Explain GCSEs to me

[Itsallok]

(West) Australian here. Our secondary schooling is pretty simple. We don't have a GCSE equivalent although we do have Year 10 exams. Students choose either ATAR subjects or General or other route but in a simple sense. ATAR subjects are for university scoring, generals are for attaining credits for Year 12 graduation. Schools vary but students are generally encouraged or discouraged rather than students being told you can't do the subject in such a strict way and students do't move to a college, they stay at the same school.

I have been reading these threads with great interest - so many subjects to study - and how do you end up with a number for a subject - is it based on the top cohort for the subjects - percentage? What is a pass? I saw a 9 is top but how does one get a 9? And why do students do so many subjects - are some related?

Students do GCSEs in year 11 so when they are 16. Years ago this was one possible age to leave school, which is why.

So many subjects? Well not really. Students have to narrow down from their KS3 curriculum of maybe 16-18 subjects to just 8-10.

Most students will take Eng lit (analysis of texts), Eng lang (broadly, comprehension and creative writing), maths, biology, chemistry, physics, and then 3-4 others they choose, often a constrained choice (eg a school may say you must take history or geography).

GCSEs are exam-based qualifications. All yr 11 students across the country sit the exams and they are externally marked. The grades are from 1 (lowest) to 9 (highest). A 9 is only awarded to the top percentage of students but the % exam resylt fir a 9 will vary A 4 is regarded as a pass by employers, colleges and Higher education. Most students will need at least a pass/4 in Eng and maths. Higher achieving students may take A levels (three subjects with exams at age 18) while others may take a more practical route eg studying engineering or catering post 16.

Why do you ask op? Fwiw I have no idea at all what ATAR subjects are or "general or other route but in a simple sense" so maybe your system is no simpler than the Englush one. I think it's more about what you have been used to tbh.

Sorry for typos, it's late!

GCSEs are done at end of year 11 and yes, there are lots of subjects! Most students do at least 8, but many do more - 10 subjects is quite common. Some subjects are compulsory (e.g. English, maths, science) and others you can choose. A certain percentage of students are awarded each grade. So, for example, in a difficult subject like physics, it may be that you can get a 9 if you get more than 80% (that’s just a made up figure). The grade boundaries vary for each subject and change each year.

GCSEs don’t usually count for university entrance but sometimes do - e.g. a few medical schools look at GCSEs as part of their overall assessment.

The big difference is that in England students who want to go to uni then also have to do year 12 and year 13 (called sixth form). This is best described as a cross between secondary school and uni because students only do 3 subjects (4 is possible but not usual) and they study them at quite an advanced level. These are called A Levels.

Hi to you in WA!

The vast majority of children in England and Wales study 8 or 9 GCSEs. These usually have to include: English language, maths, a modern foreign langage, a humanity subject (history or geography), and science. They then choose two, three or even four "options" which refect their interests and career ambitions, so these might include business studies, socilogy, drama, music, religious studies, English literature, a second language etc.

Science is unique amongst GCSE subjects in that children can choose to study the three sciences (biology, chemistry, physics) seperately or in combination. More scientifically minded children do seperate sciences and each one is graded individually. Less scientifcally minded children, or those who would rather study more of the arts subjects, can do "combined science". They study about two-thirds of the content of a full GCSE for each of the three sciences, which is therefore worth two GCSEs altogether. This means that they get two grades for science, which can be the same (eg 7-7) or adjacent grades (eg 7-6).

In addition, students doing maths and combined science are divided into foundation and higher tiers. Those studying foundation level do the easier content and can achieve grades 1-5; those studying higher level also study more challenging material and can get grades 4 - 9.

Grade 4 and above is a pass, grade 5 is a strong pass and so on.

They do study a lot of subjects for GCSEs (at age 16), but then study only three or four subjects for A-levels, culminating in another set of public exams at age 18.

You have core compulsory subjects and options.

