salsa-king

i wish i had taken them this year!!!!!

just heard on the news today, a guy said that GCSE's are easier these days!!!!! and that he felt sorry for the children that took then 10years ago!!!!!
i took mine in 1990!!!!!! this was the 3year of the GCSE system!

when the GCSE took over from O levels in '87 i thought that year they would have it all cocked up! (GCSE's were worked over a two year period)
'88 (1st year of final exams)they would have perfected it a bit
'99 (2nd year of exams) a bit more
'90 (3rd year of exams) the year when i took my final exams they would have had it all sorted and my year should have been about the best!!!!

how wrong was i????

the following years, most of the exams went on course work related!! i had very little course work that went to the final exam marks!!!

So, if the exams are easier now days how much better would my Grades have been, today??????

not that i'm bitter and twisted about it??

can i sue anyone????


Phil

Dream Weaver

I agree Salsa - they said on the news that you can now get a C in upper level GCSE maths for only 18%, though this "rises" to 45% for normal Maths.

I'm sure back then, to get a C you needed about 65%

Not fair at all, plus they will all leave and get all the decent jobs cos of there great marks.

DW

Adam M

I am michelle,

what did you get?

Bajie

I thought employers used this information to help shift through the cv's.
Through my working experience I am starting to believe education [or proof of it] to be the key.
The majority of jobs I am seeing in my industry at the moment are asking for degree educated people.
In this day and age, the need for people to learn on the job has diminished [in my field] therefore, you need some proof the person you employ can read, follow instructions and then press the right buttons to get the job done.
I, personally, am not an exam person. Neither am I an interview person. So basically, I'm f**ked.

fast bloke

I was part of the test year - We did O'levels and GCSE's in all the same subjects.
O'levels 2 A's 7 B's 1 C
GCSE's - 10 A's

I have never been asked for any of these or A level certs for any job. As an employer I now look for English and Maths (they are literate and can count) After this a relevant degree is the only other swaying qualification. Experience is the key. If you are stuck for the experience, offer your services for nothing and work you *** off for a month. No employer would have a reason to turn down something for nothing

ChrisB

IMO...

Once you have got into college, GCSEs count for nothing.

ChrisB.

RoShamBo

iTrader: (1)

I was the last year of O levels.
I am sure they made the last year of O levels harder than the first year of GCSE's.
Still Got 9 though & never been asked by any employer to see proof of those or the A levels I took. Waste of time really.

Ro.

MichelleWRX1994

GCSEs count for JACK ****

It is A-Levels and experience they are after degrees even better.

Sorry to break the news but no one is interested in my high GCSE grades........

Michelle

stevencotton

I actually look for experience rather than qualifications. I've worked with a few computer science grads that got a good degree, but were absolutely useless (including one that boasted to his mates on Usenet giving out lots of sensitive data who was dismissed instantly on the spot). Real world experience counts for a lot more in my book, especially in a fast changing area such as IT.

Steve.

fast bloke

Computers degree is fairly useless. My first job was offered on the basis that I got a 2.1 or better. Got the 2.1, went to the job and enquired quietly from the guy beside me "How is it you start up windows again?" I can however write recursive descent compilers, parallel compilers, anything you want in C. Pity these where useful before I started the course and not afterwards

Bajie - offer your services for nothing for a trial period. Circumvents the needs for padded C.V. or good interview technique. Go for
"I will work for you for 1 month without pay. If you decide to keep me on pay me from when I started. If you don't want to keep me on then you pay nothing." I'm sure Steve will back me up in saying that the majority of employers will at least give you a chance to prove you own abilities given this level of confidence

ScoobySnack

I've got some O-levels, A-levels and a Degree............

Guess what, nobody has ever asked for proof of this.......Ever......

Makes you wonder doesn't it

J

carl

When I started my MSc course they wanted to see my degree certificate. However, if they know the year and the university they can check without you ever knowing.

I think Cisco have it right with the CCIE programme -- you have to put your CCIE number in all correspondence (e.g. Fred Bloggs, CCIE#3333) and then people can check it on the web.

ScoobySnack

Wonder if the CCIE program will go the same way as the Novell CNE program.........

J

BarryK

I read in my then local paper about 20 years ago about a bloke who was a senior chemist and manager type bod at Shell in Stanlow.

During a routine paperwork audit it was found by some bureaucratic zealot that his qualifications had never been checked when he started work there 17 years previously "straight from uni". He didn't actually have the qualifications he claimed. Dogma ruled the day and he was sacked!

So look out!!

Jerome

The only time I was asked for O'level certificates was when I started my apprenticeship many moons ago. Since then I've never been asked for proof of any qualifications. I've only got an HND, but because I've got a fair amount of experience, this is generally regarded as good as a uni degree (banks excluded).

I've done a fair bit of interviewing in my time, and qualifications do give you an idea about the kind of individual you are dealing with. Someone with 900 grade A GCSE's might actually not be what you are looking for. Conversely, me only having 4 O'levels might also rule me out from some types of roles or certain academically snobby institutions. I was a late developer and hated school with a passion. I stayed in further education for a further 6 years after leaving school and worked hard though. IMHO, qualifications should only be used as a guide. Good interview technique and appropriate technical testing should be more important than the fact they got x grade A's etc.

Neil_C

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>Originally posted by ScoobySnack:
<B>I've got some O-levels, A-levels and a Degree............

Guess what, nobody has ever asked for proof of this.......Ever......

Makes you wonder doesn't it

J[/quote]

makes me wonder about who's employing you, that's about all

GCSE's have to be solid enough to get into a decent uni, if that's the way you want to go. at the time of application you don't have A-Level results and although it's changed, you will only have AS results (which have been claimed to be taken as meaningless anyway)

you can't stroll upto a half decent uni and say, "look, clearly GCSE's mean **** all - I have 8 Cs and a few Ds and an E. so how much are you willing to pay me to be at your university?"

doesn't work like that.

not only that, but employers now look towards something other than academical achievements. people being involved in sport/drama productions/public speaking etc are more likely to be chosen because they had some kind of grasp of the real world rather than having their head stuck in a book all day and doing nothing else

being in the working world, experience at the job you wish to do, having some half decent IT skills and knowledge are also very handy

although GCSEs don't sort those at the top from those who don't have a clue, they give a good indication as to how well a student can cope over a range of subjects, and comments on punctuation of work, neatness of presentation etc can form the employer's opinion of that person to either extrene

GCSEs are getting easier/harder/staying the same blah blah, nobody cares. It's not just the grades people would look at and to be fair GCSEs aren't there to grade someone at the age of 16 and decide their future for them, they're there to get an idea formed of that person and to see how they cope under different circumstances

innit

Tiggs

work in sales so never needed a 5m swimming badge let alone GCSE, A things or uniwotsits

Tiggs

bob

Left school at 14 without taking any exams. Sometimes I wish I did take that 11+ now.
Had problems with a dragon and went straight to Barrhead (sp?) Paisley/Glasgow building a large bowling alley Sports centre type of thing. I wonder if its still there?