3 CSEs - any good?

I did read your complete post. It doesn't matter what age somebody is; they can reflect on their past educational achievements for whatever reason they want. I think you're reading more into it than the OP, who is being lighthearted in her responses.

It’s not unusual and wasn’t seen as much of a problem to have few qualifications. The thing is - and this cuts across lots of things - many 50 something’s have many years left to work but we came up in a different time and that’s not understood.

i have qualifications up the wazoo but my work history doesnt look stellar. People glancing over my cv won’t necessarily understand that my first few jobs actively and explicitly held women back. I was told not to apply for my boss’s job because “we need a man in here”. I asked why I wasn’t getting a pay rise and was told “ceo doesnt like clever young women”. All of this happened again and again and now I have to compete in a marketplace that doesnt think sexism exists. All women do.

so people saying “why do you care now” - well we all have to work and earn now, dont we? We’re not suddenly on a private income

I should hope getting better qualifications than 3 cse's would be every woman's holy grail. If I was below eight stone I'd look ill.
And, no, 3 cse's is not good, its actually very bad.

@CheckTrousersBlanco

‘Well yes-not to mention…’

As someone else pointed out; your answers are bizarre. You seem to judge yourself and other women only by how young you/they look for their age and whether they could get picked up by a man at a nightclub based on your/their appearance.

No, ‘every woman’s Holy Grail is’ not ‘getting down below 8 stone’.

Frankly, your responses are based on a superficial judgement system (if they’re even genuine) and have become tedious.

@FlorescentInk

Did you mean 3 x CSEs? O’Levels and GCSEs weren’t available at the same time. GCSEs came after O’ Levels.

It’s equivalent to a pass eg C (now called a 3?) or above ONLY if you achieved a Grade 1 in the CSE. A Grade 2 = a D; a Grade 3 = an E etc

Thank you @x2boys, that is exactly what I meant.

Seems like @Dangermoomust have stopped reading halfway through my sentence to have got that so wrong.

@CheckTrousersBlancoyour latest replies have convinced me that there really is something else going on and I suspect you may be in a bad place to be ruminating over this so many years later, and constantly drawing some kind of parallel between the GCEs and your age / weight / attractiveness.

Is there something in your life you are unhappy about? Are you worried about aging? Have you managed to work throughout your life? If not, do you feel it’s your school qualifications that have held you back?

You know 3 CSE’s isn’t an objectively successful measure. I’m sure you also know that a lot of time has passed and there are lots of other ways to measure success. But you definitely did better than your brother.

Same age here. You already know the answer to your question is ‘no’, I’d guess.

CSEs were for the students who were unlikely to get O Levels. All students knew this. The average attainment back in those dark ages (as lots of people on here seem to think!) was 5 O Levels: with 5 O Levels (or CSE equivalents ) many schools would let you carry on to 6th form for A Levels.

it was fairer for students back then. Lots of vocational / technical courses were open to those with CSEs and those courses could get entry to Polytechnics. Young people with talent whe were not necessarily traditionally academic could go on to get a degree. Nowadays, our children are led to believe that if they don’t get 10 GCSEs, A Levels and go to uni, their life is over. So sad and just not true.

It's not great. Have you done anything further academically since then?
I'm not sure of the relevance of being ID'd for alcohol in 2009 or whenever really. I even less see the relevance of now being below 8 stone.
I hope you're having a happy life.

I was going to say exactly the same thing.

What grade?

Being 8 stone and attracting men seem to be more important to you so (genuinely) interested in why you started this thread?

Original GCSEs all had coursework

I was the first year and don't remember coursework for maths or chemistry, although it could be I just don't remember. Art was 100% coursework.

I was asked for my school exam certificates for a job interview about 10 years ago, 40 years after I left school.

I did a mixture of 4 O levels and 4 CSEs in 1974, I think most at my school did a mixture, I also did typing and shorthand exams as I was considered likely to get an Office job at 16. Bog standard girls secondary school

Pretty poor where I'm from.

This is a really weird 'I'm not clever but everyone fancies me and I look young and am skinny' steal boast thread so I'm going to be hiding it now.

I've been asked about my O levels and Highers in a job interview precisely once - for my last salaried role, with a competitor who'd headhunted me pretty aggressively. Fresh-out-of-uni HR bloke asked me (I was mid 30s) what grades I'd got and honestly, I could barely remember what subjects I'd taken. They also asked me for my original degree certificates and I had to phone home and ask my parents to dig them out of the loft. 😂I haven't included my O levels and Highers on my cv for at least a couple of decades.

I’m from this era, born in 1966. I think three CSEs would be classed as a pretty bad set of results at my school (Catholic Comp). You surely must know you didn’t do that well at school OP. But you still looked young for your age in 2009, so I guess that’s the main thing.

@CheckTrousersBlanco I left school in 1983 with - O levels grade C,D and E and a mixture of crap CSEs. My favoured older sister got 10 O Levels at A and B.
I now have gained more qualifications in the last 20 years, these being-
10 @ level 2 ( equivalent to A-C/5-9 GCSE)
3 @ Level 3 ( equivalent to A level)
1 @ Level 5 ( equivalent to a foundation degree)
I have consistently earned a higher salary than my 'Much more intelligent ' sister.
What I gained at school is immaterial.

Original GCSEs all had coursework, none of mine (in 1991 so 3 years after they started I think?)were 100% exam, that was seen as one of the improvements over O levels. O levels were seen as just a test of memory and ability to perform under pressure, you just had to memorise loads of facts and regurgitate them.

Now GCSEs have become that. My DD has one subject with 50% coursework, all the rest are 100% exam. I don't believe it's an improvement. Lots of kids are bright but aren't good at memorising, lots struggle under pressure, you can have an off day or a bad cold or a bad period and underperform after 2 years of hard work.

O Level

English Language
English Literature
Maths
French
Latin
Biology
Chemistry
Sociology
Art

CSE
Maths
Social Studies
Art

I should have taken a music exam as well, but I stopped taking lessons