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Evil Monkey

GCSE Results

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[quote user="Dionysus"]The coursework option makes exams much easier now. When I did mine, most were 100% exam at the end of the 2-year course. If you weren''t very good at exams then you were bu****ed.[/quote]

That is very true, it was purely about exam technique, from this point of view things are fairer now, some smart people struggled with the pressure whilst others were very good at learning parrot fashion and regurgertating facts.

I got 6 C''s and 1 B and then really excelled two years later with 1 A-level grade E! If I had that nowadays i''d shoot myself. But life improved and went to Uni for far too long and now have job that pays me far too little, wish i''d got a job straight from school to be honest. Life is easier in hindsight.

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[quote user="Delias Well Behaved Devonshire Dirtbox"]

GCSE''s dont matter anyhow, just lie on your cv nobody ever checks it

I think the grades are getting better because of the % of the coursework that goes towards the final grade, Google Google Google! A*

[/quote]

Nail hit on the head, my friend.

No such thing as Google in my day! [;)]

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my Geography, science and maths courswork where all done without google, i think i used google for my history, but anyway, i got a B in matsh, and my coursework was only a C

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[quote user="Ginger Pele"]my Geography, science and maths courswork where all done without google, i think i used google for my history, but anyway, i got a B in matsh, and my coursework was only a C
[/quote]

English F

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Well done boys and girls, I hope you all achieved what you needed to for you to get into college or whatever.

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[quote user="Delias Well Behaved Devonshire Dirtbox"]

[quote user="Ginger Pele"]my Geography, science and maths courswork where all done without google, i think i used google for my history, but anyway, i got a B in matsh, and my coursework was only a C
[/quote]

English F

[/quote]

And that was a joke!   [*-)]

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Well done to all those who got their grades...

Evil Monkey: on your point about "When I ask people why they came to Uni, its often met with a shrug of the shoulders, and so many people I know complain that they don''t enjoy their course its unreal. They don''t know why they''re there, and they don''t enjoy what they''re doing, so what motivation is there to work hard?"

I''m not sure that''s so different to previous generations. It was the same when I went 20-plus years ago and I''m sure it was the same in the 60s and 70s too.

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 I think that''s its really difficult to make accurate comparisons.I did my O levels in 1973,my As in 1975 and my degree in 1978,and its a whole different ball game these days,but I don''t think that that should devalue the results being achieved.Its true that coursework plays a bigger part,but to me that means that effort and quality is being measured over a longer period,with less reliance on "getting it right on the day".In my day some very capable people did badly because of bad exam technique or nerves.The fact is that no system of measurement is perfect.

Another point I would make is that,while cut and paste homework is the norm,as I''ve seen with my kids,the availability of the internet has been balanced out to some extent by larger class sizes and less personalised teaching techniques.In any system there has to be a willingness to learn,but I think that today''s students have to be more self motivating than we were,so there are swings and roundabouts.Oh,and of course,there is the inalienable fact that every generation thinks that "things were better in our day"! I always promised myself that I wouldn''t do that ,but I do!

So,to today''s students,well done,and don''t let us old buggers undermine your achievements!

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First of all, to be fair, congratulations to all on their GCSE and A level results.

However.  I work in a university.  One of the things we do see here is that although the students are still very good, they have not covered the same amount of material that was covered 10 years ago.  Universities are often plugging the gaps in knowledge that is still needed for entry to degree level, but is not covered in the school curricula.  Universities are also having to teach students how to write essays.

For myself, I thought my O and A level results were very good and I was in top 15%.  In comparison with grades awarded now, I am in bottom 15%  - but of course this is because today''s students are brainier.

 

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[quote user="alex_ncfc"][quote user="Delias Well Behaved Devonshire Dirtbox"]

GCSE''s dont matter anyhow, just lie on your cv nobody ever checks it

I think the grades are getting better because of the % of the coursework that goes towards the final grade, Google Google Google! A*

[/quote]

Nail hit on the head, my friend.

No such thing as Google in my day! [;)]

[/quote]

 

Well actually, if an examiner or teacher suspects that what you''ve written in your coursework is plaugerism, then they actually type some into Google and can find out if it is pretty easily. Quite a few from my school doing the IB exams have been caught for doing that, and as a result they''ve been disqualified.

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[quote user="TioRio"][quote user="alex_ncfc"][quote user="Delias Well Behaved Devonshire Dirtbox"]

GCSE''s dont matter anyhow, just lie on your cv nobody ever checks it

I think the grades are getting better because of the % of the coursework that goes towards the final grade, Google Google Google! A*

[/quote]

Nail hit on the head, my friend.

