GCSEs

I don’t remember much about GCE results that year we did OLevels and CSEs, so twice as many exams so 2 sets of results we had to take 5 in those days, passed everything but no idea about grades. After 3yrs work and day release, college for 2 yrs they let me loose, never looked back

Mamie

The numbers were introduced for clearer differentiation in the top grades.

Because they were awarding too many A grades? 😆
I'll call myself a 9 then.

Congratulations to all GN's GCSE and A Level candidates this year. Hopefully exciting times ahead!

escaped

Mamie

The numbers were introduced for clearer differentiation in the top grades.

Because they were awarding too many A grades? 😆
I'll call myself a 9 then.

Actually if you have gone down the entrance to medical school road with grandchildren, the numbers are helpful because of the weighting given by different universities. It would be much harder with letters. 😂

When I did O levels and my brothers did A levels in 1961 we got percentages. We had moved a year before to a small country grammar which used a different exam board and different syllabuses. I had no art or geography lessons and one brother had no one to teach him geology, his chosen university subject. Nobody seemed to think any of this mattered and exam results were never mentioned on the news.

Totally agree with you, and do employers really look at the results?
I’m so proud of my grandson : he worked so very hard and isn’t a natural academic. He has got into the 6th form of his choice. It is at his current school.
Bravo to all.
And remember these are the children of Covid homeschooling still!
Well done

And remember these are the children of Covid homeschooling still!

Yes, as were last year's students.
No allowances have been made for either year even though some, like my DGD, caught Covid and suffered with lethargy and brain fog for months afterwards. .

Ladyleftfieldlover

There were numbered grades when I did O levels. 1-9. 1 was best, 9 the worst.

Are you thinking about CSEs which were numbered from 1 down to ? CSE grade 1 was equivalent to a O level grade C.

When O Levels were introduced in the 50's it was a straight Pass / Fail. In the mid 70's grades A-E & U were introduced A-C being equivalent to the old pass grade.

GCE O levels and CSEs were merged to GCSE

What's always baffled me is the A* grade. I was told that an A was a perfect score, so how can you get more than perfect. A , A- was not quite perfect, B+ was better than B but not as good as A- and the others followed on with + or - in a similar vein. I think the whole school system is badly flawed now.

Due to difficulties with her mental health, for which she is still awaiting an assessment, my granddaughter has hardly been at school for the past 3 years. Even so, she managed to pass her English Literature and Statistics GCSEs a year early. One very proud Granny here.

In Scotland, results are either by post, text or email. When I sat O levels in 1964, they arrived by post, and were only ‘graded’ pass or fail. The following year, the higher results also came by
post, and were graded A (top), B, C and F which was fail.

I love the way people are criticizing the GCSE system for making two changes in 30 years and then discussing what was clearly a complex and erratic grading system for O levels.
Rose-coloured specs, perhaps?

Amid all the praise being heaped on the A* and other fabulous results for some students, I like to remember that for some other students just getting a pass represents a huge effort on their part and some excellent teaching.

Congratulations to those students who performed above their expected grades by getting a pass.

Well, I dare say that in a,few years, when grade inflation has made a 9s and 8s worth less than now, there will be a change back to A B C ...

Chardy

O level exam boards did their own thing, hence some were letters, others numbers. (All CSE grades were 1-> 7. Grade 1 was O level equivalent, 1->5 a CSE pass)
GCSE was supposed to pull it all together, hence every exam board was A->G.
It changed 9->1 so that in few years they can easily stick another number on the end!
Remember these changes are rarely (never?) made for educational reasons, but political ones

GCSEs were originally introduced to combine the two tier O level and CSE systems, nothing to do with the different O level boards, which were all A-E by the eighties. The idea, we were told, was to have every sixteen year old taking same exams so that no one felt the "stigma" of taking CSEs. They were graded A-G and all grades were considered a pass. It was all a nonsense from the beginning because everyone only considered A-C to be passes. Until very recently, there were also different levels of the exams according to the ability of the candidate - as had always been the case under the old system. Then, of course, the standards of the exams became more like the old CSE rather than O level, which meant that the brightest candidates were not stretched enough and grades started to rise exponentially, leading to the introduction of the A* grade. The introduction of numbered grades in 2017 was the Emporer's New Clothes. With all this being said, I sincerely hope that anyone here whose children or grandchildren received their results yesterday have achieved the grades they needed.

Sallyforth

Amid all the praise being heaped on the A* and other fabulous results for some students, I like to remember that for some other students just getting a pass represents a huge effort on their part and some excellent teaching.

Congratulations to those students who performed above their expected grades by getting a pass.

Yes, there was a young man featured in a local paper yesterday, who had finally passed his GCSE maths at the fourth attempt. To me, this is one of the best and most inspiring results I have seen this year.

And never should anybody be measured by academic achievement alone.

Agreed, escaped.

I have seen two kids through gcses my daughter received her results yesterday. My son received both gcses and A levels via email as he was abroad and frankly didn't care about going in person. My daughter wanted to go in person and it was a marvellous experience for both of us. There were tears of happiness for her and hugs with friends. It also gave her an opportunity to see her teachers in person and thank them for their help. The examining officer was also on hand to help candidates that may want to have any papers remarked. Which is easier to do face to face.

Comparing the two experiences hers was so special and a day she will never forget. She did of course have her lipstick on for the photos that go on the schools instagram!

Hope that just gives you a little insight into the differences.

My above message was in reply to posts wondering why some students go in to collect results. Sorry I didn't make it clear never posted here before.

Musicgirl

Sallyforth

Amid all the praise being heaped on the A* and other fabulous results for some students, I like to remember that for some other students just getting a pass represents a huge effort on their part and some excellent teaching.

Congratulations to those students who performed above their expected grades by getting a pass.

Yes, there was a young man featured in a local paper yesterday, who had finally passed his GCSE maths at the fourth attempt. To me, this is one of the best and most inspiring results I have seen this year.

Well done him and to his teachers too.

Out of interest, I did a couple of extracts of GCSE Maths papers yesterday and some of it was like a new country to me.
Things have changed but the answers haven't!

.

I don't know why there aren't just
A*, A, B and C passes -

A* - 95% to 100%
A - 80% to 95%
B - 65% to 80%
C - 50% to 65%

Below 50% - no mark.

That's how our classwork and homework was marked.
.

When I did O levels they were A to F. No such thing as A*.

Well done her Coppernob special ✅

Thank you Jaxjacky