To ask if your GCSE and A level results are a good reflection

[minifingers]

...of your talents and ability and your suitability for your adult job.

I'm asking because I've been reflecting on the feeling I sometimes detect here that GCSE and A level grades are more than just a reflection of the way you were schooled - that they are indicative of your performance in the workplace and your suitability for work.

I was also reflecting along these lines after listening to a media employer on Radio 4 talking about how they have decided to place less importance on educational qualifications in their selection practices because doing this results in them identifying more journalists with real talent from a more interesting range of backgrounds.

Well obviously I would say that my spectacular results are a reflection of how fantastic I am at work

But no, I think it's more the sign that I had a good education and was fortunate to have a group of friends that placed importance on studying.

DP went to a shocking school, barely scraped GCSEs, got some rather badly chosen A-level results at a slightly better college and went to a non red brick uni but has done very well in the world of work.

If you were hiring on the basis of CV alone he would normally get overlooked and that would be a shame.

My O/A levels are not really a reflection of my talent as I underperformed at both (and my degree too). They did reflect my work ethic at the time though . I only really knuckled down and worked hard academically when I took my masters. I'm now doing very well in a fairly specialist field utterly unrelated to any of my academic qualifications so no I'd not say that they have very much to do with my job. But then that's most likely to do with the fact that I'm old enough that my employment prospects are based on my past performance in other jobs rather than my long passed school or university studies.

When I first looked for work I think that my relatively poor grades were a barrier, and looking back I wish I had realised that spending more time studying and especially revising was in my own interest, as opposed to a boring thing that other people did...

I did fairly well at GCSEs - 8 ranging from A* to D with the higher grades in Maths English and science.

I failed my A Levels because I simply didn't go to college in yr 2. Having come from a girls school and discovering boys and the pub I had a lovely time.

I managed to get a job before I'd even taken my exams to start before my results were due on the basis of my GCSEs and the AS levels.

I now work in finance, have done since then and have worked my way through the company so I am now No.2 under company owner. Have had to do multiple qualifications along the way, which I have worked hard at and achieved high marks.

For the last 10 years I simply omitted the A levels from my CV to avoid awkward questions.

I have brilliant results, mostly As. They reflect my photographic memory and ability to sit exams. If they reflected my level of dedication and hard work I'd have got fuck all. In fact I did do 1 coursework based course which was a trial before GCSEs came in. I failed it.

nooka
My O/A levels are not really a reflection of my talent as I underperformed at both (and my degree too). They did reflect my work ethic at the time though

THis!

I would also say they are a reflection of the school I went to as my very average grades were regarded as being brilliant. The school was in a very deprived area and I can tell you that in my GCSE year, I was the only person from a full intake (so 6 forms) who achieved 9 GCSEs A-C. There were a handful of us who got 5 in total and there were 6 of us out of the whole year group who got a C or above in maths. Not going to out myself, but early 90s, inner city if anyone really wants to check the veracity...

Anyway, whether they are a reflection of my suitablility for my adult job...not really! I was having a conversation with my husband recently and we laughed at just how unsuited I was on paper for my job.

I have straight As from the dark ages days before A* came in. But I'm shy, disorganised, prone to depression and really a bit crap at earning large sums on that account.

Ever so good at crosswords though

I did very well in my Standard Grades considering I never picked up a scrap of revision material but I then coasted during the first year of my Highers and my marks reflected the effort. I took 5 subjects, bombed 2 (didn't even get a grade, my certificate says "no award") and got AAB in the others (Hospitality, English and French, things I was naturally good at). I then made no effort at all in my final year, left after three months and went straight into working in the financial services, meaning that I'd left school without enough Highers to go to university even if I wanted to later.

Fast forward seven years and I'm now in a good job working in higher education where my manager values me and the Faculty are paying for me to do an HNC in admin and IT, with a view to paying for a business degree. I know that I'm capable of far more than my grades show but I'm 100% certain that if I'd gone to uni at 18, I'd have pissed the opportunity up the wall. I'm almost glad it worked out this way.

No way.

DD1 failed her AS dismally, D D E U. We then moved up here, she went to the 6th form at a local grammar, going back a year. Two years later, she stormed them, having got an unconditional offer at AS from the Uni of her choice (top 10 Uni)

The difference? Committed teachers, lessons actually taking place, having text books. In other words, a good school.

Nope, they were a reflection of my crap family life.

Thankfully, I've done much better since leaving university and doing further training.

I got 9 good enough grades at O Level, without putting effort into it, skipping classes, no homework, no revision.

I failed awfully at A Level, I got art in the first year only because I could draw easily. The other classes I didn't turn up to and didn't hand in homework. They wanted to throw me out after the first year but my mum begged them and I did hand in a few grade A bits of work. I still didn't keep it up! Took one look at the exam papers and realised I couldn't answer a single question and got U's.

I did work part time in a supermarket at the time and worked very hard there!

After failing my A Levels I travelled and worked abroad, always put in loads of effort and interested in what tasks I did. returned to the UK after a few years and started in a department at a supermarket, a few months later they were talking to me about management and university schemes, where you work and study at the same time.

instead I went to uni as an adult student, mid 20's, and did fine with minimal effort. Don't know what's wrong with me, I've always read text books for fun, except the ones I'm meant to do. Anyway I had lots of fun and a part time job, that I worked hard at. I spent a few months employing some friends for a bit of work for a company. I temped in the holidays and was always sent back to the same company, who then offered me a job when graduating. I had my talents, worked hard and had a good attitude.

Quickly moved up the pay scales and did really well on technical courses. Then gave up work for a decade but have found it easy to get back into work and have just been offered a very nice contract rate. Better than many old friends who did well at school and university.

