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.

My results don't reflect the way I was schooled.

When I went to pick up my results the teacher was so stunned she passed them over with her mouth hanging open.

I was the second person at my school to ever go to university...

I went to a grammar school, failed most of my exams and now work in a field where you need a degree however I am there on experience alone and am well respected for my work ethic

I tried uni it wasn't for me but may do a degree for 'fun' when I retire

I don't believe that some exams I took when I was 15 when I had a chest infection, conjunctivitis and depression are a true reflection of my abilities. My GCSE grades were average, which I was very disappointed by not that I'm at all still bitter that I got a C in music when I always got As. I'm good at music, dammit!

I got very good A Level results but I don't know if they're a good predictor of workplace success either seeing as some people would call them "soft subjects." I know a lot about ethics, Plato and Emile Durkheim which is useful for dinner parties perhaps or debating on internet forums but not so useful in the real world. I think they just indicate that I really like writing and am a bit of a nerd. Although one of my A Level choices was regarded as an ideal one for the course I'm currently on (a vocational one that leads to a career) and ethics is definitely relevant but the rest not so much day to day. I needed a certain number of UCAS points to get on the course, which was lower than I got, but I don't think anyone will care about my A Levels or my GCSES bar the usual standards of English, Maths and Science once I've qualified. What really matters is your practical ability, your experience and your knowledge and being book smart doesn't always necessarily help with that.

Yes, mine are pretty typical. My AS levels a bit less so, and my degree result less so too. I'm a baby academic.

However, I've noticed on MN that people tend to over-estimate what's typical, so they're a bit less good than what you might think. I've also noticed that people tend to assume that the better your grades, the more suited you are to academia, and it's not really true IME - most people have good, but not 'OMG front page of the Mail on Results Day' type of grades.

(Oh, and mine very obviously reflect the way I was schooled, with the possible exception of my C at AS Maths which reflects the fact I fucked up. )

I got good GCSE s 12 A and Bs and then completely screwed up my A' levels. DD U. went through clearing to uni got a 2:1 then got a MA and an MBA. so no I don't think they are. for me my A levels made me focus. I have more professional qualifications than you can shake a stick at.

I got fab GCSE results all A*-B (fab for me at least!) but then C-U a/AS Levels because I spent 6th form having a lot of fun and had a place at music college so didn't bother with my exams haha :-s

Did my A Levels I'm 2008.

I'm now a baker, so no, no bearing on my career. Had I known I'd wanted to be a baker back in school I would have done DT Food and Business Studies for sure. And I still wouldn't have gone to uni. Best decision I ever made not to go to uni!

Ha sorry for the typos - should have tried harder at school

Mine dont. I moved to the other end of the country at the end of year 10. The curriculum was totally different and I only got 7GCSEs at B and C +2 at D.
This was in the 90s though so I guess they would be As &Bs now with the A* grade.
That makes me feel a little better about them.

Absolutely not I do account for a living.

Have zero highers and very sketchy standard grades. Have just been accepted to university to do an accounting and finance degree too

Is it really true that in the 90s compared to now, we would have higher grades?
I got all A's and b' s and A's at a level.

I failed all my gcse's and didn't sit a levels. I got a mediocre degree and then a post grad qualification which I did really well in. My career is going strength to strength and I'm loving it and can do it well - but no thanks to my schooling.

I got all A-C grades. My secondary school was the worst in the borough, and only 20% of people got five or more GCSEs in my year. I could have done better with a better education I think. I really enjoy taking exams! I work best under pressure. My coursework was shocking, because I am quite lazy and never did any work till the last minute.

I think it does reflect me quite well. I am very good at my job, but then we have strict deadlines and I enjoy working to these.

Finding this thread intensely reassuring in light of all the belief often expressed on mumsnet that children need private schooling and shed loads of A*s to have any sort of worthwhile career.

No way. I went to a poor school and was never encouraged or anything really. I really wanted to achieve things but had no guidance or clue how to go about it.

I got quite average GCSEs (I think, 2as, 3bs, a c, 2 Ds and 2 es- this was 18 years ago so not really comparable with today) and a-levels again I struggled with lack of encouragement and decent teaching and taught myself economics (got a D- get in!) and a B&c I think. I can't really remember.

Anyway I am a senior account at bod, did very well in my professional quals and am v good at my job. From the girl who got aD in GCSE Maths so therefore her life was supposed to be over

However, I want my DC education to be very different so they have the opportunities I didn't

Christ no!

Managed 7 out of 12 GCSEs because I just didn't apply myself, achieved distinction in music at my music college but a D in English language A-level because I was too busy rushing through it so I could get the train up to a heavy metal music festival in Milton Keynes! I wanted to be a singer, was a budding singer/songwriter and heavily into the music scene.

What do I do now? Chartered secretarial and mutual fund administration work in an offshore law firm. My musical talent and educational results in school has had no bearing on what I do now.

I use the logical side of my brain far more than the creative side now (aside from writing) and have exceptional organisational skills (read: am anally retentive) and acute attention to detail which makes me good at my job.

I plan on undertaking a professional qualification far more suited to what I'm doing now though, just to prove to myself that I can!

