to be a bit sick of people on here going on about how much harder GCSE's/O levels were in their day...blah blah blah...

[purplefish]

Some of us are very proud of our DC and know how hard they have worked to get the grades they got.

How come primary school outcomes have not improved over the last decade,yet secondary school results have been going up and up and up.Something doesn't add up in the 'kids are getting smarter' or 'teaching is getting better' arguments

I think, slacksally, that what you linked to was a comparatively new O level, ie, not one being sat in the seventies or late sixties, which were notably harder. I took my O levels in 1980 and was told that they were less hard than they had been.

The other point is that there were no modules. It was sudden death: you performed on the day For a solid week or two. Sitting an odd module here and there is NOT as hard.

Apologies if this has been already posted but there is some evidence that directly addresses this issue.

It can be read here.