Page 4 | To be surprised you mumsnetters criticised my ex’s school !!

Jumell · 2024-12-08T15:48:17+00:00

My ex went to an all boys’ comprehensive school in London. It’s been slagged off to the ground on here as being rough, not being the school of choice for MC parents, results are dire etc etc . However he did leave the school in one piece and with 2 CSEs no less!! (OK showing his age a bit!) But the pearl clutchiness about his school on MN is immense !! 🤣 - I didn’t do CSEs btw so don’t truly know how good 2 CSEs is. He left school in 1986 FYI - I was still a young school kid then, Dunno - was 2 CSEs good for 1986?! FWIW the comp I went to wasn’t short for ‘comprehensive’ - more compost heap - but that’s possibly the subject of another thread. !

Tess150 · 08/12/2024 16:59

MyPithyPoster · 08/12/2024 16:54

With 2CSE you could actually still have a life, you could buy a house you could own a car. You could potentially better yourself with evening classes you could still exist in the modern world.
If that was what you came out with now as an equivalent honestly, you might as well give up. You would literally have no chance.
You wouldn’t even be allowed to go and do an apprentice electricians plumbers or carpentry course.

This isn't true thankfully, I know kids doing practical college courses and either resitting their Eng/maths GCSE's alongside or doing Eng/maths functional skills.

NetZeroZealot · 08/12/2024 17:00

It depends what subjects they were in.
English & Maths beats Woodwork & PE.

suki1964 · 08/12/2024 17:00

I passed my 11+ but mum sent me to the comp where I was in the O level classes - ie we were expected to attain O levels , we didnt get the nice classes like typing or home ecc, we got double science, - biology and physics, double math, commerce, computer studies - very academic

However when you hit 13 and had to choose your options for your exam years you would be entered for the exam classes they thought you would pass so I only got to take CSE in English and Physics It was a way they kept their pass rate looking so high. Luckily I was the last year of that system and GCSE was coming in, I took GCSE in Geography for which I passed before the exam because of the test paper scores and course work

ILEA - Inner London Education Authority

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 08/12/2024 17:02

Boomer55 · 08/12/2024 16:58

I left school with other the old O levels and CSE’s existing side by side.

Many, from my peer group, with basic CSE’s went on to have happy, successful and well paid futures.

Many, that got extra school qualifications , and further education, did not.

it depends on ambition.

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I agree a lot more is needed than academic qualifications to do well in a career. On one side of my family nobody has done all that well academically but they are all stunningly successful in their work lives because they work extremely hard, they are talented and they have oodles of drive, resilience and common sense. They all had part-time jobs while still at school, which they got through initiative and stuck with. All doing well in their personal lives too.

ForkHandlesNotFourCandles · 08/12/2024 17:04

Jumell · 08/12/2024 15:55

Fair enough .. I’m a GCSE person being a tad younger ..

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It depends what his pass grade was
CSE grade I is equivalent to a C @ GCSE
grade 2 is a D
grade 3 is an E

It was not possible to get above equivalent grade C, that was the maximum.
Higher grades were attainable only if you took Olevels

Those who, it was thought, would find Olevels too difficult took CSEs

So two CSEs is the equivalent to two GCSEs at grades C to E.

suki1964 · 08/12/2024 17:04

MyPithyPoster · 08/12/2024 16:54

With 2CSE you could actually still have a life, you could buy a house you could own a car. You could potentially better yourself with evening classes you could still exist in the modern world.
If that was what you came out with now as an equivalent honestly, you might as well give up. You would literally have no chance.
You wouldn’t even be allowed to go and do an apprentice electricians plumbers or carpentry course.

My DH left school with one level - a spirit level and that level has kept his family living a very very good life

MyPithyPoster · 08/12/2024 17:07

Tess150 · 08/12/2024 16:59

This isn't true thankfully, I know kids doing practical college courses and either resitting their Eng/maths GCSE's alongside or doing Eng/maths functional skills.

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So they’re being made to do extra qualifications because the two Csc’s wouldn’t be enough? good I’m glad you agree

Original poster

Jumell · 08/12/2024 17:08

hamsandyams · 08/12/2024 16:58

I'm genuinely confused.

He says the school was violent and he only achieved 2 of the 7 qualifications that he sat (I didn't know about CSEs until this thread), and you're surprised it's getting slated on MN?? Which bit do you find surprising?

It's maybe surprising it hasn't improved in 40 years - but not so shocking as to start a thread I wouldn't have thought.

Cos I thought getting 2 exams of which there is a huge course work element v impressive - lots of kids CBA with coursework

in fact a lot of kids cba

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adriftinadenofvipers · 08/12/2024 17:08

Jumell · 08/12/2024 15:56

Come on - 2 CSEs are a fair old effort !

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2 CSEs is pretty pants!

Only secondary schools did them - I did O levels at a grammar in 1979!!

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 08/12/2024 17:09

MrsTerryPratchett · 08/12/2024 16:52

This thread is an interesting commentary on the English and their relationship with education.

Some people: 2 CSEs are shockingly poor, rough schools are dreadful, title Tabitha can't fraternise with these people.

Other people: rough is normal, 2 CSEs is fine, practical skills are better and education is overrated.

What we actually need is a love of learning, for all children. Safe, encouraging education. A government and media which promotes learning and education. NOT just school rote learning but a love of life-long learning. Understanding that education should be defensive against things Ike; being ripped off, shit government, media telling you what they want you to think, a lack of critical thinking.

As far as I can tell some cultures, including the Scottish historically, have understood this. Education is the way to stop the arseholes above you holding you down. It's not clever to hate it. Engaging with it means you can rewrite it.

