Seychelles. The ceremony concluded with the presentation of certificates of recognition, applauding the students' exceptional achievements. In attendance were Minister for Education Dr. Justin Valentin, Principal Secretary Merna Eulentin, Director General of the Assessment Division Arnold Chang Pen Tive, Director of the School of Advanced Level Studies Elaine Larue, Director of the Seychelles Institute for Agriculture and Horticulture Maryanne Marie, Executive Head of International School Seychelles Elodie Vallantine, Principal of Independent School Andy Esparon, and Head Teacher of Praslin Secondary Ian Collie, along with invited guests. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of State House Seychelles.
Scotsman
13-05-2025
- General
- Scotsman
and how to find out this year's grade boundaries
As exams near their end, students begin the months-long wait for results ✍ Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Scotland's secondary school exam season runs from late April to early June this year As usual, results will not be released until August There are a total of four passing grades students can receive in their Nationals or Highers These can be further broken down into bands Scotland's secondary school exam season is now well underway. The 2024/25 summer National 5 and Higher exam series runs from April 25 through to June 2 this year. Students will then face a months-long wait to find out how they did, with conditional university offers and other post-secondary school opportunities hanging in the balance for many. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The latest exam season comes during a time of upheaval for the country's awarding organisation, the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA), which is set to be replaced later this year. While this is not expected to greatly impact this year's exams or the young people taking them, further reviews and reforms to national assessments are currently in the works. But when exactly will students sitting their Nationals and Highers this summer get their results? What do the different grades mean - and how can they find out how close they were to getting a higher grade? Here's what you need to know: Scottish students will find out how they did in their exams in August | (Image:) When is SQA results day this year? Unlike the rest of the UK, which has separate results days for GCSEs (roughly equivalent to National 5 qualifications) and A Levels (equivalent to Higher qualifications), SQA only has the one. This year, it will fall on Tuesday, August 5, the exam board says. From that morning, results qualification certificates should arrive at all candidates' homes via first class post. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad For those that have also registered with MySQA online before the deadline - July 16 this year - will also get their results emailed and text messaged to them. These will start rolling out from 8am onwards. How are exams marked - and what do the different grades mean? After students sit their exams, the papers are sent off to be marked. SQA's policy, analysis and standards director Martyn Ware previously wrote that their markers - all experienced teachers and lecturers - will grade more than 1.3 million assessments during this time. After that, the exam board will hold a grade boundary meeting 'for every subject at every level,' to decide how many marks are needed to achieve each grade. This can change based on how pupils found the exam that year, to 'make sure that the results reached are a fair and correct reflection of the standard of the work completed'. At both National 5 and Higher level - and even for Advanced Highers - there are a total of four passing grades available. These are A, B, C and D. Candidates who don't reach the minimum amount of marks required to achieve a D will get a grade of 'no award' - meaning they haven't received that qualification. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad However, within the passing grades are grade bands. This means students are technically receiving an upper or lower A, B, or C depending on how many marks they get. This information is not included on your certificate, but SQA says that your school or college should be able to tell you your grade band and how many marks you were given - or you can request this information from SQA directly. What will the grade boundaries be in 2025? Grade boundaries, the minimum amount of marks students need to receive any given grade, are usually not released until results day, when they will be made available on the SQA website. This is because these are set once marking is completed, so that how difficult students found a particular paper that year can be taken into account. While they can vary a little year-on-year, grade boundaries are often quite consistent. This means that students can look to 2024's boundaries for a general idea of how well they'll need to do. As an example, students sitting their National 5 qualification in English last year needed 72 out of 100 possible marks to receive an A grade, and just 39 to receive a D - the lowest passing grade. In the mathematics National, they needed 64 of 90 possible marks to achieve an A, and 35 to get a D. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad For older students taking their Highers, they needed 67 of 100 possible marks to score an A, and 38 for a D. In mathematics, they needed 84 out of 120 marks for an A, and 46 for a D. You can find the full list of SQA's grade boundaries for each subject last year online here.
