GCSE results are upon us

[Remotew]

Anyone else suffering from the jitters? DD has been for a couple of days now and now me. Coping strategies welcome.

So are they early then this year? They are usually on a Thursday aren't they?

Crikey minimu1, you have two very bright daughters ( and a bright son too!)

Yes it obviously down to the excellent parenting they recieve!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Did you note the deliberate spelling mistake there to push home my point!

Yes, just about to be an arse and correct you....

Well I'm very pleased for DD1. She got 6A*, 3A and 2Bs.

Yes, the results do get higher every year but they do still have to work hard to achieve good results.

Normally on a thurssday, this year tuesday though.

"THE EXAMS ARE NOT GETTING EASIER!!"

That's not true, although students are far better taught and some would suggest more motivated. And they're probably not getting easier at the rate the tabloids and tabloid-esque broadsheets would have you believe.

I did mine last year - AAAAAAAAAAB

Does look like my son's ONE GCSE is going to turn up - he needs the result to get into Uni !!

Mine got 10 in all, plus 3 last year, all As and Bs NO predicted A*s at all but I really just wanted her to get enough to get into 6th form college which she has easily. Nobody really cares much about GCSE grades once you have A levels in our experience.

DS got A's in English lang, English Lit, Maths, triple science, stats, german, media, ICT and a B in Music. Also got a distinction in Drama! I think thats it, haven't seen the results paper yet as he selfishly went off with his friends

He's a clever chap...must take after his mother

Very proud of him, but would have been no matter what. He has worked hard for these results, right from being a small person and I am so happy for him that he got the results he deserved!

Ds1 got 8 A*s and 3 As.

I hoped he would get the results he deserved as he did put a lot of effort into his coursework and revision so today I am a very proud mum :)

Well done everyone!

Congrats to everyone's DCs (what a bright bunch we are rearing!)

I am a secondary teacher and I am VERY happy with our Y11s this year!

Congratulations to all of your DCs!

Not sure why I'm here on this board, just clicked through from Discussions of the day- but I'm being all weird and crying at the thought of everyone getting their great results! [Hormonal]

I have been babysitting while dd,who is a teacher[English],went in to see how her pupils had done.Last year the school had 68% A*-C and this year it is 87%.100% A-F.dd taught a second from bottom set[25pupils]of whom 18 acieved C which is actually brilliant as only 3 were estimated C last year.
Well done everyone's dc.

My dd got 4 A's, 4 B's & 2 C's, not bad considering she was predicted C/B's (all the subjects she got A's in, she was predicted c's Now she is happy to go onto 6th form to do A Levels.

I never said people don't work hard, but my generation worked at least as hard and only 5% of us got As and a lot failed. How much longer can the GCSEs, like the Olympics, keep being "The Best Ever"?

Thanks to those who wished me luck! =D

I got six As, six As, and a B in Art. I'm very happy. My brother got the expected 13As though. It's excellent and he deserves it, but it's still a bit annoying for me.

I dislike the 'EXAMS ARE GETTING EASIER!' debate. Maybe they are set out in a different, more friendly way these days, but they're still difficult. The fact that a 16-yr-old now couldn't do an O-Level paper proves nothing. Students doing O-levels were taught with those exams in mind, they're just different, not necessarily easier.
Even if they are easier, it's awful to just dismiss all the work we put in by saying "Oh, well they used to be more difficult". It's a bit insulting, IMO.

Congrats to everyone's DCs, anyway! Sounds like they all did great!

I got A at the old O level and I didn't reckon it was as low as 5% that got it, also it wasn't that difficult back then and I expect it was a fair few years before you UQD.

Anyway well done to everyone. I won't have to go through this again ever except next year and the year after.

Dust, brilliant results.

Just to clarify will have to go through it again for As and A2 never again for GCSE as DD is an only child.

Well done Dust!

Gosh ... I can see why you feel the way you do about your brother's results, but please know that yours are very, very, very good.

I do hope you're not doing the same A-Level subjects?

Thank you, abouteve and LittleRedDragon.

And yes, it's awful, but we'll both be doing very similar A Levels.
I've chosen English Literature, French, Welsh and Biology. He's doing the same, but with Maths instead of Biology.
It's going to be a bit disheartening, I think, but I won't change my subjects.

Besides, he's used to using his natural intelligence to cruise through exams. I'm sure I revised a lot more than him. At A-Level he'll have to actually work, so maybe that will be harder for him.

UQD, when I see the essays DS has written I am amazed! The content and detail that goes into them is incredible! I think children are taught very differently now and I really believe the teachers are far more keen to see their pupils do well. I had a few teachers who took an interest in their pupils work, but many of them were just doing their jobs and were only interested in the ones they knew would get the A's. Children get far more personal support now as well. I could have done a lot better, but I had a lot to deal with when i was doing my exams, with no support. Now they have that support in place at school.

Hats off to my sons teachers is what I say. Meeting them at parents evenings showed me what a dedicated lot they are. How much they respect the children makes a huge difference to the learning that takes place in the classroom. I know my son respected the teachers who gave them respect back.

And well done to all you supportive parents out there. They couldn't have done it without that.

Congratulations to all those who passed their exams, but as an examiner, i can assure you that exams HAVE got easier.
A student taking an English GCSE would be provided with an anthology of poetry and would then be asked questions based on those poems. A student taking an 'O' Level exam or old style GCSE would be provided with an unseen poem and then would be given 45 minutes to discuss the poem.
One cannot compare a student who received either an A or B pre 1990 to one who has achieved those grades in 2010.

I took O levels in 1987 and studied from an anthology. We had a choice of answering questions on them or on an unseen poem. I remember clearly because we were told never to do the unseen poem and I did, much to the horror of my teacher.

As an examiner, you write the questions though. You could make them trickier

UQD any other naysayers - don't forget that 'O' levels were norm refereced so only a certain % could attain each grade.

These days GCSEs are critereon referenced so if the pupils have worked hard enough to reach the mark required for each grade then that is what they are awarded.