Couldn't agree more. Have never understood the inverted snobbery and defensiveness of some white English people about education and school. You don't see it in families whose roots lie elsewhere, especially in Asia and West Africa. Education is the way up and out.

ForkHandlesNotFourCandles · 08/12/2024 17:11

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 08/12/2024 17:09

Couldn't agree more. Have never understood the inverted snobbery and defensiveness of some white English people about education and school. You don't see it in families whose roots lie elsewhere, especially in Asia and West Africa. Education is the way up and out.

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Its a shame you’ve picked up on colour there .
Not all English people are white

Education is the way up

MereDintofPandiculation · 08/12/2024 17:12

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 08/12/2024 16:24

Good in the context of only being allowed to take CSEs, maybe. A girl came to my school for sixth form who had previously attended a comp where the headteacher attempted to get rid of O levels and make all pupils sit CSEs. His logic was that a top grade CSE was as good as an O level pass and it was elitist to have a two tier system. There was apparently a revolt from the parents of the more able children who wanted their children to go on to further and higher education and he had to backtrack. (This was the mid to late 1970s.)

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Most people would take a lot more than 2 CSEs, so not good even in that context.

WhimsicalGubbins76 · 08/12/2024 17:12

I’ve just noticed the Ops username.

You really need to find a new hobby. Spamming Mumsnet is really not it

EverythingElseIsTaken · 08/12/2024 17:12

2 CSEs in 1986 was pretty poor! Even if they were grade 1CSEs that’s rubbish. How many did he take? I did o’ levels in 1985 and we all had a minimum of 7 subjects, my DH had a mix of CSEs and GCE o levels and did 9 subjects.

There was a school near me that was considered really rough, I knew families that moved to be out of its catchment area but 2 CSEs from there would still be very poor.

Original poster

Jumell · 08/12/2024 17:13

EverythingElseIsTaken · 08/12/2024 17:12

2 CSEs in 1986 was pretty poor! Even if they were grade 1CSEs that’s rubbish. How many did he take? I did o’ levels in 1985 and we all had a minimum of 7 subjects, my DH had a mix of CSEs and GCE o levels and did 9 subjects.

There was a school near me that was considered really rough, I knew families that moved to be out of its catchment area but 2 CSEs from there would still be very poor.

7! He took 7

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ChaosHol1 · 08/12/2024 17:14

Why in the flying fuck, would you give a rats arse, if anonymous strangers on the Internet thought your EX's school he went to a million years ago was bad.

Then to declare he got two CSE's, as if he got a Doctorate. I really believe after your last thread and this one, you must be a wind up merchant.

wastingtimeonhere · 08/12/2024 17:14

I know a 22yr old with 1 gcse. I imagine these days that's pretty poor!

adriftinadenofvipers · 08/12/2024 17:14

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 08/12/2024 16:20

The King also has a degree from Cambridge. (Yes, I know normal entry criteria didn't apply in his case.)

I'd forgotten about AO levels. At my school there was just AO Further Maths available for girls doing Science A levels but not Maths A level. (It was a girls' school - not saying the boys didn't have to do the AO level!)

No idea how CSEs were marked but I know A levels were marked quite differently from now (O levels too?). Nowadays I believe the grade boundaries are decided as actual marks in advance, so if a candidate gets (say) 80% or over they get an A star, 70-80% they get an A, etc etc. If the majority of candidates get over 80%, they all get an A star. The mark is awarded for reaching a certain level and says nothing about how everyone else did.

Decades ago what they decided in advance was what percentage of the candidates should get each grade. So if there was a subject with 6000 candidates and they'd decided that the top 10% would get an A, they'd rank all the marks in order and the top 600 got an A even if the actual marks were quite low (e.g. if it was a really tough paper). You were being graded on your performance relative to everyone else. An A was rare because that was how the system was designed.

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An A wasn't that rare. A load of my classmates got them back in the day. I got 2 A and 2 B.

There was no A though. A irrationally pisses me off lol!

AlwaysRight1985 · 08/12/2024 17:15

I went to a total sink school in a total sink town in the 1990s, might as well have been in a zoo rather than a school. Still managed 7 A*s and 3 As

Original poster

Jumell · 08/12/2024 17:16

AlwaysRight1985 · 08/12/2024 17:15

I went to a total sink school in a total sink town in the 1990s, might as well have been in a zoo rather than a school. Still managed 7 A*s and 3 As

That I must admit is very very good

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godmum56 · 08/12/2024 17:16

cse's actually overlapped gce's They were what you took if you weren't going to pass gcs's......sorry but its true

Original poster

Jumell · 08/12/2024 17:18

His school was apparently in a deprived area.

As soon as you mention the two magic words ‘deprived’ and ‘area’ on MN in the same sentence relating to a school , you can hear simultaneously the

sharp intakes of breath - and

the gentle crackle of pearls being clutched ! 🤣

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CranfordScones · 08/12/2024 17:19

Back in the great and glorious days of the GLC and ILEA. Given a few more years, they'd have got him down to 1 CSE...

Original poster

Jumell · 08/12/2024 17:20

CranfordScones · 08/12/2024 17:19

Back in the great and glorious days of the GLC and ILEA. Given a few more years, they'd have got him down to 1 CSE...

lol let’s bring those days back - along with the fabulous YTS !!!! 🙌

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MonkeyHair · 08/12/2024 17:21

This is the weirdest thread ever!

You've posted to say that you can't believe people slag off your ex's school. Then go on to explain how your ex has 2 shit qualifications, having failed another 5 but making out like this makes him some kind of genius as other boyfriends have had none

Then casually mention that it was also violent. Yeah the mind boggles as to why the school didn't/doesn't get a great rep!!