Normally the compulsory subjects are:
Maths
English Language
English Literature
Combined Science (Physics/Biology/Chemistry - you study all 3 and get the equivalent of 2 GCSEs at the end) or Triple Science (study all 3 and get 3 GCSEs)

Most schools will also strongly want:
Geography or History
Modern Foreign Language - so French/German/Spanish
RE
Arts subject (Music/Drama/Art/Textiles etc)

You then pick the rest of your options from a list and they are based on what you enjoy doing.

Most kids do between 7 and 10 GCSEs. If you have SpLd like dyslexia then you are often allowed to drop things like an MFL.

The aim is for a rounded set of subjects across sciences, arts, humanities that allow for those who lean in one particular direction to make the most of that without compromising a decent across-the-board education.

GCSEs used to be scored A-F, then they added an A* as so many were getting an A. Then they needed another extra good grade on top of that, so now it has moved to grades 9-1 (easier to add a new one on). A pass grade used to be a C, now it is a 4. However, lots of schools will want at least a 6 in a subject if you want to take it at A Level.

When all the exams are marked, the top x percent will get a 9, the next x percent will get an 8 and so on. So a particular score might get you a 9 one year and only a 7 the next depending on the cohort.

Sixth form is a bit different - some schools only go to 16, some have very small 6th forms (DD's only has space for 25% of the year group so they want a minimum of 6 x Grade 7 to get in), some sixth forms are stand-alone colleges.

You can also do different things for 6th form - there are the classic A levels (3 or 4 subjects), or BTECS which are generally more vocational and more continuous assessment than exams.

It's pointless a student taking a subject they haven't scored well in GCSE at for A Level - they will be behind other students in the class and will probably struggle miserably, unless there is some exceptional reason why they didn't hit the grade.

ATAR simply means its marked a level which is higher enough to be considered for university. And the material is much harder. So you can study English at ATAR level or General level. The maximum most students study for ATAR is 6. Which more of les means they get one period of that subject a day from a timetable perspective. These subjects are studied over two years - 11 and 12. Some students start with 6, drop one etc or they change - although clearly you could not pick up chemistry in year 12 if you haven't done it in year 11.

Prior to the final ATAR mark, grades are A, B etc. 75% for an A, 60% for B, 50% C. Exams form part of the final ATAR mark in Year 12 but not the whole - assessments/tests through the year do as well, so you need to keep up all year.

Other routes were things like further education colleges, no ATAR needed but can be a pathway to university or can just be an end to themselves.

The grade boundaries and the % needed to get that grade change each year and are different for each subject. In general though you would need at least 50% to 'pass' and 70% for a Grade 7 upwards.

Historically 9 or 10 subjects at GCSE is considered normal. You have to pass Maths and English at Grade 4 to move into sixth form to do your A levels. It used to be that you could stop school at age 16 but now you have to be in education until 18. A lot of secondary schools don't have sixth forms anymore so lots of pupils go to separate 6th Form Colleges - some to do A levels (academic) and some do more vocational courses (electrics, plumbing etc)

GCSEs, General Certificate of Secondary Education have two uses, the student take them as formal exams that help them get to the next stage of education.

Schools also use them for their 'Progress 8' report - this is suposed to be the top 8 subjects of all children who take GCSEs.

THis is why the compulsory subjects are maths, English x 2 (lang and literature) then the 'ebac' subjects whit are the subjects the government thinks everyone should take, so extra science, a humanity, a language or computer science. The last three 'buckets' are a free choice.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/285990/P8_factsheet.pdf

What I hate about progress 8 is that not all students are even, when I was at school under the old system English and Maths were compulsory (as was RE as it was an RC school) a language was pushed and then the other subjects were a free choice so if you were really good at art you could take s many art subjects as you school would allow.

The sylabus is determined by the exam boards and schools chose the board(s) they want to teach, do for computer science lots of schools use a Welsh exam board even though they ar not in wales.

So all children sitting GCSE computer science with that board they sit exactly the same exam, at the same time as every other student taking GCSE computer science with that exam board.

GCSE grades 1-3 are a 'level 1' qualification, 4-9 are a 'level 2' qualification or a 'pass'.

As PP have said chilldren take 8-10 subjects.

Some take subjects that are not GCSE but are coursework based and again can get a level 1 or 2 pass. These are often TEC but there are some others.

