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?

I did an S level but failed it; DH has an S level in history though. I think he may have an AO level too - in geology.

igelkott in that case, I have found the only other person in the whole world with an AO in Geology!

@blobby10

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!!

I think that's a better comparison than CSE 1 being equivalent to 'O' Level C, it seemed much closer to a D.

@ineedaholidaynow

My school (private) refused to do CSEs. They had initially let bottom set Maths sit the Maths CSE but stopped that the year I sat O-levels.

Didn't it used to be that Grammar schools offered O-levels and the Secondary Modern schools didn't really do qualifications. I know my MIL and FIL who both failed the 11+ left school at 15 with no qualifications. CSEs were then introduced in 1965 to offer qualifications to those not sitting O-levels.

I seem to remember that the average grade when I sat exams (in the early 80s)was Grade 4 CSE (the lowest grade you could get was Grade 5 and you couldn't fail), so a number of children must still have left school with no qualifications.

I think you're right about the CSE being introduced to appease the Secondary Modern schools, the Grammar schools then saw it as an insurance policy for their bottom sets, my brother did the first CSE as a double entry in French in 1965, the school seemed ashamed to do it!

Just to add to the info, we weren't allowed to do CSEs at the Grammar I went to in the 70s; I asked to do a Maths CSE, request denied, O-level failed.

At my school (comp, Catholic, unposh) a very few people did Oxbridge entrance papers in the 4th term of 6th form. Some then moved on to focus on the S level for the next 2 terms - I think you did it at the same time as A levels, maybe a bit earlier. In my year I remember 2 of us got Oxbridge places with a 2E offer, and both of us thought “sod that for a laugh” re doing the S level as it was just extra work for no upside. A couple who didn’t get in went on and did the S level. I think it was a fairly obvious extension, though, of the random Oxbridge entrance papers, in that the S levels certainly weren’t based around the syllabus. As we weren’t actually taught for either, just entered for the exams there was very much a feeling of “meh, do what you want, you are on your own”. This was early 80s.

Heavily streamed single sex school in the early 1980s. I can remember rigorous testing and streaming right from the off in the First Year (Y7 now.)

Upper stream all did O levels, and lower stream were steered towards CSEs. I don't remember any double exam entering, but then the teaching was very separate all the way through so I wouldn't necessarily have known. I do remember feeling it was a bit unfair on the lower stream to have their outcomes more or less decided so early on.

I'm another one with some AO levels; the top set took Maths, French and English O levels a year early, and the time left over was used to do AO levels in the 5th Year (Y11 now). I remember the French paper was 'with texts' and we had to read a novel in French. Can't remember a thing about the English or Maths, but it was nearly 40 years ago, so not all that surprising!

My friend at primary school failed her 11+

I remember it was a huge shock to everyone as she was top of the class in everything. Near perfect scores in exams. But our other friend who struggled to read and write passed.

My friend who failed her 11+ never really got over it as it meant she wouldn’t go to university and escape the poverty she was brought up in.
You could only do CSEs at the secondary modern when we were at school and even getting top marks in CSEs meant you couldn’t go on to do A levels and then university.

The AOs done at my school were a sort of extra in lower 6th, fun sounding subjects like geology and Classical Civilisation. The people doing the latter got a trip to the British Museum to look at vases iirc.

I did 10 O'levels and got Grades A-C. The grading was A-C pass, D between 48 and 50% fail, E between 45 and 47% fail. U or Unclassified any mark lower than 45%.

TheWashingMachine

In my day C was a pass if you got 45% + B 55% and A 65%
D was a fail 35% E was 25% and anything under 25% was a U.

I got 7 Us and 1 C
Probably should have taken the CSEs but was sent to an academic private school where it was unheard of.

@Seashor

PaperMonster, you’re the only other person I’ve come across with an O A level!!

I've got an OA Level in General Studies. We all had to do it in the first year sixth form and you could do the A Level if you wanted to but I couldn't be bothered.