So, who still has their GCSE certificates?

[Borisjohnsonshairbrush]

So, I'm 36, I've been working 20 years and my new employer wants to see my GCSE certificates. So yes kids, they are important

Admin/receptionist job.

Lost them years ago during a house move and its going to cost me several forms of I.D and £45.00 to get them from AQA.

Who else still has theirs 15+ years later?

In teaching you need to show the originals for every job you apply for. I lost mine for two years, and it was so stressful! (They were randomly in a suitcase in the loft 🤷‍♀️) my certificates are currently all safely in our filing cabinet, ready to dig out next time I apply for something else.

@clary

I've still got mine, more than 40 years later.

When I retrained as a teacher I had to prove I had a degree and Maths/English GCSE (well, O level in my case )

yes, needed for any new teaching job, and some schools want to see the originals again at regular intervals too

Not only do I not have them but I don't have a clue what I took and what my grades were. 🤷‍♀️

Yep, I have all mine in my original ROA (Record of Achievement) folder

I randomly found mine yesterday in a drawer. This thread is timely as I was wondering whether it was worth keeping them - clearly it is!

Nope! I lost my diploma aswell and needed a copy when I wanted to top up to a degree 10 years later. Luckily the university accepted an email from the previous university with a copy of my achieved grade.

Yes, mine are O levels so they are best part of 40 years old, they are in a folder with everything from my first swimming certificate to my professional postgraduate qualification certificates.

I've got my O Level certificates from 1983. I've never once been asked to produce them. I don't know if that's because I have a Masters Degree plus a professional diploma (which I have been asked for) so it's assumed I've got basic English and Maths qualifications.

Yes - there are in certificate folder I bought and in current important papers draw (which is a tip and one of cat keeps sleeping in) which had previously been a box - but DH nicked that along with my filing cabinet which now seem full of his stuff not all of which is important.

Other smaller important docs are all in blue lockable box - that I'm not sure I have key for any more but isn't locked but is in same important draw.

When we move there the items that go with me - and try and get DH - who I bought a folder for for his certificates - to do the same.

I have to go apeshit if DH goes near any of mine or kids important documents - and he put mine and kids important stuff in odd places and often doesn't seem to realise they are important as they are not his that have meant entire house being turned upside down and me ranting about them being touched entire time. It's why they are now in a draw which is very much mine and not for touching.

DD1 is starting to look after her documents - so will be getting same - some where they need to live - an important box they can sit in in a folder they are kept straight and tidy in and be forgotten about till needed.

I'm not sure I even know the exam board I sat them with now to get replacements from.

Once they're in the RoA folder, they might have to stay in there… a lot of people find the plastic they use for the clear pockets lifts the ink off

@Borisjohnsonshairbrush

this must be a new thing? I've never had to show them, even when i worked for a law firm, this is just a car dealership.

You've always needed them for local govt roles. Seems daft, doesn't it, that having your degree certificate doesn't supersede A levels or GCSEs in the same subject but, sadly, yes, you need to produce them all.

I've just realised why draw looked wrong - drawer - I'm terrible for picking wrong spelling for similar sounding words at the minute.

I'm 50 (olevels) and had to provide them for my current job 4 years ago, despite several higher qualifications. Yes, I know where they are not a clue where my birth certificate's gone though

A couple of years older than you and yes, I've got mine, and I've had to show them quite a few times for courses I've done.

God knows where. And I don't think I'd find them all

Also I lied about getting a maths pass so I'd be screwed

I’m 50. I have the certs for every academic and professional exam I’ve ever taken, from CSE French early in 1987- Os, As, Degrees, Chartership, some C&Gs I needed for work, a C&G I did for fun. And university transcripts with the breakdown of my BSc subjects module grades.

Im 48 and can't even remember what subjects I did. I know my grades but Im completely missing all memory of one of the subjects.

@ClumpingBambooIsALie

Once they're in the RoA folder, they might have to stay in there… a lot of people find the plastic they use for the clear pockets lifts the ink off

We found that with ones schools gave us - DH and I - so I got black folders which have ring binders so you can re-order the plastic covers with certificates in so you're not stripping the ink off every time.

Yes, another one who has kept O level certificates.

I kept the exam papers too (we were allowed to walk out with them back then in the 70s). DS says they are 'bloody hard!'

I'm 49, almost 50 and still have mine in their blue plastic folder.

Yes. I had a job offer for a very senior role and they asked for my GCSE and A level certificates from the early 2000s. I was a bit as I also have two degrees and am chartered in two professions but they weren't interested in those certificates. Policy, I suppose . . .

Yes in a folder with other certificates. Think I might have been asked once for English and maths.

@JamieNotJames lol me too.

Mine are also permanently in my Record of Achievement... at least it makes a copy of them

I've needed them for many a teaching interview/ renewing with agency.

Me! I've got my record of achievement with GCSE's, a level and my degree cert all neatly tucked in it