Was there a big difference in academic standard between O-Levels and CSEs?

[Warburtons2]

I did GCSEs just for the record but I’m interested to know people’s reflections on this and how were people selected to do the exams?

Sorry didn’t mean to enable voting!!

Yes - it's like a higher/lower tier paper

The highest grade CSE (1) was the equivalent of an O level pass grade (C)

I think all CSE grades 1-5 were passes, O levels it was A-C as passes, but there were also D, E and U

At least some CSEs had coursework, but O levels were terminal exam (except for practical subjects like Art)

Ah thank you - the only thing I did know was the CSE grade 1 = O Level ‘C’ thing

In my school we had streams, top, middle and bottom. Top stream were destined for O levels automatically, middle could be put in for some O levels if their academic record was good enough but were automatically in for CSEs too and bottom stream were only considered for CSEs.

CSE grade 1 was equivalent to C at O level.

Once you went into 4th year (as was, now y9) you went into the O level or CSE class as appropriate.

Quite a few borderline cases at my school did cse and o level. About 50% got cse grade 1 but a d at o level

Ah great - thanks - these responses have clarified a lot for me!

@RancidOldHag

Yes - it's like a higher/lower tier paper

The highest grade CSE (1) was the equivalent of an O level pass grade (C)

I think all CSE grades 1-5 were passes, O levels it was A-C as passes, but there were also D, E and U

At least some CSEs had coursework, but O levels were terminal exam (except for practical subjects like Art)

Previously to that O levels were graded 1-9, grades 1-6 being a pass.

@HidingFromDD

Quite a few borderline cases at my school did cse and o level. About 50% got cse grade 1 but a d at o level

I did physics CSE and O level, and failed the O level with a D, but achieved a grade 1 in the CSE

You couldn't do this for most subjects because the exams were on the same day, but the physics exams were on different days (this was 1975).

The year below me we’re the final O level / CSE year I believe, or maybe the one after that. During the first three years of school we were split into one of six classes based upon academic ability, people could move up or down at the end of each year. From fourth year the classes would start to be merged as we had chosen options, although for most non compulsory subjects there would still be at least two bandings. The higher band did O levels and the lower band did CSEs.

I remember school only wanted to put my sister in the CSE class for maths, my mother was not happy about this and wanted her to sit an O level. She had to pay for this as school wouldn’t allow it (my sister passed).

In the very olden days when I took my O levels, Grade 1 was the highest, with 1-6 passes and 7-9 fails, so quite a range of possibilities.

I went to a very academic school and you could have a crack at maths CSE if you had already failed the O level twice. Otherwise, CSEs were never to be mentioned.

Previously to that O levels were graded 1-9, grades 1-6 being a pass

Yes, my elder siblings were on that system, and 1/2 became an A, 3/4 a B, 5/6 a C

I did a mixture of O Levels and 16 + exams (they were the forerunner to GCSEs) and with those you either got an O Level or CSE grade. So there was just the one exam.

I took O levels. Grades A-C were a pass. CSE’s we’re easier and in all honesty worthless unless you got a Grade 1 which was equivalent to a C grade O level. I also have two O/A levels which I think must be equivalent to a current A S .

I was in the last year to take ‘O’ levels, at a comprehensive. For several subjects we were streamed by ability into four sets for what’s now year 8 onwards - top two destined for Os and lower two for CSE. It was possible to move around among these sets until the end of year 9, after which you’d be working towards your exams, so curricula varied.

Some subjects must have had the same exam because I remember being given grades for both O and CSE in Physics.

Some moves were also being made towards GCSE - for Eng Lang we had to submit a small portfolio of coursework, done under closely supervised classroom conditions, alongside taking several written exam papers and an oral exam.

My school only offered CSE in maths, and only for the bottom 2 maths groups. If you were in group 1, you didn't even consider CSE, group 2 could pay for it themselves as an insurance policy, group 3 were entered for both and group 4 for CSE only (or O level too if they paid themselves for it)

@Seashor - I’d forgotten about them! I have one!

@MrsTulipTattsyrup would those with both an O Level and a CSE grade have been the 16+ ?

@RancidOldHag

Yes - it's like a higher/lower tier paper

The highest grade CSE (1) was the equivalent of an O level pass grade (C)

I think all CSE grades 1-5 were passes, O levels it was A-C as passes, but there were also D, E and U

At least some CSEs had coursework, but O levels were terminal exam (except for practical subjects like Art)

I did O levels in 1983 and did coursework in English, History and Geography so it wasn’t all terminal exam.

I did both O level and CSE papers in four subjects and whilst I got a CSE grade 1 I Only got a D in the o level!!

[quote PaperMonster]@MrsTulipTattsyrup would those with both an O Level and a CSE grade have been the 16+ ?[/quote]
No, not as far as I’m aware - they were certified in the same way as all the others from the same exam board. Separate certs for each. (My recall isn’t normally this good but I refilled them all a couple of weeks ago!)

No one did CSEs in my girls grammar school in the early 1980s.
I remember that to be accepted onto the RGN course at 18, you needed 6 O levels Grade C and above, to include Maths & English Language. I'm pretty sure that 6 CSEs at Grade 1 were not considered to be the equivalent of this.

Given that there are foundation and higher levels for GCSE maths, English and science we don't seem to have moved on much from CSE and O levels.

I waalast year of O Levels,in a very poor comprehensive school.

We had three steams, top stream did O Levels and some CSEs. Second stream aimed at some CSEs. Bottom stream - they aimed to keep you in school until you turned 16, but many had jobs earlier and rarely turned up.

I was top group and O Levels, but I failed my physics mock and I was told that I would be entered for CSE. I remember going to the Science staffroom and asking for the head of science - thick cigarette smoke etc when they opened the door!

I was petrified, literally shaking, but said that I wouldn't turn up for the exam and would put myself in privately for the O level. He just stared at me, said "alright, you can do o level" and slammed the door.

I got a B.

I did 3 O levels a year early and then 7 more in what is now called Year 11. They were all terminal exams, even Music which had a terminal accompanied solo. This was the JMB exam board.

I was due to sit O level Physics but only got 30% in the mock exam so was moved down to CSE. I got a grade 1 so I just count this as an O level (not that anyone cares at my age now).