GCSEs to go

[FredPuli43]

Anybody here in favour of scrapping the 'modular' exams in favour of a one-off one? The defects in one-offs are that they depend lot on luck; I once passed an exam when I only knew 6 things in the syllabus and the examiner asked for all 6, ; and on nerves; the brightest English literature student in my class failed the A level through panicking. How is the one-off better and what's the problem with modular?

[ummmm]

I was the second year to take GCSE's. The emphasis was on getting a C or above which is equivalent to an O Level. I never included anything under a C on my CV because as far as I believed, it didn't count.

[factor-fiction]

You must be younger than I am- I did 'O' levels rather than GCSEs. Yes, many employers regard D and below as a 'fail' but for those students who are not academic and have mainly Ds and Es (and may have worked hard for these grades) I would advise them to put them on their CV so at least they compare favourably with those who achieve mainly Gs and Us

[tonyav]

This is gonna age me, it was CSE, O level and A level in my day.

[Sqad]

Tony....I can beat that.

School Certificate and Higher School Certificate.

[tonyav]

Well done sqad, you've beat me there hands down. lol

[ummmm]

I just missed O level.

My auntie left school with 1 CSE. She's an accountant now! She got a job with the council, made her way up, and then they put her through Uni.

Does this type of thing still happen today?

I think 16 year olds are too immature to take exams.

[tonyav]

Why is that ummmm 16 year olds to young. It was 16 when I was at school, so what's so different now.

[Sqad]

tony....ummm didn't say that they were too young at 16 but they were too immature.

[ummmm]

Kids have to stay at school until they are 18 now.

16 is an age where they are preoccupied with the opposite sex.

Homework 'v' Girlfriend. The GF will come first.

[tonyav]

Ah right, so she did sqad, but none the less what is the difference in being 16 now as opposed to when I was16.

[tonyav]

Well ummmm, no change there then.

[Sqad]

tony.....no idea........better ask ummmm.

When I was 16 years old, a bit of t1t was quite adventurous, now it is "knockers off."..........as a generalisation...;-)

[Sqad]

LOL...LOL...sorry..."knickers."

[tonyav]

Not just now sqad, it was in my day to ;-)

[FredPuli43]

Girlfriends? Knockers only? At 16? Well, now I know why I passed; didn't get any of either! By the time I was , I was doing professional exams; I reckon I must have just scraped through those, considering.
How about you, Sqad ? Could the medical profession be one short, had you had more..er.. access when 16?

[jake-the-peg]

You don't make a pig heavier by weighing it more accurately

This happened with GCSEs it was going to be a one size fits all exam - guess what? they found it was not possible to set an exam to accurately cover all abilities which is why there is now 2 levels of GCSE paper.

If there is not a lower level paper then you will simply get a much larger nuber of kids leaving school with no qualifications.

Still it won't happen until the next election so they won't be the ones having to sort out the mess.

Another lower level exam will inevitably end up geting introduced the following year.


Incidently does anyone here from the right of centre have any confidence in Gove? - Is it just us on the left that think he's an idiot or is it universal?

[factor-fiction]

I'm not sure exactly where I am on the political spectrum (centre/right I suppose) but I am not keen on Michael Gove.

[tommy-h]

Lets be clear,modular tests invite cheating.IQ tests challenge the individual thus proving a capacity to face cnallenge,who would you prefer to employ?

[Sqad]

Fred.......LOL......I was lucky.....I was in the era that the main requirements for entry into a London Teaching Hospital to study medicine was firstly and most importantly sport. Academic attainment played only a minor part and as for sex, one soon got a grasp of the basics and success soon followed.

Also. Public School education, father in the medical profession or in Who's Who helped to gain entrance.