Centre policy and reasons for offering AEAs
Most of the centres contributing to this case study have been entering students for AEAs since they became available in 2002.
Centres acknowledged that they did not have a formal policy on AEA entry except one centre, which has a central policy across all departments. For the majority of centres the policy on entering candidates for AEAs is, at present, to firmly discourage students unless they receive a university offer that includes AEAs. However, most centres agreed that only their strongest students are invited to consider taking the AEA.
At the majority of centres, the informal policy is to allow individual departments to decide whether or not to encourage students to enter for the AEA and what enhancement programmes to offer. Some departments are positively enthusiastic and alternative qualifications such as the Olympiads and Crest Awards are offered. No pressure has been put on strong candidates to enter for the AEA if they have not wished to do so or if heads of department have thought it would be an unnecessary extra burden.
Elsewhere students are counselled about their suitability of taking the AEA on the basis of value added data and target setting. The value of including the AEA entry on UCAS forms is also discussed. When appropriate, AEAs form part of the discussion with students and parents at scheduled target-setting days. There was general acceptance, across centres, that the introduction of points for AEAs on the UCAS tariff could make a difference to the uptake of AEAs and should therefore lead to a coordinated centre policy.
One centre has been entering candidates for AEAs since 2002 when four candidates sat subjects; in 2004 22 AEA papers were sat, with four candidates taking more than one subject. The centre expects these figures to remain stable for 2005 but envisages the possibility of a significant increase in 2006, especially if universities start to make alternative offers (for example, three A grades or two As, one B plus a good AEA result in a specified subject).
One centre stated that the main benefit that the school believes students can gain from entering for the AEA lies in the additional challenge that the examination represents. AEAs are seen as a way of stretching the brightest candidates beyond what is required or delivered in most A level classes. Some very bright candidates have hitherto not sat the examination, but this has been mainly due to lack of understanding on the part of the students themselves (and, in some departments, of their teachers) as to the nature and value of AEAs. However, across the centres teachers’ and students’ views about the examination were generally constructive with teachers praising the greater element of creativity that the AEA papers encouraged. The candidates themselves reacted very positively to the examination and said they enjoyed the paper they sat.
Reasons for offering the AEA
Subject teachers gave the following reasons for offering the AEA.
- Participation in extra study and other support activities for the AEA may help borderline grade A GCE candidates strengthen their understanding of the subject and raise their GCE A level examination performance.
- The examination provides additional challenge and stretches the brightest candidates beyond what is required or delivered in most A level classes.
- The AEA recognises a level of potential going beyond what is demonstrated at A level and it demonstrates a student’s suitability for undergraduate study.
- The AEA would raise the status of the student's UCAS application.
- The AEA is a valuable addition to a candidate’s application and their preparation for university.
Marketing and recruitment
All the centres agree that only the strongest or most able students are invited to consider taking the AEA. The examination is not at present marketed in centres’ prospectuses although many are keen that it should be included in future additions. In some centres, marketing tends to be by word of mouth and successful candidates are recruited to encourage the next year’s cohort of year 12 students.
At one centre the head is strongly committed to raising the profile of AEAs in the sixth form and the centre has published its own guide to the AEA and a subject-specific leaflet about the AEA in critical thinking.
Arrangements for supporting and preparing students for AEA tests
All the centres begin preparations for the AEA in October of year 13. Much of the teaching is subsumed into the AS in critical thinking course, alongside subjects such as philosophy and general studies, with AEA candidates given differentiated material as preparation. For example, whereas most of the reading material for AS level derives from tabloid newspapers or from specially written passages, those sitting the AEA will be given material from broadsheet and equivalent journalism.
Most centres devote up to 15 hours preparation time to the AEA. One centre felt that there is a significant jump from AS level to the AEA in terms of extended writing skills and presenting arguments. Therefore, much of the available tutorial time is spent on this aspect of the examination. One teacher said ‘A student who had chosen critical thinking for her second AEA had received no special preparation for it, other than the normal Oxbridge preparation’. Another teacher commented on the AEA specification and papers and the gap between the AS and AEA in critical thinking which means that some extra teaching is inevitable.
Other comments from teachers are listed below:
"Candidates may be given the opportunity to work on individual questions from past papers, but they will not be required to sit complete practice papers."
"Candidates are given access to the specification, awarding body guidance and past papers and are expected to read the book Critical thinking for students by Roy Van den Brink Budgen, both for the AS level and the AEA. Students entering for the AEA in critical thinking also sit a mock examination in February."
"Preparation for the AS critical thinking is also good preparation for the types of aptitude tests that some interviewees at Oxford and Cambridge are beginning to encounter. If strong candidates take the AS in critical thinking in the future they might capitalise on this by also taking the AEA at the end of year 13."
Activities and resources offering opportunities to enrich and enhance understanding and skills
Subject teachers suggested the following activities and resources.
- Master classes offered in science by Oxford Brookes University.
- Mathematics Olympiads, STEP papers and Crest Awards, offered in addition to the AEA.
- A college encourages one-off visits to universities such as Bristol, which are within easy reach of Taunton. It also makes use of the Nottingham University Medlink for intending students of medicine or veterinary science.
- The UCLES Thinking Skills Assessment Test (TSAT), which is more useful to candidates making Oxbridge applications.
- The Oxford Access scheme.
- A school takes advantage of master class arrangements with Wyggeston and Queen Elizabeth I College.
- Critical thinking master classes (this includes AEA preparation), which take place three times a year at De Montfort University and are led by Dr Roy Van den Brink Budgen.
Also see
> Teaching advanced level subjects
> AEAs
QCA web links
> AEAs
> GCSE, GCE, VCE, GNVQ and AEA code of practice 2007
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Page updated: 12 June 2008