CSEs

I took both, no payment required for either.

I must have been in a league all my own, I expect.

We only did O and A levels at my school

I did O levels at grammar school but our French teacher told us about CSE which was fairly new and which she wanted to trial. She asked if anybody would be interested in taking it instead of the O level as it might suit some of us better. I stuck my hand up, did the coursework and exam and got Grade 1 which was equivalent to an O level.

I enjoyed it because we got brand new modern, illustrated text books which IMO were far better than the ancient old books we were used to.

I did O levels in 1960. There were no CSEs at that time and O levels were never paid for. My children did a mixture of O levels, and CSEs. Going on to A levels. I believe everything falls under GCSEs now.

Well I was two in 1965.

I seem to have cses, gces, and o levels in the same subjects too.

I took both, too. I was at a bilateral school and was always in a grammar stream class. I left school in 1975

MissAdventure

I took both.
I think cse were standard, and o levels were paid for at that time.

We didn't pay to take GCEs
Nor did we take CSEs at my High school.

The CSEs were not introduced until 1965.

I suppose mine was around that time, too.
Perhaps my mum told me she had to pay to try and make me do some homework.

I took both in 1977 and no payment was required.

Hmm. Well, I definitely took both.
I don't know how it all worked.

Don’t think O Levels were paid for MissA. It was all we took at my school (Grammar 66/7).

I took both.
I think cse were standard, and o levels were paid for at that time.

Smileless2012

Yes I remember and you're right Grade 1 was equivalent to a C Grade at O'level. As course work counted toward the final grade at CSE, it gave those not so good in exams a chance to still achieve an O'level.

I remember the CSE being less rigid and simpler than the GCE O level, but a Grade 1 was as good as an O level and 5 Grade 1s were acceptable to most employers. However, the qualification often didn't extend to subjects like music, art and languages.

Yes I remember and you're right Grade 1 was equivalent to a C Grade at O'level. As course work counted toward the final grade at CSE, it gave those not so good in exams a chance to still achieve an O'level.