A & AS Level results 2015

The headlines

At A Level, results continue to be stable overall, with A* grades unchanged from last year at 8.2%, A*-A down slightly at 25.9%, and A*-E up slightly at 98.1%. The number of A Levels taken has risen by 2.0% compared to 2014, total entries for ‘facilitating subjects’ 51.2% of this total (a small increase) and other subjects 48.8% (a small decrease).

For languages specifically, entries for French and German have decreased from 2014 levels, but entries for Spanish and other modern languages have increased.

French, German and Spanish:

A Level entries	2015	2015- 2014	2014	2014- 2013	2013	2013- 2012	2012	2012- 2011	2011	2011- 2010	2010	2015- 2010
French	10328	-1%	10433	-7%	11272	-10%	12511	-5%	13196	-5%	13907	-26%
Spanish	8694	+14%	7601	-1%	7651	+4%	7351	-3%	7610	-1%	7671	+13%
German	4009	-4%	4187	-1%	4242	-11%	4773	-8%	5166	-7%	5562	-28%
Total	23031	+4%	22221	-4%	23165	-6%	24635	-5%	25972	-4%	27140	-15%

Other modern languages:

A Level entries	2015 entries	2015 – 2014	2014 entries	2014 – 2013	2013 entries	2013 – 2012
Chinese	3099	-0.4%	3113	-6.4%	3326	-3.0%
Russian	1321	+15.2%	1147	+6.3%	1079	+7.0%
Polish	1090	+13.2%	963	+7.0%	900	-2.0%
Italian	823	+1.1%	814	-0.2%	816	-6.0%
Arabic	652	+1.1%	645	+0.3%	643	+6.0%
Urdu	479	+4.1%	460	-18.7%	566	-13.0%
Turkish	535	+14.8%	466	+11.2%	419	+18.0%
Portuguese	446	+20.5%	370	+2.8%	360	+15.0%
Japanese	222	-14.6%	260	-0.4%	261	-7.0%
Panjabi	157	-6.0%	167	-11.6%	189	+3.0%
Persian	192	+1.1%	190	+15.9%	164	+6.0%
Dutch	127	-14.8%	149	+17.3%	127	-9.0%
Modern Greek	127	-15.3	150	+23.0%	122	+10.0%
Bengali	43	+2.4%	42	-25.0%	56	+4.0%
Modern Hebrew	46	-11.5%	52	+13.0%	46	0.0%
Gujarati	16	-15.8%	19	+46.2%	13	-31.0%
Total	9375	+4.1%	9007	-0.9%	9087

Entries for AS Level languages have risen for Spanish, Italian and Russian, but decreased for French, German, Chinese and Polish.

AS Level entries

AS Level entries	2015 entries	2014 – 2013	2014 entries	2014 – 2013	2013 entries	2013 – 2012	2012 entries
French	16917	-4.9%	17781	+1.6%	17501	-6.5%	18721
Spanish	14009	+0.4%	13958	+15.0%	12136	+3.0%	11781
German	6645	-7.6%	7193	+2.7%	7006	-1.6%	7119
Chinese	2443	-7.2%	2632	+2.6%	2566	-1.6%	2608
Italian	1289	+3.5%	1245	+0.1%	1244	+8.8%	1143
Polish	1293	-2.7%	1329	+4.4%	1273	+7.2%	1187
Russian	1063	+8.1%	983	+10.2%	892	+16.8%	764

Likewise, conversion rates from AS Level to A2 have risen for Polish and Italian, held steady for Spanish and dropped for French and German.

