a simple maths test

I was just browsing the BBC news website, and came across this comparison between the questions set for a Chinese University and a English one.

So, not impossible if you did A-level Mathematics (at my age, I'm pretty sure that differentiation and 3D trig were one of the first few things on the syllabus...but, from what I could see things had been happily falling off the syllabus for many years before I got to A-levels...and I think they were about the level of O-levels when my parents did them).

Then, comes the question set for First Year Undergrads; for a science degree. A Degree, I remind...not an entrance exam for a university.

I saw this and laughed.

I must say it makes a mockery of the British educational system, mathematics wise...but then again i guess all these soft-fluffy happy subjects are all the rage now-a-days. So, it's not like there is a huge amount of prestige with being is geek.

However, I'm pretty sure that entrance exams can often be much tougher than the actual level you are taught to at entrance level. It's how they skim off the best candidates, you need something to challenge the grey matter to get an insight into how they think when they are pushed. Sooooo, maybe this is just a very biased example given by the RSC just to add fuel to a debate...

[rant: and which monkey was suggesting a couple of years ago to omit the requirement of Mathematics at A-level for entrance in Engineering degrees?! Cretins!]

The rest of the article is here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/6589301.stm