Were there GCSE exams in 1987?

[redskyAtNigh]

DH is adamant that his brother was in the first year to sit GCSE and sat exams in 1987. I "know" this to be untrue as I sat GCSEs in 1988, and we were much heralded as the first year to take them, however DH is equally sure that his brother was the first year.

Searching online has revealed a suggestion that there "might" have been earlier GCSE pilots, but that someone taking public exams in 1987 would have sat CSE or O Level.

Is there anyone else that took GCSE exams in 1987, or remembers them happening?

DH did both. Last year of O Levels which he failed most of, first year of GCSEs as resits.

The 16+ exam rings a bell. I am reasonably sure that the year above me took those exams and not O-levels in 1987.

I did a combination of O’levels, GCSE’s & and exam called 16+ in 1987 (born 1971). London school.

Cant remember which subject was which though. As people have said thus was a transition year. No idea what the 16+ exams were all about

I did the first GCSEs. 1988. Sorry dh.

Pilot studios and the 16+. I have both an O Level English and a 16+ (all coursework) as my school was a pilot. The 16+ was A-F.

I was in the first GCSE cohort, in 1988. There was a massive fuss about it at school and in the news.

That rings a bell with 16+ being English & all course work.

1987 was the last year of O' Levels and CSE examinations. I was one of that co-hort.

Me too !

Sane school maybe? PS?

I was born last quarter 72 and I took gcse. I am sure I was the second year to take them in my school.

My sister was the first year to actually take the exams. So preparation would’ve started in 1986, for public exams taken in summer of 1988.

I dd O levels and left school in 1987.

No, I sat the second year in 1989.

I left high school in 1986 and took O level for nearly everything and sat ONE GCSE for English language. I believe there were trials/phased introductions of GCSEs before becoming the norm.

I did my exams that year. We got graded in O levels and GCSEs - most subjects were more GCSE-like with a mix of coursework and exams.

It was the ‘transition year’.

So officially they started in 1988 but beginning to move over in 1987.

Same here with English - all coursework.

I did 16± in 1987 but for me English wasn't part of it, that was solely OLevel. We didn't do any coursework at all for 16±. It was all exams. The O Levels were graded A-F and the 16± were 1-6 with 1 being highest. A 1 was the equivalent of a C grade at OLevel. So you could get a D for example in Maths OLevel but the equivalent of C as you had a 1 in the 16+ Funnily enough I was looking at my certificates last night as dd wanted to see my results

We also did AS Levels the next year prior to sitting ALevels. They were something in between an O and A Level

This makes the most sense

I was the penultimate year of o levels in 1986 and our teachers were all going on the training courses for them in 1987 for the launch in ‘88. They were very unimpressed with the differences.

Your DH is correct. Some were taken midway in 1987 but the official year was 1988.

I did CSE's in May 1986 aged 16.

Afraid not. My school was in Camden borough (Hampstead comp)

No. We were the first year to sit them in 1988.

I think 1988 was the first year. But agree that there might have been pilots before that.

I was 1988 and it was the first year, we were considered guinea pigs for taking them. I still don’t know if I’d have done better at O levels.

I was the first year in 1988 nationally. The slogan was "make a date with '88"