No such thing as Google in my day! [;)]

[/quote]

 

Well actually, if an examiner or teacher suspects that what you''ve written in your coursework is plaugerism, then they actually type some into Google and can find out if it is pretty easily. Quite a few from my school doing the IB exams have been caught for doing that, and as a result they''ve been disqualified.

[/quote]

Just put a few correct spellings in coursework and any plagiarism wont be detected!

 

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Well done to everyone today, whatever grades you got!

My personal view, as someone who has gone through the education system recently, and now going into my 3rd year at Uni is that the stories about the GCSE''s and A Levels getting easier is a fallacy. At GCSE I got 3 A''s 4 B''s 3 C''s, and a Merit in my ICT GNVQ (eqv. of 4 B''s), and then at A Level I got ABB. I was predicted A*''s in a lot of my subjects, and missed them by a couple of marks, which was gutting, but anyway I made up for that at A Level.

My point is, there is an argument that GCSE''s and A Levels are getting easier, but it just simply isn''t the case. Instead of getting taught a variety of parts of the subjects that are studied, students are simply taught to pass the exams, and personally if you are not a teacher or a student, or have kids at school, then you can''t really have an objective view on this subject, because you simply wont understand the in''s and out''s.

If the people here complaining about the exams actually sat them, how do you honestly think you would do? If the Radio 1 DJ''s are a reflection, where 2 of them actually got 0%, you wouldn''t do too well would you?

Now I don''t condone the use of Google, and Ginger Pele I am shocked you haven''t been caught for plagiarism, you must have been very cunning, or very lucky. Anyone who thinks that people get away with that are ill informed, I know a few people who have been failed because of it.

Anyway, well done, and good luck for your futures. Don''t worry about what these oldies are saying, you''ve done well!

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Firstly congratulations to all those that got the grades they needed. Secondly, and most importantly dont worry if you didn''t. I did mine in 1996 and did ok i guess, can''t remember exactly what to be honest, and off to 6th form i went (as was expected). Just after Christmas i realised that i had no idea what i wanted to do with my life (like many of my friends) and i made a decision not to go to Uni but to leave and get a job i could progress in. This i did and by the age of 23 i was running a business with £4m a year turnover, not bad for someone with no A Levels or Degrees. As an employer now i can tell you that the qualifications section on a job application is not the be all and end all. You can achieve whatever you want in life with some good old fashioned hard work, determination and something that seems to be severely lacking in a lot of candidates i''ve come across (and a lot of those well qualified!), common sense. As for my opinion on the education system i believe there are some major faults in it, but here is the main one that no one ever seems to mention, maybe it wasn''t like it at every school but here goes. When i was at school we were basically taught by spending the vast majority of the time, copying information that the teacher had written on the blackboard into a notebook. Then 2 weeks before the exam encouraged to cram like mad. Take German for example. I got a B i think. Now i could just about count to ten, say the days of the week, ask for a beer and say something rude about your mother. Thats it. Why? BECAUSE I DIDNT LEARN IT, I REMEMBERED IT. Thats the main problem with the way kids are taught in my opinion.

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I''ll have you know that I am on holiday so i cant be at home to open my results.

Dont worry though I''ll be back saturday and i will tell you all about my fantastic results!!!![:P]

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[quote user="Evil Monkey"]I know its hardly a yardstick, since their collective IQ can''t be any more than Sharp Shooter''s, but a number of Radio 1 DJs have taken the maths GCSE this year and results include 7%, 14% and 19%.... I think its a myth that they''re getting easier, I just reckon that a lot of it is being spoon-fed rather than kids actually having to think about it...
[/quote]

Why don''t you go and screw yourself

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[quote user="Sharp Shooter"]

[quote user="Evil Monkey"]I know its

hardly a yardstick, since their collective IQ can''t be any more than

Sharp Shooter''s, but a number of Radio 1 DJs have taken the maths GCSE

this year and results include 7%, 14% and 19%.... I think its a myth

that they''re getting easier, I just reckon that a lot of it is being

spoon-fed rather than kids actually having to think about it...[/quote]

Why don''t you go and screw yourself

[/quote]

Oh dear, I''ve upset another troll... add this to the abusive personal message received and I''d have to say its job done.... [:)]

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[quote user="Evil Monkey"]I know its hardly a yardstick, since their collective IQ can''t be any more than Sharp Shooter''s, but a number of Radio 1 DJs have taken the maths GCSE this year and results include 7%, 14% and 19%.... I think its a myth that they''re getting easier, I just reckon that a lot of it is being spoon-fed rather than kids actually having to think about it...

