to think that GCSEs started in 83 ?

[cumfy]

The Beeb and wikipedia think they started in 88.

I've clearly been going round with the misapprehension that 82 was the last full year to do O-levels.

Another who did O levels in 1986.

I was part of the first year of GCSE's in 88. i feel soooo old

I also did O Levels in 86 along with a pilot GCSE for physics. My brother is 4 years younger than me so I guess he must have done GCSE's but I'd never realised that before now .

fivegomad if you'd had a brother you'd be me you didn't go to Blandford Upper did you?

No. They did start in 88. I did mine in 89 and we were constantly being told we were the second year to do them.

1987 was the last year of o'levels,1988 was the first year of GCSEs all those that did them had less than one year to get through the new coursework requirements.

I did 16+ plus O'levels in some subjects in '86. We were told it was the pilot for new exams coming through and got two grades, but schools/unis were only interested in the O'level grades.

I did my O Levels in 1987 and was the last year to do them.

Poor old DB was in the guinea pig year for GCSEs.

I did gcses in 88, the maths paper was a laugh

We did 'o' level and cse and got GCSE grades and certificates alongside them in '86 obviously some pilot thing on grading

I did some exams in 87 and some in 88. I have some O levels and some GCSEs.

"I was part of the first year of GCSE's in 88. i feel soooo old"

Boll*s. I did my O levels in 1975

GSCE in 1989, second year to do them after the national rollout. Husband was first year in 1988, bloody ridiculous. They didn't have the syllabus or the curriculum and kept changing the goalposts throughout the year.

At least when I sat them there was such an impetus to prove them worthwhile that turning up and writing your name got a pass, writing something coherent gave a good pass and getting the answer right got an A.

I think it is very telling that they are now admitting that O levels were harder than GCSEs. That's probably why old gimmers like me regard 10 A* passes at GCSE (portrayed in the media as the norm) with a lot of scepticism.

I sat two 16+ exams (precursor of GCSE as others have said) in 1978!
Our mock exams were provided by the board as a practice run for them as well as us.

[Old fart emoticon]

dh did O Levels in 1987, I did GCSEs in 1988. We were the first year to do them, had no past papers etc, just samples from the exam boards. We also still used O Level text books as our school hadn't got the GCSE ones yet.

ProfYaffle what's changed? DS just did GCSEs some of them new syllabuses, only sample past papers, few text books, and anyway they change again next year....and the year after....and the year after.

Before GCSE the Goverment left qualifications alone. Although I remember reading a syllabus in the old days 1/2 page A5, compared to the books produced nowadays.

I did GCSE exams in '88 too. Again, first lot to do them.

The last year of 'O' level was 1987. My sister did a combination of O Levels
and GCSES. She said that the GCSES were much easier.
The previous years had studied British politics from 1900 for Histort O Level. My dsis said that she studied the American West for GCSE History and she said that the paper was a joke.
I don't care what anyone says, the GCSE exam is a bloody joke.

Does anyone remember all the teacher strikes in protest at the gcse's and the ever changing syllabus?
I can remember some days only having a 35 minute lesson at school, as the teacher of that subject must have been in a different union.

Have to remember though, GCSEs didn't just replace O Levels, they replaced CSEs as well, which would explain why some of the questions would be easier than O Level ones.

There were as far as I can remember, and I would like to think that there still are, questions in there as are just as challenging as any O Level problems. An A* - C GCSE grade is supposed to be the equivalent of what would have been an O Level pass and below C a CSE pass.

Forehead - what should be the purpose of the GCSE exams? The 'O' level was for (at most) 25% of the cohort. The GCSE has to cater for 95% (allowing for those who do Entry Level, or no exams due to SEN).
Of course the foundation tier exams are easier than 'O' levels! They are intended for students who would (broadly) never have been entered for 'O' level in the first place.
The higher tier are different to the old exams, they try to assess skills as well as knowledge - as do the controlled assessments.

I am sure that they are not perfect, but the constant comparing back to 'O' level is ridiculous.

We shouldn't be asking if they are easier than 'O' level - we should be deciding what is the purpose of the GCSE, and then make sure that they fulfill that purpose. This may indeed need changes - but not to change them back into 'O' levels that leave 75% of the population with nothing.

First year GCSEs here in 1988. Big fuss made. Load of bollocks really :o

DOes anyone remember sittung there in 88 having to count a page of fruit flies in the biology paper? I will never forget sitting there thinking what a fecking waste if time