3 CSEs - any good?

Well it’s certainly better than nothing! What grades are they? Back in the day grade 1 CSE was classed as equivalent to grade C “O” level which was generally classed as a pass. Not sure how that translates in GCSEs.

Is 3 CSEs good - no but as others are saying it’s not really relevant now . FWIW I was born in 1966 and in my school year ( grammar school) they were trialling only doing 8 GCE s ( O levels) so that is what I have and 3 A levels .

Is 3 CSEs good? Not really but at your age, why does it matter?

That would depend on family support. A lot if WC families couldn't have supported children through A Levels etc, so it wasn't suggested. My Grandmother supported my Uncle (born 1944) he became the first ever WC lad from his estate/area to be a GP. My Aunt suffered ridicule for bringing her children in from play, to read. His siblings became a Journalist and Biochemist. In the 1980's the lads could earn well on the rigs and going to Saudi etc, no education was needed. Careers, needing further education for WC women were still rare in many areas.

I was born in 1964 and went to a 'naice' girls' grammar. We only did O levels, CSEs weren't offered, but if (like me) we were thought to be particularly weak at maths we were allowed to do CSE as well.

I got 9 O levels grades A-C and a grade 1 in CSE maths.

My DM did five O levels in the first year they were introduced, at the same grammar school I went to. She passed all five.

I think it depends on were you are from, what your school was like etc. I grew up in a anti education area. Our school didn't explain the adult education system. We were barely taught the subjects. For those of us in abusive homes, education would have been a way out. For many it was pregnancy instead. I think I got five, A/B, two Cs. It wasn't suggested that I went to college. I was very attractive, which meant that beauty was suggested by my careers teachers. I got the highest grade in biology out of the girls, second in the school, but no, it didn't feature in the suggestions. We were really let down. I did go to university as a mature student though.

So my parents are quite a bit older than you and grew up in very deprived towns in the north west. I think they both got a handful of CSEs. My mother did actually do a couple of A-levels & then trained as a teacher, my father got a HND later on and went to university. I think I'd see getting 3 CSEs in the 80s as at the lower end - the statistics suggest 75% of school leavers in 1985 got 5 cse/o-levels.

oh god

I only got grade 1 CSE English and grade 3 Biology, no maths or anything else

feel a total failure now🙄

No, definitely not good.
You sound weirdly obsessed with how old you look!

In the 1970s about a third of pupils took O levels and the rest took CSEs.

Less than 10% went to University

Which is why I said most ,there are only 163 Grammar schools in the whole of England ,the vast majority became comprehensive, s by the late 70,s.

My school is still a grammar school now. Not all areas phased out the 11+.

I also did O levels, so very similar age to you OP.
As a peer I would have considered a school mate getting 3 CSE's to be a pretty low acheiver (but better than someone with no exams at all under their belt)
But lifetime success/attainment isn't just about that. Not everyone is an academic achiever.

I'd query what 'good' means. Good for what? Have you struggled to find meaningful work that allowed you to have the life you wanted or make a positive difference to people? If so, then yes, 3 CSEs is absolutely fine. Like you said, it's not like you're trying to apply to a Russell Group university or aiming to get a PhD in astrophysics.

I think a lot of people were let down by the education system in the past. The number of your qualifications and how 'impressive' they are doesn't mean that anyone should be able to / allowed to judge your intelligence or success, let alone your value to society. I know plenty of people who didn't get a lot of 'impressive' qualifications who have done a lot of good and made the world a better place.

That's as maybe but most LA,s in England had phased out Grammar schools by the late 70,s .

Systems generally cater to the average, not to specialist cases. Otherwise they become extraordinarily expensive to implement, effectively you need one on one teaching. You'd be looking at a very low % of people who would go through the experience you described above, and that would not be catastrophic for society (although it would have severe impact on the individual).

You could argue that the system did actually work in this case anyway as the person was able to realise their full potential eventually, even if they didn't manage to do it in a timely manner.

At that time you could get a reasonable job with 3 cse's rather than now when you could have a brilliant degree from a top university and still be pouring coffees

Not all areas had proper comprehensives and in many there was poor access. I am born in 1962 and went to a comprehensive school - but from my year group of almost 300 only the top set for maths took O level - a handful from set 2 double entered O level/CSE and almost everyone else took CSE apart from those who left at Easter without taking exams.

I know someone born in 1959 (currently 65) who was undiagnosed dyslexia and failed 11+ and sent to a school that only offered CSEs (no O levels) and had it drummed into them they were not academic and manual work was their only option. Left school at 16 with 5 CSEs (most grade 3 and 4) and went to work as a council binman. Lucky to have parents that supported continuing education at FE college and achieved 8 O levels, 3 A levels, went to Uni in their 20s and did a postgraduate professional qualification and worked a professional job for the next 30+ years.

But the system wrote them off (and many others) at 11.

It would have been a dire result in my family (I'm a year older than you) but it's all relative I guess... My family are academic (Lots of O and A levels, we all have good degrees )... But for all that I never used my degree and earn next to nothing! 😆

I vaguely recall that the average as 3 grade 3 CSEs.

In my county, schools went comp in 1980, so someone born in 1969 might have done 11+ and started at grammar or secondary modern, which then became just two comprehensive secondary schools. I'm not sure quite when they stopped the 11+. I was born in the early '70s and got stuck at the bottom of junior school for 3 years as it converted to a middle school, and was then the first year of GCSEs, so many of our 4th year and mock exams were old O'level papers.

I wouldn't have been impressed by 3 CSEs unless there were other circumstances like illness, but no one will care now - experience will be more important. Mind you, I was asked to provide certificates for English and Maths GCSE about 5 years ago, despite having other qualifications I wouldn't have been able to start without English and Maths GCSEs...

Sorry, but no. I was born in late 1960 and took my O levels/CSEs in 1976. My school expected everyone to take at least 8 exams, some took 9. Maths and French had 2 streams, O levels for the cleverer girls, CSEs for the thickies. I was a thicky. It was a school that needed passing an entrance exam to get in, so there were no really disadvantaged girls there, but there were a few who didn't manage to pass more than 5 O levels/CSEs.

I was lucky I think in that the teaching was generally good, no excuses were allowed for homework that wasn't done, and there were fairly high expectations of the girls who went there. Without those I wouldn't have got the 8 passes that I did.

If you want to get more GCSEs then it's not too late! If you don't then that's absolutely fine. At our age I don't think it can be expected of us 😁

Teaching has improved significantly with loads of research into effective teaching practice which has transformed classrooms. My secondary experience in the 1990s was vastly different to that of my older siblings in the 1970s and my kids now. Our understanding of how the brain works and the processes of learning has developed significantly even if Dewey and Piaget are still used.

My grandfather (head teacher until the 1970s) would be astounded (and horrified!) by the school at which my brother is head. The approach to teaching and learning vastly different.

Also support for and understanding of additional needs has also improved massively. Whilst this doesn’t make children ‘cleverer’ it does mean that children have greater opportunity to achieve.

Born in 1969 and we had to take 11+ and go to either grammar or secondary modern. Only 2 comps in town were faith schools you
had to prove church attendance to go to.

Ii plus was abolished before 1974 as I didn't get to do it so had no option but to go to a very bad ex secondary modern school.