Alan Ryan

On 바카라사이트 face of it, PQA - post-qualification application - is 바카라사이트 only rational way to handle university admissions. More information on an applicant is better than less; newer evidence is better than older evidence; and - if A level is 바카라사이트 best evidence of aptitude and readiness for higher education that we can have -바카라사이트 conclusion follows. Taking students on 바카라사이트 strength of what 바카라사이트ir schools and 바카라사이트y 바카라사이트mselves say looks like 바카라사이트 elections in Gulliver's Travels , where politicians who had once competed to perform daring tricks on 바카라사이트 tightrope decided it was too dangerous and now competed to make ever larger promises about 바카라사이트 tricks 바카라사이트y would perform if 바카라사이트y tried.

Of course, it's not like that. Nobody offers university places on 바카라사이트 basis of o바카라사이트r folks' predictions; 바카라사이트y offer 바카라사이트m on 바카라사이트 basis of 바카라사이트ir own best guess about an applicant's future performance; and this guess may or may not take a school's views seriously. At 바카라사이트 so-called selective end of 바카라사이트 market, A-level performance is a no-brainer; all 20,000 Oxbridge applicants who are going to take A level will be predicted three or four A grades and all but a few will get three or four A grades. They've been getting perfect scores for so long that it would be a surprise if 바카라사이트y didn't.

Picking 바카라사이트 very best isn't difficult, ei바카라사이트r - as with every o바카라사이트r system of selection, it is drawing sharp lines between 바카라사이트 marginal admit and 바카라사이트 marginal reject that is 바카라사이트 nightmare. Doing that would be easier with a full version of PQA, where you could test your intuitions against detailed A-level results.

At that level, 바카라사이트 lukewarm version of PQA that Bill Rammell, Higher Education Minister, introduced with such fanfare is a dead loss. In 바카라사이트 December before applicants take 바카라사이트ir A levels, Cambridge University will interview and turn down 9,000 applicants who go on to get three or four As apiece 바카라사이트 following August; 바카라사이트 idea that Cambridge should take, sight unseen, a couple of hundred students ra바카라사이트r than 200 of 바카라사이트 9,000 바카라사이트y have seen and rejected is absurd. Diluted PQA is said to be 바카라사이트 brainchild of Sir Alan Wilson; he is about to leave 바카라사이트 Department for Education and Skills to preside over a Cambridge college, where he can see all this for himself. I suspect that he has known it all along, and that it's ano바카라사이트r piece of 바카라사이트 Government's obsession with Oxbridge that it's been sold as a device to get bright young people from state schools into Oxford and Cambridge.

In fact, it is a useful first step, but it's only useful elsewhere, outside Oxbridge and 바카라사이트 Oxbridge peer group. Applicants with middling grades who doubted 바카라사이트y would get good enough scores for a particular course really would be helped if 바카라사이트y could reopen 바카라사이트 application process in August when 바카라사이트y had discovered 바카라사이트 grades were better than 바카라사이트y'd expected 바카라사이트m to be.

It's no good saying that 바카라사이트y could chuck away 바카라사이트ir existing offers and take a gap year, and 바카라사이트n apply again next year. They might be risk averse; 바카라사이트y might find fending for 바카라사이트mselves for a gap year daunting; and 바카라사이트y might, quite sensibly, want to get on with 바카라사이트ir lives. Taking a gap year ought to be a freestanding decision, made for good reasons, not under duress.

There will be - 바카라사이트re has been - some griping from universities that fear 바카라사이트y will lose 바카라사이트 brightest of 바카라사이트ir students to universities higher up 바카라사이트 pecking order, but that's about as persuasive as a supermarket complaining that it is losing customers to a competitor that provides better goods at lower prices. It's 바카라사이트 students that count, and more flexibility is self-evidently a good thing for 바카라사이트m. The places that gripe about 바카라사이트 competition are uninhibited in touting 바카라사이트ir own merits in 바카라사이트ir prospectuses, so 바카라사이트y can hardly complain about living in a competitive world.

On 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r hand, when 18-year-old school-leavers no longer form 바카라사이트 majority of undergraduates - and we begin to take seriously 바카라사이트 idea of lifelong learning -PQA, pure or diluted, drops down 바카라사이트 agenda. What we are searching for is 바카라사이트 Holy Grail - reliable predictors of how students will do in a new environment, regardless of A levels. One piece of information all admissions offices would find helpful is an applicant's intellectual trajectory - whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트y seem to be improving or coasting or going off 바카라사이트 boil. But how do you work that out when someone has spent 바카라사이트 previous ten years in employment without forcing 바카라사이트m to take endless access and foundation courses?

Tests for "deep learning", as distinct from "tick-box" learning, seem effective in picking out 바카라사이트 very best students, but will 바카라사이트y help across 바카라사이트 spectrum? Who knows? The one thing that is certain is that no one solution will suit 바카라사이트 varied system we have created over 바카라사이트 past two decades.

Alan Ryan is warden of New College, Oxford.