[/quote]

I was going to mention this as it was on the Chris Moyles show yesterday how 2/3 presenters failed the test. The highest grade was a C i think.Okay, so they''re out of practice, haven''t been studying for two years etc. but they still managed to FAIL the paper. I don''t think the papers are getting easier by any means, i recently did my a-level math paper, and it was the hardest thing i''ve ever faced. If the people who keep going on about how easy the papers are these days had to actually do the paper to prove it, then i think they''d be in for quite a shock.I agree Evil Monkey, it''s the way kids are just simply taught to pass exams these days. I remember back to highschool when i was basically told every example/point/word i needed to include in my coursework. Err... [*-)]

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[quote user="AJ"][quote user="Evil Monkey"]I know its hardly a yardstick, since their collective IQ can''t be any more than Sharp Shooter''s, but a number of Radio 1 DJs have taken the maths GCSE this year and results include 7%, 14% and 19%.... I think its a myth that they''re getting easier, I just reckon that a lot of it is being spoon-fed rather than kids actually having to think about it...

[/quote]


I was going to mention this as it was on the Chris Moyles show yesterday how 2/3 presenters failed the test. The highest grade was a C i think.

Okay, so they''re out of practice, haven''t been studying for two years etc. but they still managed to FAIL the paper.

I don''t think the papers are getting easier by any means, i recently did my a-level math paper, and it was the hardest thing i''ve ever faced. If the people who keep going on about how easy the papers are these days had to actually do the paper to prove it, then i think they''d be in for quite a shock.

I agree Evil Monkey, it''s the way kids are just simply taught to pass exams these days. I remember back to highschool when i was basically told every example/point/word i needed to include in my coursework. Err... [*-)][/quote]

I wouldn''t use Chris Moyles cohorts as an example of average people mind!

Of course I might do worse in differentiation or integration than a kid that has been regularly practising it, but with a little refresher course I am sure many older people would do OK, that argument doesn''t really wash with me. This school of though just reminds me of that pitiful tv program with Noel Edmunds where they take a few 6 years olds (or something like that) and an adult (normally an attention seeking cretin) and ask them the same question and the kids normally win and the adults are humiliated. But most of the questions are about nursery rhymes, try asking something about beer, women or footy and see where the kinds stand then!

 

 

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[quote user="Marty"][quote user="AJ"][quote user="Evil Monkey"]I know its hardly a yardstick, since their collective IQ can''t be any more than Sharp Shooter''s, but a number of Radio 1 DJs have taken the maths GCSE this year and results include 7%, 14% and 19%.... I think its a myth that they''re getting easier, I just reckon that a lot of it is being spoon-fed rather than kids actually having to think about it...

[/quote]


I was going to mention this as it was on the Chris Moyles show yesterday how 2/3 presenters failed the test. The highest grade was a C i think.

Okay, so they''re out of practice, haven''t been studying for two years etc. but they still managed to FAIL the paper.

I don''t think the papers are getting easier by any means, i recently did my a-level math paper, and it was the hardest thing i''ve ever faced. If the people who keep going on about how easy the papers are these days had to actually do the paper to prove it, then i think they''d be in for quite a shock.

I agree Evil Monkey, it''s the way kids are just simply taught to pass exams these days. I remember back to highschool when i was basically told every example/point/word i needed to include in my coursework. Err... [*-)][/quote]

I wouldn''t use Chris Moyles cohorts as an example of average people mind!

Of course I might do worse in differentiation or integration than a kid that has been regularly practising it, but with a little refresher course I am sure many older people would do OK, that argument doesn''t really wash with me. This school of though just reminds me of that pitiful tv program with Noel Edmunds where they take a few 6 years olds (or something like that) and an adult (normally an attention seeking cretin) and ask them the same question and the kids normally win and the adults are humiliated. But most of the questions are about nursery rhymes, try asking something about beer, women or footy and see where the kinds stand then!

 

 

[/quote]

 

I''m suprised anyone who works on the Chris Moyles show was able to even get the 2% for spelling their name correctly...come on people 3 boneheads from Radio One is hardly a good benchmark! I do not want to be-little anyone who has taken and passed their GCSE''s this year but I definitely think exams are easier nowadays...and that''s coming from a person who took his GCSEs in 2002! The number of courses at uni has probably increased by 10x in the last ten years - there''s too many chronic courses designed esp for the youngsters who years ago wouldn''t have passed a thing and would be working at 16

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As in the units for the particular subjects?

If that is the case, then no they don''t count the same, all the counts in the end is the grade you actually get for the subject as a whole.

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