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Original poster

To think GCSEs are ridiculously hard?

135 replies

donpanicme · 12/01/2023 11:17

DD did pretty mediocre in her mocks and has asked me to help her revise. We’ve been working through the sciences and geography and OMG it’s so hard. There’s so much to learn in each subject for a start and it’s actually pretty complicated stuff like ions, relative atomic mass, mitosis. Honestly, I don’t know how she’s going to get though it all and remember it in order to do well. How on earth do kids do it?

OP posts:
Talipesmum · 12/01/2023 11:21

It is pretty hard - there’s a lot they’ve been taught, their days are full of learning new stuff. It can be a shock when you look to help them with homework and suddenly it’s not something you can just advise on - it has to be taught. Have you got the revision guides etc? They’re helpful to help you help her revise with, if you don’t know the subject.

Seeline · 12/01/2023 11:27

Content-wise most of what my DCs did didn't seem much different from my O levels 40 years ago.
In many ways things seem easier in that they have easy access to past papers, formal mark schemes etc. Also loads of guidance on how to actually answer questions - what sort of things answer should contain and how to structure them etc. The first past paper I saw was my mocks. Mark schemes were never mentioned.
Things like MFLs seem easier too - set topics, pre-prepared Q and As for orals etc. We just had to have a random conversation on any topic (s) - could have been on anything.
Maths seems to contain less as well.

W0tnow · 12/01/2023 11:28

I got some gcse revision books off Amazon. Complete with test papers. The kids found them very helpful

Needmorelego · 12/01/2023 11:29

They need to bring back the coursework. Relying on just the final exam (which is usually 3 exams per subject) is crazy.
Just look at the threads on here about how much revision needs to be done.
It just seems to be poor teens going over and over the same things again because they need to know it for the final exam.
If you have the coursework then stuff learned and worked on in the first term of Year 10 can be given a grade to go towards the final overall grade. But then essentially they don't need to worry about that part of the curriculum in as much detail again.
Obviously if they find the subject really interesting and plan to use that knowledge in future qualifications/jobs then they will remember it.
If not it will get filed in the part of the brain used for pub quizzes and playing Trivial Pursuit. Because let's face it - that's what most of what you learn in school is only useful for. Unless you use in a job it's mostly trivia.

Original poster
donpanicme · 12/01/2023 11:30

Got all the guide books etc. @Seeline I’ve no idea how we managed pre internet etc!

OP posts:
TheBoots · 12/01/2023 11:31

Honestly the examples you've mentioned are fairly basic scientific concepts so not especially complicated...repetition and going over things, writing down stuff and posting it on the walls, making mind maps, all these can help embed concepts into your memory.

UsuallySuze · 12/01/2023 11:34

Seeline · 12/01/2023 11:27

Content-wise most of what my DCs did didn't seem much different from my O levels 40 years ago.
In many ways things seem easier in that they have easy access to past papers, formal mark schemes etc. Also loads of guidance on how to actually answer questions - what sort of things answer should contain and how to structure them etc. The first past paper I saw was my mocks. Mark schemes were never mentioned.
Things like MFLs seem easier too - set topics, pre-prepared Q and As for orals etc. We just had to have a random conversation on any topic (s) - could have been on anything.
Maths seems to contain less as well.

I found maths harder than my GCSE 30 years ago- DS definitely covered things in GCSE which I did for A level. Perhaps it varies by board.

Dotjones · 12/01/2023 11:35

I think exams are easier now, it's just that people don't work as hard. People know more but are less intelligent at the same time. Watch an old episode of Bullseye on Challenge TV and you'll wonder if everyone who played darts in the 80s was a complete idiot. General knowledge was weaker then because if you wanted to find out something you had to find a book with the information. Plus it took longer for knowledge to be spread because there was no instant publishing. This meant people had their own areas of expertise - clever in one area and thick in another - whereas now it's a more even, but thinner spread, across more areas.

mondaytosunday · 12/01/2023 11:36

I have heard sone teachers say they are teaching things at gcse that used to be A level. I think they will be phased out at sone point, now that kids are required to be at school of some kind til 18.
I hate the exam based system in this country, but I have more of a degree alike of three A levels than GCSEs.

