I did O levels can some one pls explain marks available for current GCSES

[Lasvegas]

Are they taken after 2 years of study? or do people now take an exam each year? Thanks

The results out today (and next summer) could be for a GCSE course where an exam is taken after 2 years (linear) or where exams are taken throughout Y10 and Y11 (modular).

Any GCSE courses started this September will be linear only.

noble thanks , so if someone has just sat the first part of a modular course, does that mean that the results from part one are then added to part 2 exam in a years time? Is modular easier than linear? or is that simplifying it?

If they have started a modular course already, then they will continue on the modular course and sit their final module by next June. Next June is the last time that modules can be cashed in.

Modular exams cover the same content as linear exams so aren't easier in that respect, however some students cope better with taking exams in bite-sized chunks rather than the pressure of one big final exam (that said, others aren't served well by continuous assessment and do better with one big push right at the end of the course). One other advantage of modular exams is that you can result individual modules to bump up your overall grade.

noble. Thanks. can I try your patience a bit longer.
I found on Govt web site:
Grades
GCSEs are graded A*-G and U (unclassified):
? higher tier exams leads to grades A*-D
? foundation tier exams leads to grades C-G

does this mean that a kid doing modular GCSE that took first batch of two exams this summer, could be doing either a higher or a foundation? My step son has C's and D's and is v disappointed. But if he was doing foundation level that a C is the best???

Thank you, i am coming to this late as kids parents clueless!

If he got Cs and Ds then he could have been doing either Higher or Foundation as there is an overlap. Yes, C is the highest he could have got on a Foundation paper, so if he is disappointed with a C, it is possible that he was sitting the Higher paper and expected to do better.

You need to check if he really is doing modular if this is his first set of GCSE exams because with modular (at least in maths and science that I know of) it's 3 modules over two years, not 2 sets of exams and he should probably have sat some modules and got some results before now.

He could also be sitting a mix of linear and modular, so linear maths, but modular science.

Some schools operate a weird system where they enter the kids for some of their GCSEs in Y10 and some in Y11, linear fashion, in which case these Y10 results would be his final grades for those subjects.

It's all quite confusing, I'm afraid, and changes from school to school.

noble, thanks so much. it is certainly complex.