GCSEs

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

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. .

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

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.

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. 😂

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

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.

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

JamesandJon33

When I did O levels in 1955; 9 was the highest, equivalent to an A.
My GD2 got her results this morning. I don’t know the numbers or grades, but there were tears of joy all.

It must have changed shortly afterwards because I took mine in 1962 and 1 was the highest grade down to 9.

My SisIL took the Matriculation which needed a pass in 5 or 6 subjects before you got the Certificate, I think.

silverlining48

There was a point system when my children were doing A levels. Grammar school.
Pupils needed a certain amount of points from all exams taken to get into university. They were still marked ABC etc.
I got cross because the boys school all did general studies at A level, on top of the rest, so obviously ended up with more points added. The girls school didn’t have that extra opportunity.

That had nothing to do with the exam boards. Some offers of university courses are made on the basis of points rather than ABB (or whatever). The system can be more flexible because it allows for different qualifications which have a points equivalence.

AFAIK the A level grades haven't changed since I did them.

Ladyleftfieldlover

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

Yes, now it's the opposite.

And yes, ours were just sent out in the post. No fuss, although the results were published in the local paper. Why?

I think they're still A to E in Wales but will be changing yet again from this September. Why?
Will the first pupils to take exams under the new system be the guinea pigs?

I remember my O level results with the Northern bard were the exact mark .They were posted and also in the local paper.I am talking over 70 years ago. I did the Northern board,J.M.B.

Calendargirl A few schools have sent out GCSE results by e-mail this year but, like most people GS had to go in.

I hope that GNs' GCs all got what they wanted/needed for the next stage. Best wishes to you all.

I don’t know why the results aren’t just e mailed out to the candidates?

Why do they need to go in and colllect them?

All the hysterical tears and laughter, and dolled up to the nines like a fashion parade, with full make up and hair do’s, or so it seems on the News.

Back in the day, they were just sent out in the post!

There was a point system when my children were doing A levels. Grammar school.
Pupils needed a certain amount of points from all exams taken to get into university. They were still marked ABC etc.
I got cross because the boys school all did general studies at A level, on top of the rest, so obviously ended up with more points added. The girls school didn’t have that extra opportunity.

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

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

REKA

It was a pointless change

The education system in this country loves making pointless changes.
I was aware of the change from a few single letters to lots more numbers. No need for it really.
My grandson who has been in special schools throughout his education due to his autism passed all his 5 GCSE's. He was convinced he would have to resit Maths but passed that too. He will never have to fret over algebra ever again. Super proud of him.

It was a pointless change

So GCSEs were introduced in 1988 with A grades to G, in 1994 an A* was added and in 2017 1 to 9 started to be used. Two changes in pretty much 30 years.
Is it really that difficult to comprehend?

When I sat my London Board O'levels over 60 years ago they were graded A downwards, E being the lowest pass mark. Two years earlier my brother sat O/C Combined Board which were graded 1 downwards. My sister did NEA/JMB. The many different boards not only had different grading systems they also did not run the same timetable for the different subjects. So, things were pretty confusing even back then.

They change them every few years. Gives the illusion that some politicians and/or educationalists have “improved” something. I take no notice now. After 50 years, I still feel traumatised watching the results days on the news though! Thanking goodness it is not me!

When I did O levels in 1955; 9 was the highest, equivalent to an A.
My GD2 got her results this morning. I don’t know the numbers or grades, but there were tears of joy all.

How will employers decipher this in 10 or 20 year’s time.

I doubt they will give them a second glance by then.

Ladyleftfieldlover

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

Same here. I think anything below six was a fail (or was it seven? 🤔)