When (and why) did exams get shorter?

[DorotheaDiamond]

Back in the dark ages I did O levels when all exams were 2.5 hours plus (I found my maths paper and it was 2 2.5 hour papers and I remember the rest being the same). A levels were 3 hours.

Now GCSE maths papers are 2 lots of 90 mins, and A levels seem to be 2 or 2.5 hours.

when did they change and why?

Last year's GCSE session was particularly gruelling I think, as the exams were spread out, with sufficient gaps between the different papers so that if a pupil missed papers because of Covid they would be recovered in time to take the next one in the same subject and would get a grade based on that. My DS did 20 odd exams and they seemed to go on forever, starting well before half term and I think they lasted at least a couple of weeks longer than normal as he didn't get the really long break that my elder children did.
Yes, the exams are shorter but there are more of them. Several subjects had 3 papers and if I recall rightly there were 4 things for French. It seemed relentless pressure compared to my O levels in 1982. We didn't have any exams before half term except maybe the orals for French and German and then all the written exams were done fairly quickly after the holiday. I certainly remember having heavy days where I had one 2.5 hour paper in the morning and another in the afternoon but I think I'd rather that than what my son had which seemed to be one fairly short exam most days but it went on for weeks and weeks.
It's definitely different these days, but I don't think it's necessarily easier. I think some people think it's still like it was in the fairly recent past with lots of coursework etc and don't realise how demanding the new syllabi are. DH and I are both scientists by trade and we don't think the science or maths GCSE or A level courses our children have taken in the last few years are easy at all. I can't really comment on the other subjects but I presume they are of a similar standard. I am sometimes a bit surprised by things that aren't covered, or at least not in the depth they were in my day, but then there are other topics on the GCSE syllabus now that I didn't learn about til I was an undergraduate as they were new then! I'm not sure things are easier, or more difficult overall, just different. Times change.

Today's GCSEs seem to be very much a marathon. I came across a post of mine from 4 years ago where I was worrying how DD2 would cope with 20 exams (her elder sister only had 13). As it turns out she was the second covid cohort and missed y11 anyway.

I think the content of most GCSEs is pretty good, certainly the RE was way more interesting than mine.

It's just a rubbish system for the less academic, there aren't any options for them.

For 11 subjects DD has 17 exams.

product design only has one (2 hrs) , music only has one (1:45) - both 50% plus coursework

3 sciences are 2 each (both 1:45), 1 for each English (lit 2 hrs lang 215) (igcse so has coursework instead of second paper in each)

2 history (igcse both 130), 2 computer science, (2 each I think) 2 maths (2 hrs interestingly..most of the ones I invigilator are 90 mins), 1 FSMQ (2 hrs)

looking at the timetable languages are 2:50 across 3 papers (plus oral earlier)

RS 2x1:45
latin 1:30 + 1
combined science 2x1:10
geog 1:10 + 1:45

I’m sure there were 2 papers for each of the non practical subjects at O level …(I didn’t do art/music/design so no idea) so actually no change there.

Ah, yes, OP, iGCSE do have far fewer exams- as you can see. That explains the confusion, I think.

For the poster who said kids have less time in each school day this is actually not true. I did the same times as you but we got 1 hour 20 min for lunch plus a 30 min break. My kids are in school for 8.30am untill 3.10pm but only get a 30 min lunch and a 20 min break so actual class time is longer now.

Also - don’t assume a shorter paper is easier! I teach exams where in my opinion the time given is very tight and an extra half an hour would make the whole thing much better. It’s like those artificially short timings they give contests on the Bake Off.

Exactly this. If exams are shorter, OP, do you not think this is an added challenge for pupils..? Or are you trying to claim that the exam content has been reduced too (ie they have to do proportionately less in the exam?

I’m not assuming they are easier, harder or anything - just interested in how the lengths have changed and why.

I don’t know enough about the content now or remember enough from them to judge.

History and English are dds only iGCSEa - everything else is normal gcse - so it’s only the 2 fewer English papers .

If DD had sat them she would have had:
2 Eng Lang, 2 Eng Lit, 3 Maths, 6 science
then
3 Geography, 2 RE, 1 Food & 1 Drama (with both of the last 2 also having practicals)
So 20 for 9 GCSEs.

@DorotheaDiamond, you might be interested to know that one of my DC took 11 GCSEs in 2022 comprising 25 separate exam sessions, averaging 1.5 hours each, giving a total of 37.5 hours of exams. Many years earlier, I sat 11 GCE O-levels comprising 21 separate exam sessions, averaging 2 hours each, giving a total of 42 hours of exams.

Neither I or this particular DC selected subject options with a separate coursework component. So, on the basis of this very limited historical comparison, average exam sessions are shorter but there are more exam sessions per subject.

Obviously there is a whole separate debate about terminal exams vs coursework and total number of subjects that should be taken in one sitting, but, aside from that, my DC said that whilst lots of shorter exams meant each was less energy sapping, there were fewer weekdays without any exams so you had to hit the exam period fully up-to-speed; fewer 'gaps' for last minute revision.

I kept my original papers (hence the data above) and asked my DC to review these. The question types and topics were pretty similar in their view; the only noticeable difference being a greater emphasis on mechanics in my Maths papers (perhaps a reflection of a more industrial-focused economy at that time).

Combined science will be 6x 1.10 (2 per science)

That’s what I meant - sorry - 2 x 1:10 per subject same as I wrote 2 x 1:45 per subject for 3 sciences.