3 CSEs - any good?

[CheckTrousersBlanco]

I was born in 1969 - hence I didn’t do GCSEs. I did all CSEs - no O Levels.

My mum said I did better than my brother a year younger who got no qualifications at all.

So mumsnetters - be honest - do you see 3 CSEs as good ?

3 altogether

CSE's had a bad reputation for being more "practical" but some of them were stupidly hard

My school wanted to put me in for CSE Physics but I demanded to do O level as CSE was just too hard

For CSE physics - it required

• a written paper (2 hours I think)
• an observed practical
• an oral exam

for O level - just 2x1½ hour written papers one of which was multiple choice

We were a group of 6 (all girls) who the school wanted to sit CSE - I refused and the other 5 were double entered. The ones that did CSE got low grades (3-5) and yet we all passed O level

I think people compare this to more modern standards, but the pass rate (O level or CSE grade one for english and maths) was less than half what it is today.

I think a lot of people were split at quite a young high school age putting them onto a pre-determined path - either by not making the grammar system which would expect several good O level passes from those who passed an 11+, or by not entering the top set at age 11 in state school and then having no mobility amongst sets.

I raised at my former local council workplace that asking for 5 gcses above grade 4/c for a number of roles is potentially ageist. A 60 year old landscaper will probably have a lifetime of really valuable experience but could be excluded from applying for a role due to an education system several decades ago.

I did all CSEs - no O Levels.

DH is the same age as you and has 9 O levels.

So mumsnetters - be honest - do you see 3 CSEs as good ?

Not very, no, tbh. You are well into your 50s though so I can't imagine it matters that much to you now, does it?!

No it's really not great. O levels were very much a thing for people of your age group... I am also 60s born. If you got grade 1s they are considered equivalent to grade c or d o level but only having 3 wouldn't have been considered good when you were young though I doubt anyone cares now

It’s very poor.

As I was still being ID’d for alcohol in supermarkets up til 2009 - I’m having difficulty accepting being in my 50

Why is it bothering you now . I was the second year to do gcse.

My siblings all did o levels or cse. Cse was the thing people did if teachers didn't think they'd pass o levels.

Though let's be fair if you did gcses now you would probably pass. Children haven't suddenly got cleverer or teaching better. It is easier to pass nowadays. More higher grades are given out.

In 1988 42 percent got a to c in gcse.
In 2023 it was over 68 percent.
Same with a levels. In the late 80s just over 10 percent got an A. In 2023 in was nearly 30 percent fir A and A star. It is easier now.

I got 4 cse's in 1985, took GCSEs at night school. Failed the maths but passed the English lol. Had to take a math's course when my son started school as I didn't have a clue how to help him.

3 CSEs is pretty poor, I'm afraid. Are they Maths, English and a Science?

One is English

Are you drunk? Your replies are really odd

Honestly, I say 3 CSEs was shit

It's in the territory my sons would describe as 'thick as mince'.

Chance would be a fine thing!

I was being asked if I was old enough to buy alcohol in supermarkets when I was still in my late 30s - I’ve not been asked now for alcohol ID for over 15 years tho (not for want of trying)

I don’t think of myself as in my 50s!

At that time many pupils left with few or no qualifications and there were still jobs to go to - lots of apprenticeships and opportunities to work your way up if you had the talent - my BIL did just that and now earns a fortune. But times changed and everything was about the grades - they merged to GCSEs and the grades got easier.

People were categorised at a young age based on 11+.

If you lived in a Secondary Modern area you might not have even had the opportunity to take O levels because some secondary moderns didn't offer them. - all based on exams you took aged 10 or 11.

This is an excellent point and one younger people won't realise. Anyone who is 53 plus was categorised at 11.

I do not place great importance on these exams. How have you got on in life so far? Has any of this held you back in any way?

It’s not great

I too did CSEs and got 1 O level.

I am so old that my school qualifications that I did 50 years ago would be completely irrelevant if I was to be applying for jobs.

I was also born in 1969. I seem to recall being told, while at school, that the national average was 5 CSEs at grade . So you did not achieve the national average.

My grades exceed the national average,

Many were, but plenty of comprehensives were around; I was born in 63 and went to 2 in different areas.

That is total bollocks.

I was going to write more but I simply can’t be arsed to reply to someone who’s son knows fuck all. Unless of course he took them and is ‘thick as mince’

No - but who cares.
its what you have done since then that matters. I got 10 O levels and I bet you have done as well as me x