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

Yes, I think I would scrape passes. Although History with the dates and casualty numbers/place names, etc would likely be the hardest as you don't tend to repeat those often in real life. Only in sit down exams though, I'd do a day of full tests and be quite interested in the results. I'm assuming you mean exams not starting a 2 year set of GCSE's. Although actually, I wouldn't say no if they were free, but I'd rather do an MA.

I used to remember so much of my GCSE's up until about 37-40 when the details started to slip. I was always surprised meeting old school friends who couldn't remember teacher names let alone anything we learnt! Likewise, I ended up in France with people from the "top set" in French who suddenly went mute and left all the talking and translating to me.

A relative of mine is now retired but used to teach a subject at secondary school, both at GCSE and A-level. He's often said that the GCSE in no way prepares pupils for the massive jump to the A-level syllabus.

I don't think I would get my O levels again because the curriculum has changed so much from nearly 40 years ago. I have to say I am very impressed with my nieces science curriculum in year 10 though.

GCSEs originally passed in 1990. I'd pass maths because I use it quite a lot in my job. I'd pass English, assuming I had the chance to read any books that might be on the curriculum that I haven't read. I could probably pass French and German but I wouldn't get the As I originally got. History, it would depend what periods of history are now on the curriculum - anything I'm interested in or studied originally, I'd pass. I'd pass Art; still dabble in painting and drawing and I'm no more inept than I was aged 15 😃. Physics and Chemistry I'd fail because I swotted up like mad to pass them, heaved a sigh of relief when I did, and never thought about them again.

I'm 69 so obviously I'd need a substantial amount of revision but otherwise I'd say yes. They were all final exams, no course work back then. My A level in History was particularly challenging, nothing I've seen recently compares to the difficulty of that.

I actually think one of the most difficult things would be to write the amount expected in the time allowed. Not written a significant amount for years.

Erm, probably not! A trusted teacher described me very aptly as being, "Very bright, but not very good at exams!" and I get stressed when I'm being tested for anything. This is still the case!

I think I’d probably do better if I had time to revise. In our day only the really brainy people got all As or As and Bs and they were all final exams only.

Same with degrees. It used to be hardly anyone got firsts whereas now loads do. So now people end up doing masters to stand out.

If I could revise I recon I could. Although probably not Music because I haven't played the instrument since 1998. With no revision I think I'd be ok with French, German and English Lang.

Not if I literally went and sat them this weekend because I haven’t studied the topics for 25 years. If I did some revision then I think I could.

I did O Levels in 1983, 9 O Levels and 1 CSE (allegedly a CSE grade 1 was equivalent to a grade C at O Level). I got CSE grade 1 maths and I would need significant help to pass GCSE now. I’d struggle with Chemistry and Biology, better at Physics. I’d be fine with English Lit if I could re-read Chaucer’s Pardoner’s Tale, 12th Night and Orwell’s 1984. I’d be OK with French, English Language, History and Art. Back in O Levels days only A-C was a pass and I don’t think I’d do as well over all. My work ethic is better but my memory isn’t.

If GCSEs now are easier than GCSEs/O-Levels back in the day, why are primary schools so intent on cramming so much more in and at a much earlier age?

My DD is only in year 5, but across the board, she is doing things I did at secondary school. Having to know all times tables by the end of year 4 (was year 6 for us); the ridiculous spellings of words that I don't even use in my adult life; subordinate clauses, proper, common, collective and abstract nouns (we fell in the gap where these weren't even taught at all!); similes and metaphors (pretty sure that was year 8); oxbow lakes (again year 8)... I could go on and on.

What exactly is the benefit? I, like many of my cohort, passed the 11+, did well in GCSEs and A-levels and got a 2.1 in a STEM subject at a RG uni.

It's just ridiculous the amount of pressure put on children nowadays.

Same. I think I'd pass subjects I didn't even do at school due to the revision I did with my child!

I reckon I could pass them with at least a 5 but I’d likely get worse grades. Also things like English literature would depend if I’d read the books that are now on the syllabus.if it was literally a case of redoing the exams I did in 1990 I reckon I’d be ok.

Not a snowball's chance in hell.

I was in all the top sets but after 30 years my sons year 8 maths homework looks like gobbledegook to me. So no 😂

No and I’m a teacher! But that’s the problem with exams - you retain learned detail for a short period of time, then forget lots of it unless you use it regularly.

I think if I revised first I would do better now as I know how to study and write much better than I did at 16. Since my O levels, I have done A levels, degree and PGCE though so you would hope so really.

I passed all DS exams. Have no reason to think I wouldn't pass my own.

Having to know all times tables by the end of year 4 (was year 6 for us)

Year 6 seems very late. We definitely started doing times tables in infant school and were expected to know them all by the end of year 3. Actually we must have done, because we did long multiplication and long division in Y3 so would have needed times tables for those.

This was before the national curriculum though, so perhaps it was just what my school prioritised.

yes, on most of them because I did mainly humanities type subjects which you can probably talk around if you have good enough general knowledge. I might not get as good marks as I got then, particularly in maths and science, although in languages I'd probably do as well/even better because I went on to do one at A level and learn the other to fluency level as an adult.

I turned up to one of my exams having got confused with the timetable and revised for the wrong one, and still got an A* in that paper so I'd have to have forgotten a lot to not scrape a C (or a 5/6 or whatever a pass is now).

I'm not convinced that being able to 'talk around' with 'good general knowledge' would be specific enough to meet modern mark schemes.

Things like 'to what extent did the Treaty of Versailles lead to Hitler's rise to power' or 'Divorce should be freely available in all cases, do you agree, remember to include beliefs from at least 2 major religions' do need a certain level of accurate facts.

(Though perhaps your general knowledge in these areas is better than mine).

I did early GCSE’s where a lot were all coursework. I’d do loads better in the exam only versions. Would need to revise though.

No chance. I did really well first time. I think the mark schemes are so specific and I cant remember the content.

I"d probably get english language still, which was a lower grade for me.

Yes

Nope.

My brain seems to delete things the moment they are not of any use in my daily life.

So about 80% of the things I learnt to pass the gcses have disappeared into the ether.

I got an A* in French. Now I know how to say hello and that is it. Maths and basic reading comorehension is pretty much the only things I've used/needed