AS – A Level conversion rates

A & AS Level entries	2015 A Level entries	2014 AS Level entries	Conversion rate	2014 A Level entries	2013 AS Level entries	Conversion rate	2013 A Level entries	2012 AS Level entries	Conversion rate
French	10328	17781	58%	10433	17501	59%	11272	18721	60%
Spanish	8694	13958	62%	7601	12136	62%	7651	11781	65%
German	4009	7193	56%	4187	7006	60%	4242	7119	60%
Italian	823	1245	66%	814	1244	65%	816	1143	71%
Polish	1090	1329	82%	963	1273	76%	900	1187	76%

The percentage of A* grades awarded for A Level languages has risen slightly overall (French is up 1.5%, German down 0.6%, Spanish up 0.4%, other modern languages up 1.0%), however given the changes expected this summer, these differences are much more slight than we anticipated.

(JCQ published a report on Modern Foreign Languages at A Level last July, which identified: “some clear issues relating to the proportion of A*s at A-level in Modern Foreign Languages and the low take-up of and progression in these subjects… These are not issues that can be resolved by a few tweaks to the system, but must be part of a holistic review of assessment, qualification design and qualification purpose. As such, awarding organisations will be using the findings to feed into the wider reforms being undertaken by ALCAB, which has been tasked with reviewing A-level Modern Foreign Languages and reporting to Ofqual, with a view to new qualifications being taught from 2016. ALCAB’s work presents an opportunity to address the concerns and issues that surround the design and assessment of Modern Foreign Languages.” Ofqual recognised these problems, and explored them further in their own report – An Exploration of Assessment Quality Issues in A Level Modern Foreign Languages – Technical Report, making a number of recommendations for exam boards to rectify in time for his summer’s exams. For more information on these recommendations, click here.)

We are concerned that with respect to A* as a percentage of total A and A* grades, there is still a great disparity between languages and other ‘facilitating subjects’, in spite of Ofqual investigating and taking action, and the exam boards complying with their recommendations. Looking at some of the details of the 2015 raw mark boundaries, we have questions, but these are best dealt with in an additional meeting with JCQ, Ofqual and exam boards.

The President of ALL, Rene Koglbauer, commented:

“Today should be about celebrating students’ successes – congratulating A-level students on their achievements, and their teachers on persevering in such difficult times with passing their passion for languages on to the future generation.”

“It is still a concern that A level entries have decreased for some languages once again, but we will unpick this issue in our discussions with the DfE in early September. One of the biggest issues head teachers have been reporting is that the new Sixth Form funding forces them to close smaller subjects, languages and arts subjects will be hit by these changes to funding. However, we hope that the introduction of a compulsory language at GCSE will lead to an increase in A level language study in the longer term.”

Further detail

From David Blow, Headteacher of The Ashcombe School in Surrey, member of ASCL Data Group and technical adviser to ALL London:

“It is highly significant that one of the three headlines in the Ofqual website statement on the A-level results relates to the A* in A Level Modern Languages issue.

The analysis of the A* issue is extremely complex, but what is clear is that the number of A* students in French has risen from 689 in 2014 to 837 in 2015 (a rise of 148, i.e. over 20%) whilst the number taking A Level French has dropped by 1% and the number of students gaining A + A* has dropped by 2%. Thus, thanks to the efforts of those who have been raising the A* issue, 1 in 5 students more have gained an A* in French, i.e. for every 4 A* last year, there are 5 this year. There is a similar increase in Spanish in the context of rising numbers taking Spanish. In both French and Spanish, the proportion of A* grades has risen from 6.5% (Fr) /6.7% (Sp) to 8.1% in both. The situation in German is more complex as the subject continues to see a decline in numbers taking, and we need to see evidence about the ability profile changes in order to make a judgement.

We welcome the commitment by Ofqual to complete a detailed analysis of the exam papers and marks in the next few weeks, and we will press for further action in the light of the findings, as for example, the raw marks in the AQA Paper 3 in all 3 ML are still too high and well above the 2013 level criticised by Ofqual, which will continue to lead to problems in correctly ranking the most able students. Separately, there still remain the problems with the oral exam which can only be resolved with the new specifications.

We also need to press for action on “severe grading” at GCSE.”