So no

My home life was good, I had motivated friends, everyone around me was well educated, good schools, no shortage of money, amazing environment and holidays. I was a very lucky individual. Everything was perfect but for some reason formal education and me has never mixed well.

Probably show my academic ability in its true light..... 4 GCSE D grades from 1990.....

Hah mine are better than my actual suitability- all As at GCSE and AAAB at A-level in history, English lit, politics and biology. I'm not particularly intelligent but attended a v.good private school (co-ed). It was very competitive and we were all expected to go to a top 10 university. Out of an upper sixth of 60 people 15 went to Oxbridge (not me, I was Leeds). My parents were pushy too. I was quite privileged in my school and home educational environment. It didn't really pay off though, I'm a PA and my parents pay my DDs school fees. Absolutely no indication of suitability as an adult. Once out of my school environment I wasn't as motivated and never have been at work.

I did spectacularly well as both GCSE and A Level. Unfortunately, I lacked confidence and focus and have never managed to get a proper career off the ground.

Disagree. All they do is test you ability to retain a certain amount of information on one topic.

I have a neat set of As/A*s at GCSE and A level, followed by a first class science degree from a RG university. They don't really reflect my school as it was a poorly performing comp in the '90s. And it doesn't say much about my adult working life as I've not worked for 15 years due to ill health/child caring. So they don't say much about my suitability for work as I'm not keen on fitting in to a workplace and happy to remain a sahm for the time being. I suspect the gap on my CV will have a bigger impact than the grades I have, but I'm not job searching now so it doesn't bother me.

My O level grades were reflective of how poor my school was - my 8 o levels A-C were the best result in the school.

My A levels reflected the fact that one of my parents was dying of cancer at the time.

My degree was a closer reflection of my abilities and I now have a well paid professional job working alongside people who have more stellar academics than me.

Mine are a reflection of never buckling down and working hard!

Very mediocre / average. "Outstanding in their mediocrity" as my mum said regarding my GCSEs.

I now have a very good job, in a fairly trendy media type industry, because I'm great in interviews, am well-spoken, personable and can bullshit for England.

My job is very loosely related to my (2:2) degree (English Lit, at a non-red brick uni) because I do a lot of copywriting.

I'm lucky - I just happened to get a very junior job in a PR agency and rose quickly. It was all luck, and some hard work I admit. None of that hard work was applied during my studying though...

And you know what? I don't think I regret it. I have a job I LOVE, have great memories of school and uni and all has worked out

(I admit though... I never write my grades on CVs - I just list BA Hons English Literature, 3 A Levels and 10 GCSES A - C... I've never been asked what the grades are!)

My grades suggest that I'm good at writing and sums, which is indeed the case, I earn good money from my abilities at both.

Their number suggests that I'm a very hard worker which is perhaps less accurate.

Mine are a good reflection on my only ability being to be unemployed. Thankfully my degree classification is somewhat better :)

I went to a very large comp where most kids left at 16. I left in 1980 with five grade As at A level and two S levels (distinction and merit) and those grades are apparently still the school record, which is a bit of a shame so many years on, but I was a total misfit for that school. They were also, apparently, the second-top results nationally (there was a boy at Eton who got 6).

I did go to Oxford and get a first. But I didn't do a further degree because I needed to earn my living, and because people "like me" just didn't do doctorates.

If I had been 20 years younger I might have gone in for an academic career. As it is, I have a nice career, but had to compromise because of having disabled DC.

I suspect my grades do reflect the real me, if only because they were so weird for my school. But it wasn't a terrible story of struggle against the odds or anything- just I was (am) quite a fast learner and I didn't find it all that difficult. That's still true in that my job involves getting to grips with lots of new stuff and lots of information very fast and then making sense of it for other people.

So not that much has changed since the days when I sold maths homework solutions behind the bike sheds to avoid a duffing up

Based on my grades I'm a genius. In real life, my grades are a function of the fact that my main talent is cramming just enough to ace an exam, then forgetting it all immediately afterwards.

I'm suited to the job I do now but I'm in a job I could do with lower grades and fewer subjects.

Well I have 9 gcses all A* and 3 a levels at AAB. I turned down university because I ended up caring for a terminally ill relative instead. I ended up never going back to education.

I ended up working in marketing and hated it. And then restaurant management and hated that.

The only thing I've ever enjoyed being is a sahm which is what I am and hopefully forever (well stay at home person... even when dc are grown).

I think I could have got higher results than I did. Life was very stressful fir me at the time and I needed more support than I was getting.

But the results I got were actually very decent (if not top of the pile in a very academic school)

So I suppose that while they are a reasonable reflection on my ability, I don't think they reflect quite how quick to learn I can be or my skill at analysis.

I got 10A and 3 A Levels, all A. A good indicator? Not really. I was a complete mess who was suicidal over my results (I have generalised anxiety disorder) and spent far too much time worrying about studying as well as worrying about my friendships. On the outside, sure, fine, but I think it's not a good indicator as for a long term job over years, keeping on at that pace would have led to a breakdown (which happened before and culminated in me attempting suicide). It really depends on how you got there. I have no doubt that someone who achieved worse, but still good, results would have done better at some of the jobs I've had over the years, because they are better at dealing with pressure. I'm also very disorganised and I'm good at tests...but not initiative, iyswim? I did well learning stuff by rote, and that really isn't a good thing in a job which needs you to think on your feet.

No, I didn't do very well in my GCSEs, I didn't try hard enough or put in enough effort. I went on to college and did a GNVQ in health and social care and then did an advanced diploma in nursing. I went on to do a degree and now have a masters and have actually done well and moved up to a very high level in my profession. So my GCSEs do not reflect my abilities or current academic achievements at all. I was young and naive at 16 and had no idea what I wanted to do.