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GCSE's under scrutiny?Read this (27/08/2006 10:21)

As I'm sure you're fully aware people of my age(16) will be collecting their grades for their GCSE's tomorrow(24th August), as per usual every year. Usually around this time GCSE's and/or A-levels come under scrutiny from elders, saying that grades are rising because GCSE's are becoming easier, or that the exams are too simple for tasks in later life. But I noticed only a few weeks ago in a paper that not even one half of adults under the old education system have the numeric ability of that which is required of a 13 year old, so I ask myself what else are they incapable of doing that today's generation of teenagers can do? Ok, admittedly the people who are putting us down are older and more experienced than us, but if push came to shove and they were required to sit the exams we have to pass just how many of them would be able to even scrape a C grade? I find it unbelievable how they find the nerve to put us and our education system down when it has so obviously been drastically improved from even my mother's era; and the exams that they had to take dring their era are nothing compared to the more recent, tougher ones. Not only does it cause demoralisation within me and my fellow peers it causes an enmity between those with power and us lowly beings in the examination seats.

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Zz00029246 wrote:
12:24 27/08 2006

wow. you are like some genius. the way you can describe all of this........well done!

Zz00005765 wrote:
23:46 28/08 2006

Nope-1 article in a newspaper doesn't justify anything Ryan.Nor is it solid proof whilst the continual rise of people passing exams could be argued to be 'proof'.Either everyone everywhere is getting smarter(sorry but I doubt that) or exams really are getting easier?

Sir Stairs wrote:
01:17 29/08 2006

The exams are not getting easier, just the publication of exam results are getting greater. look at the results now and the results a few years ago. the same percentage of people are getting A*'s, A's, B's, C's and all other grades.

The way it works are they mark the exams, and put the top say 5% as A*'s, 10% as A's and so on.

The fact that we are getting scrutinised is that people don't understand the way things are marked, the way things are done. compare a recent child who has just passed GCSE's to someone who passed GCSE's only 5 years ago, there is a huge difference in intelligence and there is a huge difference in teaching abilitly too.

Zz00000843 wrote:
09:34 29/08 2006

so because i passed my gcses 3 years ago im dumber than you?

i think Alevels are a good point, which are also very releated to gcses. i took maths, physics and chemistry at Alevel. Physics, has a "new improved" course to encourage people to study it (i thought it was crap personally with too much about computers and splitting the atom). Maths had, after the first year a new set of exams brought in because the older ones were "too hard". this split the original P1,P2,P3 into C1, C2, C3, C4. which i found harder than the P exams.

i think they should scrap exams up until Alevel, but put in place a continuous assessment, which is less formal than exams. also raising the drop out age will help the government target hunters, which is (tbh) what all the exam results are about.

you never hear about the people who take 5 and get EEUDF, who will go on to become................ nothing. but you hear about kids (i have a mate who got 12) 14 A*s. fair enough they might be clever people, but in retrospect i cant do some parts of a keystage 3 paper because its got stuff in it which you're taught so you can pass it. however, the next years you're told to forget it (correct me if im wrong but its not that simple!!) because it's wrong in comparison to what you're about to be taught.

my view on exams is that it doesnt really show who is the best. i, when i do some work, am apparently really clever. i perform in a near dreadful way when im trying to think really quickly ( eg exams or racing someone with a su-doku!). exams do ****and i can see why a lot of people get nervous. the issue is, a lot of the ones who are nervous about them are going to fail (or are paranoid about getting 13A*s and an A (tragic!)). in which case exams are no use, they might as well have a portfolio with their 5 years of secoundary education summarised (by random bits of work) to show how good their work is.

in fact, the entire education system is f**ked. it is also what spawns gang violence, (one person listening to rap is harmless, but get a school of 300 people listeing to the whole spectrum of music and it is going to form divides and it goes tits up)

bring back the cane, respect is enforced at that age and human rights dont really exist (they're a big lie) and who cares if you're getting hit, more often than not its cos u break the rules or you should have been more careful.

Zz00000843 wrote:
09:35 29/08 2006

sorry for that, the points are there but im a very disjointed ranter.

heh :)

Zz00009886 wrote:
16:50 29/08 2006

I have to say that i partly agree and partly disagree. its true that exams are hard and most "Adults" wouldnt even be able to pass 1 GCSE. but on the other hand i can safley say that it dosent matter where you go or what grades you get it wont help you 1 bit. ill admit that i didnt to amazingly well for my GCSE's (4xB 1xC 4xD) i could have come out of school with nothing and i would be in the same place as i am now. 90% of employers out there want expierianced people and thats the 1 thing this countrys edcuation system cannot offer people. my advice is leave school at 11 and become a chimney sweep! At least you will have some money in your back pocket!

Zz00024989 wrote:
04:24 03/09 2006

i know what you mean, but whatever article says that adults wouldn't pass GCSE's means if they took them right now without revising and all that. If adults took 2 years just preparing for the exam then i'd bet that most would pass. To get a C in maths all i had to get was around 15%. so once you've done the coursework, its basically 10 questions in the exam and you pass. I'm sure most adults could do that

Zz00005189 wrote:
12:08 06/09 2006

My IT related results

GCSE - E
AS - A

I think that sums up how soddy GCSE exams actually are. Or maybe it sums up how easy AS/A levels are?

Sir Stairs wrote:
01:03 19/09 2006

or maybe it just summs up how you got your act together at AS levels? i have friends who got all A*'s in GCSE's and got a U in an AS level.