GracieLouFreeebush · 12/01/2023 11:55

Dotjones · 12/01/2023 11:35

I think exams are easier now, it's just that people don't work as hard. People know more but are less intelligent at the same time. Watch an old episode of Bullseye on Challenge TV and you'll wonder if everyone who played darts in the 80s was a complete idiot. General knowledge was weaker then because if you wanted to find out something you had to find a book with the information. Plus it took longer for knowledge to be spread because there was no instant publishing. This meant people had their own areas of expertise - clever in one area and thick in another - whereas now it's a more even, but thinner spread, across more areas.

They aren’t easier. That’s just something old people say to knock the younger generations down. I am a teacher so have seen when all of the content changed for Goves reform and it was made much harder. We also don’t have enough time to teach it all, if a student misses a lesson or doesn’t understand something it is hard to find the time to go back over it.

Seeline · 12/01/2023 12:02

They aren’t easier. That’s just something old people say to knock the younger generations down. I am a teacher so have seen when all of the content changed for Goves reform and it was made much harder.

Depends what you are comparing current exams to. Yes, Gove did make them harder, but compared to O levels, the old GSCEs were easier. I compared what my 2 DCs did (exams in 2020 and 2018) to my O levels, and as I said above, on balance I think the O levels were generally harder taking all things into account.

babsanderson · 12/01/2023 12:03

GCEs got easier, Gove made them harder again. People in the past did not get 9 A stars unless they were a genius.

EssexMan55 · 12/01/2023 12:08

Seeline · 12/01/2023 12:02

They aren’t easier. That’s just something old people say to knock the younger generations down. I am a teacher so have seen when all of the content changed for Goves reform and it was made much harder.

Depends what you are comparing current exams to. Yes, Gove did make them harder, but compared to O levels, the old GSCEs were easier. I compared what my 2 DCs did (exams in 2020 and 2018) to my O levels, and as I said above, on balance I think the O levels were generally harder taking all things into account.

Even in the nineties GCSE were far easier than o levels.

I have seen o level physics papers with similar content to first undergraduate physics…

ButterflyOil · 12/01/2023 12:11

Plus the exam only system is ridiculous in my view because so much of it relies on them remembering a huge range of information to parrot across so many subjects at once. So much of it also seems to be about memorising facts vs interpreting and analysing, critical thinking and so on.

It’s no wonder so many higher achievers at GCSE struggle at A level because the content and the way it’s taught seems so different. In the A levels it’s much more focused on applying the information.

What’s the use of being crammed full of facts and things to recall for 10 subjects if you’re not really taught how to use those facts? How can we honestly tell our kids that 100% exams in this way is vital for their future when in the real world you hardly ever have to use information in this way? Which kind of jobs are you given information and told to learn it and then not allowed to ever refer to the source of that information under pressure and then judged on your competence for said job based on that?

GCSEs are basically pointless exercises in pressurising young minds.

MilkyYay · 12/01/2023 12:12

They are really not that bad. Remember kids are in school 25 hours a week, 39 weeks a year learning all this content. Often the % needed to get a 5 is only about 65%, so a pupil can be dropping a third of the marks and still getting a "good pass".

They do need to present some challenge. If everyone could pass them easily with high grades they would become a qualification with basically no value.

maddy68 · 12/01/2023 12:12

BBC bitesize is good

WeepingSomnambulist · 12/01/2023 12:13

Scottish Standard Grades were harder. In difficulty level, GCSE's were behind standard grades. But then scottish kid's would do Highers and English kid's would do A levels, and A levels were considered to be just slightly above highers. Then we went on to advanced highers which were a bit above A levels.

There is no consistency!!

I dont know about nowadays with Scottish kids doing national 5s.

