Almost half of Britons think secondary school exams now are easier than when they took them
A majority of Brits say external assessments of students are more accurate than those carried out by teachers
As 16 and 18 year olds arounds the country prepare to receive their A-Level and GCSE results over the next couple of weeks, new research by Ipsos shows nearly half of adults in the UK (44%) think exams have become easier in comparison to when people their age did them. Only a quarter (24%) think exams have become harder.
Britons that sat their exams a while ago are most likely to think GCSEs and A-Levels are easier now than in their days: 52% of 55-75-year-olds and 49% of 45-54 year-olds say exams are easier now. Fewer 35-44 and 18-34 year-olds share this view (42% and 35% respectively). Men are also more likely than women to say exams are easier now (51% vs. 37%).
What do A Levels and GCSEs show about a student?
When considering the use of secondary school exams, such as A Levels, GCSEs, International Baccalaureate, etc., Britons are most likely to see them as good indicators of a student’s ability to remember information (71%) and ability to perform at university (62%). Around 6 in 10 see them as a good indication of intelligence and an ability to work hard (both 59%). A similar proportion see them as a good indicator of the ability to ask the right questions (57%) while around half say it shows an ability to perform in any future career (49%).
External vs. internal assessments
Following two years of students being graded by their own teachers due to the Covid-19 pandemic, 2022 is the first year in which external examiners will once again be marking exams. The majority of Britons believe this is a more accurate assessment of students and their performance (53%) while around 3 in 10 (28%) believe it is less accurate and 12% say it makes no difference. Greater London stands out as having the highest proportion of adults (62%) believing externally marked exams to provide a more accurate assessment than internal teacher assessment.
Trinh Tu, Managing Director of Public Affairs at Ipsos in the UK, said:
Every summer, around the release of exam results, questions on whether school standards are going up or down re-surface so it’s interesting to see that nearly half of Britons believe that exams have become easier over time. Despite this, the majority of the public continue to have confidence in exams and see them as useful indicators of a student’s ability, particularly for universities though they are perceived to be less useful for employers in judging future performance at work.
Technical note
- Ipsos interviewed a representative quota sample of 2,001 adults aged 18-75 in Great Britain. Interviews took place on the online Omnibus on 9th-11th August 2022. Data has been weighted to the known offline population proportions. All polls are subject to a wide range of potential sources of error.