Scotsman
13-05-2025
- General
- Scotsman
and how to find out this year's grade boundaries
Watch more of our videos on and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565 Visit Shots! now As exams near their end, students begin the months-long wait for results ✍ Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Scotland's secondary school exam season runs from late April to early June this year As usual, results will not be released until August There are a total of four passing grades students can receive in their Nationals or Highers These can be further broken down into bands Scotland's secondary school exam season is now well underway. The 2024/25 summer National 5 and Higher exam series runs from April 25 through to June 2 this year. Students will then face a months-long wait to find out how they did, with conditional university offers and other post-secondary school opportunities hanging in the balance for many. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The latest exam season comes during a time of upheaval for the country's awarding organisation, the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA), which is set to be replaced later this year. While this is not expected to greatly impact this year's exams or the young people taking them, further reviews and reforms to national assessments are currently in the works. But when exactly will students sitting their Nationals and Highers this summer get their results? What do the different grades mean - and how can they find out how close they were to getting a higher grade? Here's what you need to know: Scottish students will find out how they did in their exams in August | (Image:) When is SQA results day this year? Unlike the rest of the UK, which has separate results days for GCSEs (roughly equivalent to National 5 qualifications) and A Levels (equivalent to Higher qualifications), SQA only has the one. This year, it will fall on Tuesday, August 5, the exam board says. From that morning, results qualification certificates should arrive at all candidates' homes via first class post. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad For those that have also registered with MySQA online before the deadline - July 16 this year - will also get their results emailed and text messaged to them. These will start rolling out from 8am onwards. How are exams marked - and what do the different grades mean? After students sit their exams, the papers are sent off to be marked. SQA's policy, analysis and standards director Martyn Ware previously wrote that their markers - all experienced teachers and lecturers - will grade more than 1.3 million assessments during this time. After that, the exam board will hold a grade boundary meeting 'for every subject at every level,' to decide how many marks are needed to achieve each grade. This can change based on how pupils found the exam that year, to 'make sure that the results reached are a fair and correct reflection of the standard of the work completed'. At both National 5 and Higher level - and even for Advanced Highers - there are a total of four passing grades available. These are A, B, C and D. Candidates who don't reach the minimum amount of marks required to achieve a D will get a grade of 'no award' - meaning they haven't received that qualification. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad However, within the passing grades are grade bands. This means students are technically receiving an upper or lower A, B, or C depending on how many marks they get. This information is not included on your certificate, but SQA says that your school or college should be able to tell you your grade band and how many marks you were given - or you can request this information from SQA directly. What will the grade boundaries be in 2025? Grade boundaries, the minimum amount of marks students need to receive any given grade, are usually not released until results day, when they will be made available on the SQA website. This is because these are set once marking is completed, so that how difficult students found a particular paper that year can be taken into account. While they can vary a little year-on-year, grade boundaries are often quite consistent. This means that students can look to 2024's boundaries for a general idea of how well they'll need to do. As an example, students sitting their National 5 qualification in English last year needed 72 out of 100 possible marks to receive an A grade, and just 39 to receive a D - the lowest passing grade. In the mathematics National, they needed 64 of 90 possible marks to achieve an A, and 35 to get a D. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad For older students taking their Highers, they needed 67 of 100 possible marks to score an A, and 38 for a D. In mathematics, they needed 84 out of 120 marks for an A, and 46 for a D. You can find the full list of SQA's grade boundaries for each subject last year online here. If you have an education story to share, we'd love to hear from you. You can now send your stories to us online via YourWorld at It's free to use and, once checked, your story will appear on our website and, space allowing, in our newspapers.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Sixth formers missing out on French and Spanish
Sixth formers are missing out on French and Spanish at A-level because there are not enough teachers, a poll reveals. The poll, by the education charity Teach First, has found nearly a quarter of schools in the poorest areas of Britain do not offer French A-level, while 17 per cent do not offer Spanish or music. The charity says a shortage of trained teachers is locking many pupils out of many opportunities. Teacher vacancies in England are currently at their highest level since records began, according to the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER). It follows claims from unions that the Government is on track to miss its manifesto commitment to recruit 6,500 new teachers, funded by a VAT raid on private schools. The new poll also found almost a third of schools in deprived communities do not offer computer science A-level because of a lack of teachers trained in that subject. Almost twice as many schools in the poorest areas lack a trained computer science teacher compared with the wealthiest areas. Schools in the poorest areas of the country are three times more likely to lack a trained music teacher. Russell Hobby, chief executive of Teach First, said: 'The impact of a great teacher goes far beyond the classroom – they open futures. But right now, too many young people are being locked out of studying A-levels like computer science because there simply aren't enough trained teachers. 'This blocks pupils from poorer areas from some of the best-paid careers in a fast-growing tech and AI-driven economy. If we do not act now, we won't just fail these young people – we'll hold our country back. 'The Government must act in the spending review: raise teacher pay, support those teaching in the schools and subjects that need them most, and make sure every pupil has access to the opportunities they deserve.' Belinda Chapple, the head teacher of Caterham High School, which is facing staffing shortages, said that the low levels of teachers left schools facing 'difficult choices'. She said: 'Across the country, schools like mine are making difficult choices because of the national staffing shortages in key subjects. 'We've struggled to recruit computer science teachers, like many other schools, removing a key career pathway for our A-level students. 'We urgently need increased funding for disadvantaged schools, increased teacher pay and additional pay premiums to attract subject experts to the schools that need them most – otherwise, we risk narrowing futures and deepening inequality for a generation.' In a report published in March, the NFER said unfilled teaching posts rose by more than a fifth in 2023-24 to hit six vacancies per 1,000 teachers last year – double the pre-pandemic rate and six times higher than in 2010-11. Meanwhile, the proportion of pupils in 'large' class sizes continues to rise, which the NFER said usually indicated a lack of high-quality teachers in schools. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