MilkyYay · 12/01/2023 12:13

Also i laugh a bit when teens say they can't remember all this but question them on their favourite computer game and suddenly they are an expert with a superb memory.

GracieLouFreeebush · 12/01/2023 12:14

ButterflyOil · 12/01/2023 12:11

Plus the exam only system is ridiculous in my view because so much of it relies on them remembering a huge range of information to parrot across so many subjects at once. So much of it also seems to be about memorising facts vs interpreting and analysing, critical thinking and so on.

It’s no wonder so many higher achievers at GCSE struggle at A level because the content and the way it’s taught seems so different. In the A levels it’s much more focused on applying the information.

What’s the use of being crammed full of facts and things to recall for 10 subjects if you’re not really taught how to use those facts? How can we honestly tell our kids that 100% exams in this way is vital for their future when in the real world you hardly ever have to use information in this way? Which kind of jobs are you given information and told to learn it and then not allowed to ever refer to the source of that information under pressure and then judged on your competence for said job based on that?

GCSEs are basically pointless exercises in pressurising young minds.

I agree with this completely. I refer to information in textbooks or online to assist in planning to teach my lessons, but the students I teach have to remember all of the content for that along with around 9 other subjects ready to regurgitate it all onto an exam paper at the end of a two year course. Some information they may not have gone over for two years.

maddy68 · 12/01/2023 12:14

Tell her to go through loads of past papers using the mark schemes to help her get the right answers that will focus her revision

Rowthe · 12/01/2023 12:15

Needmorelego · 12/01/2023 11:29

They need to bring back the coursework. Relying on just the final exam (which is usually 3 exams per subject) is crazy.
Just look at the threads on here about how much revision needs to be done.
It just seems to be poor teens going over and over the same things again because they need to know it for the final exam.
If you have the coursework then stuff learned and worked on in the first term of Year 10 can be given a grade to go towards the final overall grade. But then essentially they don't need to worry about that part of the curriculum in as much detail again.
Obviously if they find the subject really interesting and plan to use that knowledge in future qualifications/jobs then they will remember it.
If not it will get filed in the part of the brain used for pub quizzes and playing Trivial Pursuit. Because let's face it - that's what most of what you learn in school is only useful for. Unless you use in a job it's mostly trivia.

Coursework will increasingly be phased out.

There are so many online options to cheat now. And difficult to catch plagiarism.

MilkyYay · 12/01/2023 12:16

Which kind of jobs are you given information and told to learn it and then not allowed to ever refer to the source of that information under pressure and then judged on your competence for said job based on that?

Loads. I'm an expert in a technical field and i can't sit in a board meeting and get a load of source materials out!!

I am regularly in meetings where I'm put on rhe spot and asked an urgent question and I need to be able to refer to complex content without nipping off to look it up first.

Fenella123 · 12/01/2023 12:16

Blimey, I remember doing the pre prepared Q and A for my language O levels in the 80s! For years I could explain the "green wave" traffic light synchronization system in German but not English ;)
I suspect you've just been busy and forgotten what it's like OP ;)

GracieLouFreeebush · 12/01/2023 12:16

MilkyYay · 12/01/2023 12:12

They are really not that bad. Remember kids are in school 25 hours a week, 39 weeks a year learning all this content. Often the % needed to get a 5 is only about 65%, so a pupil can be dropping a third of the marks and still getting a "good pass".

They do need to present some challenge. If everyone could pass them easily with high grades they would become a qualification with basically no value.

Could you be given 25 hours of content a week for two years and then remember 65% of it at the end? That’s 1950hours over the two years of teaching time, so 1267hours worth of facts?

Dancingbea · 12/01/2023 12:16

I think they are tough. History and geography has far more content and requires for history at least proper historical analysis than when I did gcse in 1992. The thing with science is that if you weren’t very good at it then you could just opt for single - I did biology - whereas now they all need to know something about physics and chemistry which is completely unfamiliar to many of us. I really don’t believe it’s all about regurgitating facts - even the RE exams have questions which require proper analysis and comparison that you can’t do just by learning facts.