5A*-Cs

can you give us the context?

How many parents would perceive a school unable to achieve consistently good 5 A*-Cs as a suitable place for their child?Indeed, schools unable to achieve an acceptable level of A*-C grades are being placed under threat of closure.

In Britain, school students who wish to enter the sixth form at age 18 and study for university entrance have to get a minimum of 5 passes in the General Certificate Of Education (GSCSE) examinations which they sit in the 5th form at the age of 16. All the passes have to be at grade C or above. Schools are judged according to the proportion of pupils achieving this. The pass grades, from highest to lowest, are: A* (pronounced 'A-star'), A, B, C, D, E, F and G. Grade U (ungraded/unclassified) is issued when students have not achieved the minimum standard to achieve a pass grade; the subject is then not included on their final certificate.

In the sixth form they will spend 2 years studying for more examinations, General Certificate Of Education (GCE) Advanced Level examinations, often called "A levels". The passing grades for A-levels are A*, A, B, C, D and E. The acceptance of a student onto a course will normally be conditional on him or her actually achieving a minimum set of grades (for example, conditional offer of three A-levels at grades B-B-C). Universities may specify which subjects they wish these grades to be in (for example, conditional offer of grades A-A-B with a grade A in Mathematics).

It must give one a feeling of power to be able to explain British education, parliment, and cricket. I feel so deprived.

You might want to read IRFrank's post,

http://able2know.org/topic/160962-2#post-5282990

He posted a link to an article that you might find enlightening, ... or not.

http://www.alternet.org/belief/are-americans-too-stupid-democracy

[Feel free, Contrex, or anyone, to quote this in your own posts. You'll be helping to stamp out ignorance.]

My hurried typing may have led to ambiguity

In the sixth form they will spend 2 years studying for more examinations, General Certificate Of Education (GCE) Advanced Level examinations, often called "A levels". The passing grades for A-levels are A*, A, B, C, D and E. The acceptance by a university of a student onto a course will normally be conditional on him or her actually achieving a minimum set of grades (for example, conditional offer of three A-levels at grades B-B-C). Universities may specify which subjects they wish these grades to be in (for example, conditional offer of grades A-A-B with a grade A in Mathematics).

I think I detect a whiff of facetiousness (piss-taking). Or the (entirely understandable) envy felt by lesser breeds. I have never attempted to explain cricket, a game -- in fact a subject -- which holds no interest for me.