I've got 11 o'levels and 4 A'levels, all good grades a/b. I can honestly say, hand on heart, they have had very little meaning or effect on my life.

I never went to university, my dad was a bully and I put me off studying for life. I did the bare minimum and like other people on here I was just good at exams. I went to a bog standard London comprehensive at 14 after wasting three years at a hideous girls school where bullying was rife and I did bugger all. However, I did attend a very good primary in Edinburgh and I think that gave me an excellent base to work from.

I've got a good job in the media, also have my own company, have travelled and worked abroad, had great adventures and thoroughly enjoyed my career. Not ONCE have I been asked about my qualifications after the very first BBC interview I had donkey's years ago...and even then I sneaked in through the back door: I got myself a dull clerical job and then badgered my personnel officer relentlessly to get me onto production courses. I knew what I wanted to do and was focused like an arrow....

I've worked bloody hard, way harder than I ever did at school and I love thinking back to the career advisor who told me I was unlikely to be successful in the line of work I had chosen. He was a prejudiced arse who belittled us comp educated, council estate kids. He pretty much told all the girls to be hairdressers or secretaries, and the boys to be plumbers and builders. I'm still friendly with tons of my school mates and so, so many of them went on and did really well and hardly any followed the conventional degree route. My richest school friend left school with two CSE's! He's really bloody successful.

I'll try to remember all this when my kids are ready to take their exams...

Mine are reflective of me as a teenager. I got on with things and did what I needed to do without ever really understanding why, or what I was aiming for. My teachers weren't really interested and my DPs were inexperienced in education so didn't know how to challenge me: my dad wasn't academic and left school early with no qualifications; my mum could, I'm sure, have succeeded with parents who gave a shit and if she hadn't been shunted off to secondary modern, aged 11.

I was reasonably able but was never pushed. My results were fine but bit outstanding, I got a 2:1 and have ended up becoming a teacher.

If I could have my time again I would ignore my sarsastic and dismissive chemistry teacher and pursue my interest in becoming a physiotherapist. I thought I was crap at science. Turned out when I did an elective in chemistry at university that I was't at all.

My GCSE's were okay (A*, 2 x A's, 5 x B's, 2 x C's and 2 x D's which were in French and ICT). My A levels shocking (D, D, E) as I went through my rebelious teenage stage until 2 weeks before my final exam. I was gutted with my A level results as I thought it wouldn't be enough to take up my place at university. But obviously the 45 minute 'chat' with a local head teacher to be offered a place on a teacher training course was eough to secure my place. I gained a 2:2 degree after 3 years.
I have now been teaching 14 years and my lessons are consistently graded as 'good' with some 'outstanding'. I think exam results 'can' reflect how well you can perform and suitability in the workplace, but they are not the 'bee-all-and-end-all'. Afterall, my performance at aged 14-18 does not really tell people how suited I am in the workplace at age 35! I loook back on my A levels and wish that I wasn't 'bullied' into taking courses that I knew weren't suited to me or just knuckled down and tried harder, but it certainly hasn't affected my career prospects.
My DH's GCSE's and A levels were much worse - included a couple of fails! He didn't do well enough to go straight to an undergraduate degree course so he began his career route through a BTEC and secured a place on a degree course. He has worked for a number of national and international companies in his field (engineering) and has travelled far and wide arould the world in hs line of work. Nowadays, he is settled in a very well paid job, has career prosects and he is currently studying for his PhD whilst working full time.
A perfect example of why grades don't really matter as much as what they used to.

No not at all.

My results were not good. I had problems at home. Luckily nobody cares about them now that I have a postgrad degree.

Mine don't reflect anything about the career I had at all. Not even remotely. I did manage to do a degree but got fed up half way though (I did complete but it was hell) I then totally changed direction and ended up with a masters I did well in for me (I worked really really hard because I loved the subject). I then did two professional qualifications post masters level and got a managerial job.

I was invited back to my school to do a presentation on how well I had done. Which was fine, until one of the teachers asked how hard i worked at school and what grades I had got (did badly!) they no longer invite people to talk to GCSE year without checking what GCSEs they got. Personally I would have found it really really helpful to have heard from someone who did badly but made something of themselves.

Of the other hand my cousin (same age) got all As at both levels, failed university and never got a job (he died a few years ago).

I did get turned down for a job after getting my qualifications because I didn't have a C or above in maths GCSE. Which I found really odd to be honest.

My GCSE and A Level results are definitely not a reflection of my academic ability or my skills in the workplace. My GCSEs are average or just below, my A Level results are very below average. I struggled at school and college, I had trouble processing the information and getting it down on the page, nothing was ever done about my issues and my lack of maths skills were put down to me being distracted. My maths is still an issue now, in my 30s I'm realising that seeing numbers backwards and not being able to add numbers together accurately is actually a form of dyscalculia which I know I have.

I'm far more intelligent than my qualifications would lead people to believe, my work is very specialised and directly related to one of my qualifications which is fairly low. Just because I can't perform well in exams does not mean that I'm not intelligent and great at my job. However, my results did me no favours in getting me on the courses I required to fulfil my chosen career, so that is something to think about.