At 16 after GCSEs children have to be in work, training or education. Very few take the work option.

VI forms are normally year 11 and 12 attached to a school, children may stay at their own school or go to another one. Sstudents can also go on to an FE college.

VI forms usualy teach A Levels - these are the exams that get you in to uni, but there are other courses, again BTEC but these can be level 1 to level 3.

Three passes at A Level or equivelent is considered a 'Level 3' qualification and this is what gets you to uni but also is a ualification in its own right.

FE colleges also teach more practical subjects eg mechanics, art, hospitality, catering, car maintenance etc. I've worked at two that have the inside of an airoplane for students wanting to be flight attendants.

I've also eaten in restraunts run by students on catering courses and had my hair cut by a student.

So if you have 10 grade 9 GCSEs you will probably be heading for A Levels. If you have a couple of grade 4 and 5-6 grade 1-3 you will be heading to college to do a level 2 course, and you will have to resit GCSE English and maths.

If you don't get any grades you would start on an entry level or level 1 course.

You can progress from level 1 to level 2 and on to level 3 so you would be at college until you are 20 and then go on to a career or go to uni.

One thing I hate about gcses is they fail about a 1/3 of people by design.

I think its a bit less stress in the Australian and American systems which is a good thing.

Another thing I quite like in Australia (from where my relative is living anyway may not be everywhere) is that due to distances it's quite normal just to go to your local uni (the next town could be a flight away). Some do go to other unis and look at which one etc but most of my relatives year that went to uni went local.

Again it seems a lot less stressful than our system.

Based on England where I am:

High school = 5 years (yrs 7-11).

GCSE exams sat at end of Y11.

This level of education is called LEVEL 2.

Core subjects like English, Maths & Sciences are always included. Others vary and often include History, Geography, Art, Music, IT, Languages etc.

In year 8 or 9 children usually choose their ‘options’ which narrows their subjects down to just the ones they will sit GCSE exams in in Y11.

GCSEs are pretty much purely exam based at Y11 usually. Generally each subject will have 2 or 3 exams spread over a few weeks and the total marks for all papers are added up.

Some subjects are not called GCSEs. These are done as BTEC’s or other types of qualification where the exam is only a small portion of the final grade and can be say in Y10 or Y11 and then the rest of the course is done on graded coursework. These are still LEVEL 2 qualifications.

There are various exam boards and the types of qualification vary:

GCSE / IGCSE - more academic exam based
BTEC - more vocational with coursework
CNAT - more vocational with coursework
…plus a few more.

After Y11 results are announced in August, children then usually enroll in sixth form or college to move on to LEVEL 3 qualifications such as A Levels (academic exam based) or level 3 vocational courses such as BTECs. LEVEL 3 is generally Y12 & Y13 but a course may extend to 3 years depending on its content/structure.

These results then lead to university which is LEVEL 4-6 or other courses such as higher level apprenticeships.

One thing I hate about gcses is they fail about a 1/3 of people by design.

Blame progress 8 and league tables. I honestly see no point in a student taking 8 GCSE subjects and knowing they will not get a good grade.

When I rule the world schools will be allowed to offer fewer subjects with more teaching time to students who need it.

To offer different subjects, possibly linking with FE colleges so the 14 year old who is not academic but wants to be a chef would have the option of starting a catering course rather than a GCSE.

I agree but also its in the way the pass mark is set each year.

I think it's marked on a bell curve so around 30% will fail however good the cohort are which frustrates me. They wait to see how everyone does before setting the psss marks. There should just be a set minimum level they need to reach and great if we get to a point tbat most the country reaches it.

I do like how Australia and America have a level to "pass" high school whcih doesn't end up in 30-50% of people feeling a failure.

I was trying to find a pass rate for those who pass English AND maths. The key thing we need them to do and can only find gov stats based on grade 5+ which is around 50%.

Individually around 30% get less than a 4 in English.
30% get less than a 4 in maths.

Only 1 in 5 pass resit gcse maths.

It's failure by design.

I don't think tney are fails, not like in the days of O Levels anyway, the lower grades count as a level 1 qualification that will get them on to a level 2 course at an FE college.