A collective sigh of relief may be echoing around Hong Kong international schools that follow the British curriculum after students negotiated the controversially revamped A-level exams successfully, but apologists for the tortuous UK system would be wise not to relax just yet. International schools did not escape the reported shambles and stresses surrounding what was touted the biggest reform to Britain's A-level curriculum since its introduction 50 years ago, and a number are now actively seeking to replace their patched-up model for a shiny new one. After a year of uncertainty the schools have managed to get impressive results and identify teething problems. But with the new term just a week away, they are still largely unclear about the future. The A-level curriculum, followed by those Hong Kong students who study in Britain for the metriculation years, was reformed this year with the purpose of giving students a wider and more balanced choice of subjects in their final years. But many said that it created more pressure and stress for both students and teachers, thanks to the new AS-level, an extra round of examinations sandwiched between GCSEs taken in Year 11 and A-levels in Year 13. The English Schools Foundation (ESF) and other international schools pursuing the new curriculum in Hong Kong experienced similar problems to their British counterparts. Their relief at the apparent crop of good grades at the end of the day was palpable. After all, if schools in Britain were in the dark over how the AS-level would be implemented, tested and valued by universities and employers, schools here had even less guidance from their British-based examination authorities. While schools have had no option but to soldier on, Britain's education ministry has been busy in the post-exam weeks apologising and feverishly initiating reviews. These, of course, have created yet more uncertainty for the new school year as reviews of the system are not due to be concluded until December. ESF education officer David West, a former inspector of schools in Britain from 1997 to 2000, is concerned that the five ESF secondary schools will be left again without enough guidance for teachers about what standards are expected of them in the coming school year. 'It's a problem not knowing the outcome of the review because students will start the course next month,' he said. The new system had been introduced a year too early, he said. Teachers had been rushed through courses, jeopardising standards, he said. 'I think we've all been concerned about the way it's been handled in the UK and the lack of prompt information about the standards that we were expected to meet. 'This has been a particular problem for international schools because we have not had access to in-service training provided by the examination boards on how the papers will be marked and therefore the standards expected.' The new system itself, ushered in last September, should have been relatively straightforward: Year 12 students are expected to take at least four AS-level subjects and then narrow their choices to three so-called A2-levels in Year 13. In practice, though, it means that while they have the chance to study another subject or two, they face high-stakes public exams three years in a row - putting them under unprecedented pressure. The AS-levels were supposed to be harder than the GCSEs of Year 11 but not as hard as the A2s. The latter were promoted as being more difficult than the former A-levels so that A-level standards would not be compromised. Under the old system, a bright student would take three A-levels over a two-year course; the most intelligent could take up to five. The AS system has another level of complication: students can opt to 'cash in' their results by accepting their grades or decline them to re-sit modules, hoping for an improvement. In Britain, around 80 per cent of results have been accepted. Disaffection with the system reached such a pitch that the emergency review ordered by Britain's education secretary Estelle Morris suggested urgent changes to reduce exam pressure on students, including discouraging them from taking AS exams before the end of the first year in favour of waiting until the second. Meanwhile, there has also be criticism that exam grades are becoming an 'embarrassing irrelevance', with too many students gaining A grades to help get 'bums on seats' at university. Perennially rising A-level grades (this year's harvest was the best in the exam's history there), matched now by high AS-level scores, prompted one group, the Institute of Directors, to describe the pass rates as 'symptomatic of endemic and rampant grade inflation'. They were reported as saying that A-levels had been dumbed down, a suggestion rejected by teachers' unions and here by Mr West. 'There is no evidence that the A-level examination has fallen in standards,' he said. Mr West remains optimistic about the system. The ESF's first AS-level students had generally not been stressed and had enjoyed the more varied courses. But the new system has heightened interest, internationally and in Britain, in alternatives to A-levels. If uncertainties, administrative headaches and unreasonable exam pressure on students continue, more will consider options such as the Geneva-based International Baccalaureate programme. 'It's been a very difficult year for our teachers and they have wondered whether another system would be easier to cope with,' Mr West said. 'Also, we want to be truly international schools in our outlook and in some ways the IB is more international than the A-level.' The ESF and Yew Chung International School are the latest to join the IB bandwagon, though the ESF will not alienate parents by rushing into any decision to drop A-levels. The response to Shatin College introducing it to its first Year 12 students next month has been surprisingly lukewarm, given the success of the IB at the Chinese International School, Li Po Chun United World College and the French International. Only 30 of the 160 students in the year have opted for the IB, with the rest remaining with A-levels. In the coming years, the two systems will be used alongside each other. The German Swiss International School is also considering the IB. The head of the school's secondary department, Mary Peart, said that while students' A-level results were high, the school was interested in changing to the IB partly because of A-level difficulties, especially the lack of information for teachers. Graphic: ALEVGAN
