cse

[kb1isc]

What is a grade 2 CSE equivalent to today?

[dot.haukes]

probably a 'd' or an 'e' GCSE at a guess. I did get CSE maths grade 2 actually, i hated maths : (( I got grade 1 GCE English and Geography which now looking back suggests I did have a fundamental problem with maths!!!

[factor-fiction]

Yes, Dot is right- in theory it's a grade D. But it's very difficult to make comparisons as there has been such a shift (drift?) in grades. For example I was one of the top performing exam students at my grammar school in the early 1970s with 8 GCSEs ('O' level then) at grades of A, B and C at but my results; but by present day standards these look mediocre- my kids studied 11 and felt anything less than an A was a failure. And my grades Cs at 'A' level look pathetic now but in the 70s were considered more than enough by universities.

[Buenchico]

I wonder what yo have to do around here to get three stars? You've had two very good answers already!

The old O-level pass grades were replaced by GCSE grades A to C.

A CSE grade 1 was accepted (although somewhat grudgingly by many grammar schools) as being equivalent to the lowest level of O-level pass, i.e. equivalent to the bottom end of the current GCSE grade C.

CSE grade 2 fell just below that, so it's equivalent to the top end of GCSE grade D.

However Factor30's post is also well worth considering. CSEs were designed so that an 'average' pupil should achieve CSE grade 4. So a CSE grade 2 was (at least theoretically) a fair way above average. The problem though was that the grading system was applied differently across different subjects. I worked on a CSE exams panel in mathematics. We rigorously applied the rule that the median candidate (from a large enough sample) must be awarded a Grade 4. So even if the standard of pupils' mathematics could be raised to a point where they could all work out advanced equations in thermodynamics in their heads, the 'middle' candidate would still only get a CSE grade 4. Our colleagues on the English examining panels worked differently, so that an 'average' pupil would typically achieve a grade 2 in English.

Incidentally, it's worth remembering that O-levels were only ever intended to assess those pupils in the top 20% of the ability range. CSEs were added later, to assess the next 40%. i.e. our modern examination system is founded upon an earlier one where it was specifically intended that the lowest 40% of the ability range, in any given subject, should not even be entered for an examination in that subject, yet alone pass it.

Chris