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Education, education, education

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    Education, education, education

    Did anyone see that series where a load of GCSE O pupils spent several weeks at an old-fashioned school doing fifties-style O-levels?

    They all got mostly A and A-star in their GCSE exams, but failed miserably in the O-level exams.

    This obviously means that teaching is better these days.

    #2
    IIRC in the fifties you had to get a certain number of passes to get a school certificate. Didn't know O levels were that old.
    Insanity: repeating the same actions, but expecting different results.
    threadeds website, and here's my blog.

    Comment


      #3
      GCSEs are easy

      GCSEs are easier that good old O'levels - fact !
      I was in the last year to do O levels. For Maths I got a D which was considered a fail (wouldn't be now).
      So, two years later I decided to take evening classes and retake Maths at GCSE level.
      At the time I was working as a tape monkey on a shift rota. Due to the shift patterns (week of days, week of evenings, week of nights) I could only attend 1 lesson in 3. Having done only a third of the course work I still managed to pass with a C

      There, conclusive proof that GCSEs are easier than O'levels. (and also proof that I am crap at Maths )

      Comment


        #4
        O levels may well have been harder but just because you took one exam then the other with higher result doesn't prove that.

        I took O level geology twice within 6 months of each other and went from a D to a B. Doesn't that just say I knew more, was better prepared or does it mean the exam was easier?

        Comment


          #5
          The only "fair" solution is to give everyone an A.

          HTH

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by OrangeHopper
            O levels may well have been harder but just because you took one exam then the other with higher result doesn't prove that.

            I took O level geology twice within 6 months of each other and went from a D to a B. Doesn't that just say I knew more, was better prepared or does it mean the exam was easier?
            Or you got used to doing the exam... There's a great deal to be learnt by actually trying a few past papers before doing the real thing.

            I worked with one old boy who had a great stack of previous O level exam papers and he was able to predict with astonishing accuracy what the questions would be on the next exam.
            Insanity: repeating the same actions, but expecting different results.
            threadeds website, and here's my blog.

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by Jakes Daddy
              For Maths I got a D which was considered a fail (wouldn't be now).
              A pass is a grade C isn't it?

              so it'd still be a fail
              "Well behaved women rarely make history"

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by janey
                A pass is a grade C isn't it?

                so it'd still be a fail
                There are eight GCSE pass grades, ranging from A* to G.
                Insanity: repeating the same actions, but expecting different results.
                threadeds website, and here's my blog.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by threaded
                  There are eight GCSE pass grades, ranging from A* to G.
                  but I thought in reality people only view grade c and above as a pass? when employers request that someone have a certain gcse (i.e. usually english and maths) they would always state the grade should be c or above
                  "Well behaved women rarely make history"

                  Comment


                    #10
                    GCSE is the GCE and CSE qualifications combined.

                    The last year of O levels, which I did, called 16+ was a hybrid. In the past you failed a GCE at A-C that was it. With 16+ you took your GCE and if you failed you got the appropriate CSE (1-5 I think). So you didn't fail you just got a craper qualification.

                    Some O levels were a little harder but not much. Any fool could pass an O level with a few weeks work and some cases no work. It really is that basic a qualification.
                    The court heard Darren Upton had written a letter to Judge Sally Cahill QC saying he wasn’t “a typical inmate of prison”.

                    But the judge said: “That simply demonstrates your arrogance continues. You are typical. Inmates of prison are people who are dishonest. You are a thoroughly dishonestly man motivated by your own selfish greed.”

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