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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be suspicious of my niece's fab gcse results

96 replies

Noellefielding · 27/08/2010 13:04

She got 9 As (6 A*s) and 3 Bs
I mean she's very bright and all that but I was around for a whole week in the middle of her exams and she wasn't working at all. Now I don't think she has a photographic memory and of course course work is included in some subjects. But when my contemps did O levels the ones who got results like this swatted til their eyes bled almost regardless of how clever they were.

It just seems odd to do so well without much evidence of swatting. DH says exams are loads easier. I don't know what to believe. Some of her papers looked easier than I remember mine!
No offence intended at all to anyone just genuinely curious.

OP posts:
Original poster
Noellefielding · 27/08/2010 13:06

sorry, swotted? Long time since I wrote that word.

OP posts:
paisleyleaf · 27/08/2010 13:07

Good on her.
I had a friend like that - just good at everything without seeming to have to work at it.

Megatron · 27/08/2010 13:08

Ah give the girl some credit, she's probably really excited about her results, don't piss on her chips. My sister never had to study particularly hard but always got top grades, I had to work like a dog. Envy

fairydusty · 27/08/2010 13:09

i think you ae being a litlle, she might just be clever and not need to study all that much and she might have studied lots prior to the exams starting - i would just be proud of her for getting such good grades and hope that she goes on to make use of them x

happystory · 27/08/2010 13:09

Do you mean you are suspicious that she didn't get those results really or suspicious that some form of cheating went on? Doubtful with all those exams. If she's got them, she's got them...people have different ways of studying...

FerminaUrbinoDaza · 27/08/2010 13:09

YABU Biscuit

lostFeelings · 27/08/2010 13:10

I met ppl like that in my times
I was swwaeting over my books - they flicked through notes and got better marks than me

tough, I know :)
I got used to it in the end

Alibabaandthe40nappies · 27/08/2010 13:10

Why 'suspicious' though? Are you accusing her of cheating?

misdee · 27/08/2010 13:10

oh dont be mean.

i used to be able to sail through exams without an ounce of swotting. some of my friends used to study all hours and didnt get the grades i did. i wasnt exceptionally bright, but could write a damned good eassy under pressure, and found science and maths easy.

TheCrackFox · 27/08/2010 13:12

YABU

Maybe she didn't study because she is so intelligent she didn't need to.

MrsBadger · 27/08/2010 13:14

yabu

I did absolutely no work for my GCSEs, read novels while I was meant to be revising etc and did better than her.

A-levels, however, bit me right in the arse.

BitOfFun · 27/08/2010 13:14

Everybody knows exams are easier nowadays. But this will turn into a 500 post marathon of people feeling chippy, so you didn't hear me say that, ok?

Original poster
Noellefielding · 27/08/2010 13:15

Oh I'm delighted for her, absolutely delighted, I love her!

I only mean that there is a lot of talk that exams are not as hard as they were and that the grades are higher than they once were without an explanation other than that they are less rigorous.

I'm only asking because I saw people get grades like that but never without really serious work right up to the day.

I'm interested that so many people say the exams are easier and it seems like it should be something which could be known or not. As opposed to this pissing on chips thing. It's actually an important issue imo!

But very happy for her, I haven't said any of this to her, just confidentially to dh.

OP posts:
belgo · 27/08/2010 13:15

It's possible to memorize a whole of a GCSE in a couple of days and get an A or a B.

FallingWithStyle · 27/08/2010 13:15

Suspicious, how?

AMumInScotland · 27/08/2010 13:15

Without wishing to sound boastful, I got a similar set of results in my equivalent exams, and didn't do much revising during the exams themselves. I don't have a photographic memory either, but I worked hard all year, so the revision was really just a quick reminder and not the kind of "learning it all again from scratch" that some people have to do at that stage.

So, I think you're being unfair to think that her exams must have been "easy" - if she is bright and worked hard all year, then she deserves her success. Even if you didn't see the hard work because it wasn't on the one week you were watching.

TheFallenMadonna · 27/08/2010 13:15

I got all As in my O levels and I didn't work at all for a few days before them, because my parents thought I needed to relax before they started. I've always done that. When I did my OU exams I put my books away at lunchtime on the day before, and I have never done last minute swotting. It's called being prepared Wink

belgo · 27/08/2010 13:17

Agree with a muminscotland.

You don't need a photographic memory but if you've worked reasonably well over the year, and you have a good short term memory and good exam technique, then not everyone needs to work very hard.

A-levels are different though!

Original poster
Noellefielding · 27/08/2010 13:17

I think you are right Bitofun. I still wish and examiner would come on and tell us how it is. I heard some Cambridge don say something quite impressive about how much easier exams are now but I can't remember who he was.

OP posts:
FallingWithStyle · 27/08/2010 13:18

Absolutely delighted for her....stop picking her results apart then - what are you actually worried about?

RonansMummy · 27/08/2010 13:19

She didn't leave her revision to last minute cramming....that is WHY she did so well!

Original poster
Noellefielding · 27/08/2010 13:20

fair enough muminscotland when did you take your exams?
and my mother says that she hasn't swotted over the year much at all. But all you say is true.

I'd just like someone to tell me for a fact that they are just as hard or they are not. Surely it is possible to compare and draw a conclusion.

OP posts:
Kathyjelly · 27/08/2010 13:20

I think GCSE's are easier than O'levels were if the press is to be believed. Maths definitely is - I've seen the last course - but does it matter? It's all relative.

chaya5738 · 27/08/2010 13:21

You were around a week in the middle of her exams? Perhaps she had done all the work by then?

I did well at school and uni and would usually work consistently the whole year so by the time I was actually amongst the exams it was just a matter of sitting them (rather than cramming for them). It sounds like she might just have been well organised!

PfftTheMagicDragon · 27/08/2010 13:22

I got similar results to those in my GCSE's and I didn't study constantly. In fact I would say I coasted a bit Blush