to think that old people

[ethanchristopher]

should not bang on about how gcse's are getting easier (and as/a2/degrees)

1. kids take about 11-12 gcse's now istead of the 6-7 o levels
2. they sit exams year round from the start of year 10/4th year
3. they do exams in year 10 which means less time to prepare and learn the topics
4. coursework isnt written for you by your teachers and you cant get much help off them
5. it is moderated so thoroughly it is impossible for teachers to bump your grade
6. the percentage of A/A* students might be rising but so is the percentage of U/G/F/E/D students

and im working my poor little arse off trying to pass them and my bloody grandfather (and other family members) keep telling me that they are really really easy

bet he wont be saying that down the golf club if i get straight A's, he'll be like "my granddaughter got straight A's"

idiots

sorry this is more about my grandad than old people in general lol

i just needed a rant

Wow,Ethanchristopher,I now feel REALLY old,considering I am more than twice your age and theoretically old enough to be your Mum!

I took a mix of o'level (2 a year early) and GCSE's (guinea-pig) I feel the main difference was that for the O'levels it was purely how you performed on the day,and for GCSE's there was more leeway due to continuous assessment.I wouldn't like to hazard a guess as to whether things were more difficult in my day (Adjusts hearing aid,grinds false teeth,and hoiks up incontinence pad).

I cannot begin to imagine having a dc and then doing all my exams- good for you,hope that you get the results you hope for

For me personally, I think it is more difficult to sit one or two whopping exams at the end of two years, than it is to sit more but smaller exams throughout the two years. I've done both, so have seen it from both sides of the fence.

I guess it depends on the person though

i mean i do better in exams than coursework because:
a) i havnt got the time to write pages and pages of essays with notes and stuff especially when ds is around and stealing all the paper which is harder to do with a revision guide
b) im better at remembering things than trying to set things out with all the grammar and in chronological order

so o levels would have been easier for me but gcse's for you iyswim

I'm definately old enough to be your mum ec ...and still having babies of my own

Good Luck with the exams

I'm scottish and did O-grades/highers so can't comment on the easier/harder thing, but the same is said of the change in the Scottish system as well

Mummytubb ... sorry, I thought '86 was the last year ... my mistake ... I think the '87 lot did a mixture of both didn't they?

ethanchristopher, I don't think things like grammar and punctuation skills should be part of English literature in the upper years. In an ideal world, students should enter those years already with those skills, which are really the building blocks of literacy, so that they can focus on more complicated work and actually study literature rather than literacy.

Sounds like you're doing a great job of combining motherhood and study, by the way. The very idea makes me feel a little faint.

I did Maths the first year which was 87 and then the rest in 88.

My pet old person hate is those that say "they should do x, y and z" at school and I just look and them and say "but they do, it's in the curriculum."

You don't need a language these days - even Cambridge has dropped that requirement.

My impression is that teaching toward the exam has become an art form and students are increasingly better prepared. And there are some easier options. But my impression is also that some of the courses are narrower and more focussed.

There may be a movement back towards exams as it is so difficult to moderate coursework. Something has to change - it must be very frustrating to hear people going on about how easy exams are. But the same thing is happening with degrees - over twice as many people get firsts now as in 'my day'. So it's not just schools - it's a much bigger issue than that.

I don't know if I'm imagining it but when I teach first year undergrads they often strike me as more mature and well-informed than my generation (over 20 years ago). It's just such a different world (definitely leaning on my zimmer frame now...).

Just read this thread.

(takes hat off to ethanchristopher emoticon)

actually as an english teacher who went from Qld australia to teach in the UK - the course work that aussie kids do is far more onerous than what you do in the UK - but in QLD - they do not do exams like you do - they have to complete some pieces under exam conditions - BUT they do not have the exams as GCSE or A-levels.

Five pieces of coursework over two years for english along with three spoken pieces that can be part of class discussion is pretty easy compared to 12 written pieces and 6 spoken pieces. Some are done under exam conditions and the spoken ones are not done as part of classwork.

They also have a huge written test - three parts - one of which is an essay reponse to stimulus - no one knows the stimulus or theme prior to them walking into the room.

Fwiw - qld students are not allowed to re submit coursework either.

Now to your other question - I think a lot of old people forget that they did not get that far in terms of schooling in a lot of cases - some would have had to be out to support the family or out to support themselves and so they seem to think 'young' people these days have it too easy.

FWIW - they probably think parents these days have it too easy and stay at home mums like me have it too easy. Some of them just need something to complain about.

Ethan Christopher:
b) im better at remembering things than trying to set things out with all the grammar and in chronological order

The O level/CSE/A level/BA and MA exams that I sat ALL required you to write 'proper' essays with the correct construction, spelling, and grammar. 4 properly written and constructed essays in 3 hours. Poor construction, spelling and grammar would reduce your mark. It certainly wasn't a case of just remembering things.

I'm not knocking GCSEs, or their degree of difficulty, I just think you have an odd view of what the 'older-style' exams actually entailed.

I did the last year of O levels in 1987. I got 7 but failed Maths pretty decisively, being crap at it.

At 24 I took maths GCSE as I was contemplating a teaching career, for which it is necessary. 'Half-hearted' is a generous term for the way I approached the course. I got a B, having attended less than half the classes and not buying the textbook. The exam consisted of things like 'If VAT is 17.5%, calculate the VAT on this bill' etc. My maths O-level was full of algebra and trigonometry(sp?) which was gobbledegook to me and still is.

I have taught GCSE, AS and A2 levels and, without doubt, they are significantly easier than O-levels and A-levels.

Tutors:

Have you tried bluetutors.co.uk/index_cambridge.php they have a big list of everyone in the Cambridge area who could tutor you.

Hope that helps.

law - thankyou so much

earth - a2 levels ARE a levels

Mummytub - i was talking about science and subjects like that. i have to do grammar and everything in my exams too

I meant pre-GCSE A-levels, which were an enormous conceptual jump up from O-level, far greater than the jump between A-level and degree. When I started my A-levels, about 15% of people did them, the rest did vocational courses or started work. It was a big deal to do them; they were considered a very rigorous and demanding qualification. An A grade was really something. People seem to routinely get three or four As now - it's not seen as very unusual or suprising. Universities used to take it as read that if you gained good A-level results, you were probably able to cope with an undergraduate course. These days most unis are in despair about the lack of basic literacy in some of their prospective students.

A2s are not the A-levels that I did.