Do you think you would pass all your GCSE exams if you re-sat them now?

[dogsandbudgey]

thread inspired by bumping into a school friend I haven’t seen in 20 + years who I was shock to learn went to uni and has done very well for herself, she wasn’t a stand out student by any means so I was admittedly shocked but her success. I didn’t do very well at school, had good common sense but just not particularly academic and very lazy and of course just wanted to party with my friends at the time. I’m now in a fairly wellish paid job but some times I wonder if I went all out and studied hard would I get good grades if I resat them or am I just academically inept lol

Under the current system of it being all final exams and no module tests and coursework - definitely no !

Without studying I would have no chance of doing well.

So much of the content is very specific to the courses.

I got my best marks in French, Eng Lit, Eng Lang and RE - for all of these you need very specific knowledge of set texts etc.

I work in a science related field and use maths a lot so while I may not get good marks for specific methods, working out or set experiments, I would be able to get decimal points in the right place.

Things like geography I think I have retained a lot of and general life experience would help me (again I would not know the specific case studies).

With a bit of input and revision I think I could get a very decent set of grades, better than first time round. Mostly because I concentrate and apply myself now.

I'd needed some significant revision.

Assuming same syllabus and pass marks etc: if I took them now with no revision, most I would do worse at, possibly I would do better at a few where maturity and experience could help. If I could revise, I would almost certainly do better, though the older I get the less this is true. I have often thought of it though, as didn't really try at the time and knew I could have done better but it was a different ethos back then, at least in my school.

I passed 9 GCSEs A-C grade. I would have no hope in hell passing them now, some 24 years later. You have to study, and you really can’t compare now to then!
You seem very surprised about your old pals success. A lot of the time school grades do not matter. I know of many successful people who have no school certificates! Don’t compare, keep being you!

Not a chance

Nope!

Yes, because I’ve helped my youngest revise for her GCSEs this summer. 😇 😂

French, German, English Lit and Lang, History, Science double award - yes

Maths, Business Studies, Design Technology - no

Absolutely not! I barely passed them then so with my now 46 year old brain I’ve got no chance now, I’m quite thick though!

I reckon I might manage to scrape a pass in French and English Language. Got nearly all A*/A first time round.

but with a couple of months of dedicated revision I think I’ve got a chance of passing a few more. I doubt that would include science and maths though.

No, I made a point of forgetting everything I knew as soon as I came out of the exams. Got top grades but totally ignorant now

I did O'levels. The difference between the biology O'level coursework and exam I took and the GCSE Science my dd did about 10 years ago was staggering. No contest.

Which was harder?

Well not if I sat them tomorrow without studying, no. But if I studied for them then I don’t see why not.

I reckon I’d pass maths and science without any studying - in science I wouldn’t get the A stars I got the first time but I think I’d pass. Maths I would be disappointed with anything less than 100%, but that’s because it really is my main area of expertise.

I also did an IT GCSE which I reckon I’d do better at now than I did then.

The rest I would need to study, but I don’t see why I wouldn’t pass them all if I revised. I didn’t revise when I actually took them, just did the lessons and I got 11 As and A*s.

I could probably pass English Language, Maths and Music without revising. Perhaps English Literature, French and History. Sciences no chance and I didn’t even properly pass Art the first time around!

I’d probably do better with A levels than GCSEs.

English, English Lit, Maths (weirdly), History, Art Yes with revision.
Geography, French (I'd need to do Spanish nowadays), Biology. No.
I can't even remember what the 9th GCSE was so that's a definite no!

Not maths, I can't remember how to do equations! Would need to brush up on physics too. Everything else I think I'd be ok

Yes, I could probably pass Spanish GCSE more easily than French, despite not doing it at school.

If I knew what was on the curriculum and had time to revise then yes, definitely. None of it is difficult but the problem is remembering so much content for mainly exam only assessments. It's a really broad range to remember, in quite precise detail, over a short space of time.

In my case, it's just good ol' Duolingo! 😀

I'd get some of them, but I wouldn't manage the Latin now. I'd pass French and Russian but might struggle with the German, depending on the paper.

I'm honestly not sure about the Maths. I got an A for 'O' Grade (in Scotland) but might be lucky to scrape a C these days. Assuming the same topics were covered, History would be easy enough. English* would be easy.

*In Scotland, we don't have separate qualifications for English Lang and Lit.

Right now with no revision? Not a hope.

I can probably remember under half the dates and very few of the names for history; couldn't tell you if the lead up to WWII was Ruhr then Rhineland or the other way round. I've not touched a quadratic equation in decades. I can remember the general idea of Boyle's law, Hooks Law etc but not all the formulae I'd need for physics. Biology I know far more now - but might know too much to pass (I lost marks on my mocks for going beyond what we were supposed to know). Can't even remember what texts I did for Eng Lit, never mind the detail and quotes I'd need. French is still functional, but decidedly rusty around the grammar.

If I had 2 years to redo all the courses, without the distractions of adult life? Then yes, no problem (even with normal adulting to fit it around I expect I'd do OK). I'd have a head start on the syllabus, having done it before, I have better study skills and more background knowledge.

What? That's crazy all exams