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EC and his friends were talking about their GCSEs. He's got 94% so far in art, but to get A* he needs 97%. In maths, 85% will get you an A*.
That might seem extraordinary, but that's how the marking works. The results are normalised for the year. They mark the papers, put them in order, and the top so many get A*, the next so many get A, and so on. It's not about your marks but it is about your relative ranking.
Now everyone has to do maths, but art is optional. So the people doing art are the ones who like it and want to do it, and they do well. So it's more difficult in art to be in the top 10% (say) because people who would score poorly just don't do it. It would be easier to get a good exam grade in art if art were compulsory.
That might seem extraordinary, but that's how the marking works. The results are normalised for the year. They mark the papers, put them in order, and the top so many get A*, the next so many get A, and so on. It's not about your marks but it is about your relative ranking.
Now everyone has to do maths, but art is optional. So the people doing art are the ones who like it and want to do it, and they do well. So it's more difficult in art to be in the top 10% (say) because people who would score poorly just don't do it. It would be easier to get a good exam grade in art if art were compulsory.
