Wednesday 30 November 2016

Approaching the new A levels successfully

The key issue for students faced with a return to terminal exams after two years of study must be planning consolidation of understanding and command of a much broader amount of content. It is no longer possible to chop up learning into bite size pieces and this is one of the intents of the new qualifications.

Despite the loss of Year 12 exam downtime, teachers will not be able to devote much, if any extra time to additional revision or consolidation, because the new content to be taught has often increased sizeably. This means students must be prepared to revisit previous studies continually to embed understanding. It requires a different approach, but Beaumont students have shown that they have greater independent learning than most, so take heart but take note also.

Nursing Apprenticeships Launched

As concerns rise about the impact of the government cuts to Nursing degree bursaries, a response has been made in the form of 1000 Nursing Apprenticeships, where recruits can learn and work and at the end of five years have earned a Nursing Degree. This could be attractive, but as always, with new schemes, careful consideration of the downsides as well as the upsides is needed.