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每日英語跟讀 Ep.K191: Record number of school leavers in UK snap up university places
Students in the UK found out their advanced level (A-level) exam results on Aug. 10. Nearly 45 percent of A-level entries across the UK have been awarded top grades in their exam results, a record-breaking return for students after more than a year of disruption and school closures during the pandemic.
英國高等考試A-level〔類似台灣的學測，可用來申請大學〕之成績於八月十日公佈，有近百分之四十五的學生得到最優等，比例之高創下紀錄，此前學校因疫情之影響，已關閉了一年多。
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson canceled national exams in England in January as a further lockdown closed schools to most students. Instead, grades are being awarded by teacher assessment, overseen by examination boards, and are expected to show a further acceleration in the proportion of higher grades being awarded.
教育部長蓋文‧威廉森在一月取消了英格蘭的A-level全國考試，因封城持續，學校關閉，大多數學生無法到校上學。考試之成績改由教師評量給分，並由考試委員會監督，預期會有更高比例的學生得到高分。
Last year, the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) attempted to award qualifications in England using an algorithm that allocated grades to each school based on past results, but that was abandoned shortly after A-levels were published, following an uproar.
去年，英國政府「資歷及考試規例局」試圖在英格蘭運用一種演算法來授與學業能力證明，該演算法依據各校過去的成績表現來分配成績，但在A-level成績公布後引起一片嘩然，此做法隨之被捨棄。
This year, grading has been left in the hands of schools without restrictions, but Ofqual and Williamson have defended teachers from accusations of causing grade inflation.
今年，評分已完全掌握在學校手中，但對於教師遭指讓學生的成績虛胖，資歷及考試規例局和威廉森皆為教師辯護。
“Teachers know what their students can do and, in the absence of formal exams, there is no person or system better placed to fairly judge young people’s abilities,” Williamson said.
「教師了解其學生之能耐，而且在沒有正式考試的情況下，沒有人或系統更能公平判斷這些年輕人的能力」，威廉森表示。
According to admissions experts, record numbers of A-level students achieved the grades required to take up the offer from their top-choice university, leaving few spaces available in clearing for the most popular courses, so competition for places is expected to be fierce.
根據招生專家之說法，有史上最多的學生人數，其A-level成績達到大學入學要求，並被其第一志願大學錄取，使得一些最受歡迎課程的補錄取名額所剩無幾。對這些名額的競爭將非常激烈。 Source article: https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2021/08/16/2003762656