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AIBU?

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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:
FallingWithStyle · 27/08/2010 13:23

You so clearly just want to gloat, to find some reason why your niece's results aren't as great as she (and presumably the rest of the family) thinks they are.

AMumInScotland · 27/08/2010 13:23

Erm, well I'm 43 and did them when I was 15, so I guess that would have made them 1982? Sounds about right...

sickoftheholidays · 27/08/2010 13:23

YABU. I got 10 grade A's at GCSE, and did absolutely sod all work. My idea of revision was sat on my arse in my room reading horse magazines folded inside of my "revise GCSE " text book thing.
I did the same at A level and did well there too. that was 20 years ago, and that was well before the exams "got easier"

You just have to accept that some folk are jammy bstards and can waltz through exams with no problems at all. Doesnt mean exams are easier, just means they are jammy bstards.

nancydrewrocked · 27/08/2010 13:25

Again don't want to boast but I did my GCSE's 17 years ago and got all A's without having to do any revision - and to be fair not much work throughout the year either.

And that certainly wasn't because I am a genius they just weren't that hard in 1993 either.

nancydrewrocked · 27/08/2010 13:25

Again not boasting either but I did my GCSE's 17 years ago and got all A's without having to do any revision - and to be fair not much work throughout the year either.

And that certainly wasn't because I am a genius they just weren't that hard in 1993 either.

comtessa · 27/08/2010 13:26

In fact it's true that some, at least, are less demanding than they used to be.

When I wanted to study French as a minor subject at University in 2007 (mature student) I was told that as I had taken my French GCSE in 1997, I would have covered a lot more grammar and speaking practise than if I'd taken it after a certain date.

TheFallenMadonna · 27/08/2010 13:27

Sorry, may I just make it clear that I am boasting?Wink

morganlebuffay · 27/08/2010 13:27

They're not supposed to be as hard as O-Levels afaik, weren't they supposed to be a compromise between O-Levels and CSEs?

BigBadMummy · 27/08/2010 13:28

good for her. She is obviously one of those kids that absorbs it and can regurgitate it when needed.

DD1 worked her arse off, could not have done any more revision and the highest she got was a B.

belgo · 27/08/2010 13:29

morgan - grades ABC are supposed to be equivalent of an O-level.

I don't know if exams are getting easier but they are getting easier to pass because the internet making studying easier.

morganlebuffay · 27/08/2010 13:29

Or maybe not, this table on wikipedia says that GCSE grades are suppoewd to line up with O-Level grades

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Certificate_of_Secondary_Education#History_and_format

morganlebuffay · 27/08/2010 13:29

x post belgo Smile

TigerFeet · 27/08/2010 13:30

I think GCSE's they are easier to pass not just because of the curriculum, but because they are far more modular now and a lot of the work is completed before the exams. You don't need to have the entire subject at the front of your brain for one or two exams at the end of two years.

I did bog all work for my GCSE's and got excellent marks. No A*'s in my day though.

A Levels otoh came as a very nasty shock and I was lucky to pass. I got an E in Maths, having gained an A at GCSE. I didn't know how to knuckle down and work hard as I had never had to before.

Original poster
Noellefielding · 27/08/2010 13:32

I think you're right Morganlebuffay.
Delighted for her, just interested in the difficulty issue!

OP posts:
Original poster
Noellefielding · 27/08/2010 13:33

The difference I'm interested in is that between O level and gcse.

OP posts:
creampie · 27/08/2010 13:36

Yes, exams are slightly easier now (I used to work as a tutor), and the massive coursework element means you can still do reasonably well without even turning up for the exam if you worked hard the rest of the year (I got a B for one of my papers without writing a single word in the exam, and this was 15 years ago!).

The pass rate improves year after year. Do you really think kids are getting smarter? Last week I found my friend's boy trying to get toast out of the toaster with a knife while the thing was still plugged in. No, they are not!

DinahRod · 27/08/2010 13:39

Also since Easter, maybe before, classes at school would be in revision mode.

Kaloki · 27/08/2010 13:41

ronansmummy Most likely. I know that I never "swotted", as far as I was concerned if it wasn't in my head already, cramming wouldn't help. And I was pretty much a straight A student. I used to nap before exams while everyone else panicked.

BecauseImWorthIt · 27/08/2010 13:41

As somebody who is about to sit a GCSE in Mandarin this year, I can tell you they don't seem easy from here.

loopyloops · 27/08/2010 13:42

Ugh, not this again....

Exams's aren't getting easier, but teaching is getting better and children are more focused towards the curriculum for the exams.

I'm another who did sod all in GCSE revision and got similar grades. I find exams easy. However, I didn't do so well with the subject that had lots of coursework, too drawn out a process for me.

Just be happy for her. A Levels may well be a different matter.

Mahraih · 27/08/2010 13:42

Some people just don't have to revise. And TBH some people love exams.

I did GCSE's in ... argh ... 2004. And some people found them extremely difficult while some people (who seemed to think in a way that lent itself well towards exams) coasted through. All of us were at a grammar and bright, it just seemed to be a difference in HOW you thought.

I'm lucky, I thought in a way that got A* grades, and people who were more intelligent than me in lessons did worst in exams. Plus, I revise by cramming so tend to do about 10% of the revision of everyone else, retain it for a day, then forget it. Perhaps your neice is doing that?

As for exams getting easier? Couldn't comment. But having read some mark-schemes ... you certainly don't need any original thought to get a good grade.

loopyloops · 27/08/2010 13:43

Rogue 's, not sure what happened there, obviously I mean exams. Blush

Original poster
Noellefielding · 27/08/2010 13:46

as I suspected creampie.

OP posts:
nickschic · 27/08/2010 13:48

I think it depends what the results were in- a lot of the A*s that friends of my ds seem to have got come from childcare/catering etc etc whilst not disputing the work thats gone into these subjects, many of them got a G or even a U in the core subjects such as English,Maths and science-you have to look at what the results were actually for.

I know of a boy who got 9 A-Cs and can barely read and hardly attends school Hmm.

Im not belittling anyone. my eldest ds got 6A-C in the core subjects (subjects where you get 1 gcse for 1 subject).

knickers0nmyhead · 27/08/2010 13:52

Eastenders.

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