Exams Aren't Getting Easier

I got my GCSE results yesterday. My friends got their GCSE results yesterday while older friends got their A and AS level results two weeks ago. Most of us were happy about our results with #Englishgate only upsetting a few. What did upset me however was the few minor mutterings of "Of course they did well; exams are getting easier". I understand the skepticism facing better grades year on year, (with them falling this summer for the first time in 24 years). I would be skeptical myself had I not just sat the exams and invested two years of hard work into them. However, the explanation is not easier exams but improved teaching, better resources, smarter kids and most important of all; hard working kids.

We Have Improved Teaching
Teachers are awesome. No matter your views on their pay and working hours, you cannot deny they do a job fundamental to our society; they educate the young. Education is so important to our society that we are constantly seeking to improve it. There is the entire field of educational research; a science dedicated to improving education. Teachers also do this in the course of their career, honing what works and dropping what doesn't work to deliver knowledge in the most efficient manner. Teacher's also have to teach more now. This is because of the way exams have changed from the previous O-level qualification in which you used to regurgitate everything you know in a way that made sense. Instead, GCSEs not only test knowledge but "skills". For example, my History exam wasn't just having to show vast swathes of knowledge, but being able to organise and present that knowledge in a clear, structured way. This results in teachers having to teach both knowledge and skills. While, in some cases this has led to the lazy practice of "teaching to the test", for most teachers it is an extra task that they perform admirably.

We Have Better Resources
Most people who claim easier exams are over 30 years old. I.e, they grew up without the internet and the many new resources it contains. Pupils can now watch videos and play educational games to break the tedium of revision, enabling them to do more of it without dying of boredom. Those who don't understand a subject can easily text their friends to ask for an explanation or read a blog on the subject. Teacher's can use Youtube to create educational webcasts and share resources with each other. Since the advent of league tables, schools have been under pressure to achieve at or above the grade C threshold, and exam boards (since they are regulated by Ofqual) can't make easier exams, so they race to create more resources for their exams that help pupil's obtain an A*- C. Pupil's can now buy shiny revision guides and textbooks tailor-made to their course as well as downloading vast quantities of practise and past papers with mark-schemes. Finally, since the internet and the past-paper archive is growing every year, the resources are improving in quality and increasing in quantity, thus explaining (along with the other reasons) the high grade inflation we face.

We're (maybe, on average) Smarter Than You!
That ostentatious sub-heading is due to a theory called the Flynn effect which stipulates children are (on average) getting smarter year upon year. There is not yet a scientific consensus on why this is and it's nowhere near being fully explored by science so it should be treated with a small pinch of salt. However, it is still a variable that offers an alternative explanation to the old and crusty adage "exams are getting easier".

We work hard.
There are always those that don't work hard, and their grades reflect that. Most of us do work hard however: we listen in class, we do the homework, we revise and we try our best. Some of us even have break-downs because of the pressure in those final months before the exams (due to the modular form of courses recently, we've had some pressure sustained through the 2 years as well). This hard work allows us to capitalise on the improved teaching and resources mentioned above.

Finally, we've never sat O-levels and don't know what it was like in "the good old days". To us, who are constantly reminded how important they are, whether easier or harder, is irrelevant; we can only do the exam we are given. When you suggest good results were served to us on a plate, you belittle and undermine those who did well while further shaming those who didn't. It's fortunate us teenagers are reasonable and emotionally stable, otherwise we might find that incredibly offensive.