Are GCSEs important later on in life?

SideWinder said:
Yeah, what i thought. Ah. :(
Wonder how much it'll cost for her to do it...and at the end of the day, she can explain she got the GCSEs after University to help her get a job and so on.
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Wut? Why the hell should she have to pass GCSEs? She's done A levels and a university degree for christ's sake, not to mention she is now in her early twenties (I'm assuming). Next we'll want A level students to brush up on their year6 SAT results. In her education details all she needs to do is say she went to a secondary school in Colombia and passed there - I would be seriously surprised if Colombian schools didn't teach maths. Its already a huge shortfall that Maths/English/Science isn't compulsory in the UK until age 18.

As for 'those exams are nothing like SATs, just exams to pass the year'... isn't that precisely what they're for here? (I mean, other than a waste :p)
 
SATs here are usually used to put pupils into the right sets. At least, they were at my secondary school.
 
SATS - pointless waste of time
GCSE's - waste of time
A-Levels (or equiv) - waste of time
Degree - 99% waste of time

What you need is real world experience, the ability to do your job and do it well, all the rest is pointless once you are past 22ish, upto that point the exams have their place but become pointless very quickly.
 
Slime101 said:
SATS - pointless waste of time
GCSE's - waste of time
A-Levels (or equiv) - waste of time
Degree - 99% waste of time

What you need is real world experience, the ability to do your job and do it well, all the rest is pointless once you are past 22ish, upto that point the exams have their place but become pointless very quickly.
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It's all very well calling these things a waste of time, but without them you'd never get to the next stage.

GCSEs are required for A levels. A levels are required for a degree. A degree is required for a job. Job experience is required for a promotion.

They're anything but worthless.

I guess you're right though, once you've got the experience it's not worth even thinking about the exams you've passed.
 
Being as she has a reason for not having them i.e. not being in the country, it should be fine. They can't expect foreigners to have GCSEs can they?
 
Think it greatly depends on the job your going for, at 30 I find experience is far more important than grades, as mentioned above, the skills you learnt in school through GCSE's are hardly used at all as you get further into a career.

I know that once i finish my current training and apply for another job in that field experience will be all that matters.
 
I can only give careers advice from my perspective as a Careers Officer at the NHS but we would expect Adult Numeracy & Literacy level 1 for jobs on a Band 2 and upwards.
Not having them wouldn't stop you from getting a job if you had a degree but there would be an expectation to get them while on the job.

I have a brother in law who is a Professor Of History and writes books for a living.
He sat his Adult Literacy Level 2 last year and failed.
Ask him about history and he's brilliant but ask him straightforward English grammar stuff and he falls apart so I can see where having a degree doesn't mean you have a great understanding of English or Numeracy.
 
SideWinder said:
Right, story time!

Right, my girlfriend was in Colombia for 3 and a half years when she was growing up. She joined into Year 9 halfway through the year and her teachers decided it would be best to repeat the year to ensure she fully understood it. She then took exams in Year 10 but those exams aren't anything like SATS, just simply exams to pass the year. She moved to England and went to college. They let her in after interviewing her etc. and achieved 3 A-Levels (ABB) in Music, Spanish and Psychology. She's now at University and expected to get a high 2.1 in Psychology.

Anywho, graduate schemes and the majority of jobs say that to apply, you need 5 A-C GCSEs but does she actually need them? Surely not as she has the A-Levels? But then again, Maths and English GCSEs are always meant to be...well, there as they are the basics? And she'll have a degree?

Any advice?
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school's for fools man....... look at meeeeeeeeeee

"Mr deeds"
 
I've never once been asked for evidence of my qualifications. In the 12 years since I left school I've been accepted into a modern apprenticeship and been given the choice of ANY trade in the army , all without ever having to prove a thing.

In my experience only I may as well have never taken any exams.
 
Slime101 said:
SATS - pointless waste of time
GCSE's - waste of time
A-Levels (or equiv) - waste of time
Degree - 99% waste of time

What you need is real world experience, the ability to do your job and do it well, all the rest is pointless once you are past 22ish, upto that point the exams have their place but become pointless very quickly.
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have fun trying to get real world expierience without any of the above though ! its possible but its hard
 
aayzof said:
I needed good GCSE's to get onto my uni course and to get onto my grad scheme.
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bet you didnt 'need' them. a few people i know thought they 'needed' them but after contacting unis and employers to explain there situation they didnt really need them at all
 
i got chucked out of school, and to be honest it makes no difference 5 years on, got my MS qualifications now and that all i need in my line of work
 
Slime101 said:
SATS - pointless waste of time
GCSE's - waste of time
A-Levels (or equiv) - waste of time
Degree - 99% waste of time

What you need is real world experience, the ability to do your job and do it well, all the rest is pointless once you are past 22ish, upto that point the exams have their place but become pointless very quickly.
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And how does not having any of the above help train an architect, engineer, doctor, lawyer and so on then once they are over 22?


To the OP: I did my "GCSE" in Mauritius; they were effectively GCE O levels prepared by University of Cambridge. When I moved to England straight after to do my A-levels, I simply had to convert them to GCSE equivalents based on the grade boundaries (documented in my old school's grade book) and show that to the sixth form. I don't recall any of them really disputing the conversion. I had also only done 8 subjects as opposed to the 10ish done here; that didn't matter either - probably because they weren't Mickey Mouse subjects and all of them were B and above. To date, in all my job applications (placements or grad jobs), I have always used the converted GCSE grades and never has it been a problem, even when I do say it was done abroad.
 
"andy" said:
bet you didnt 'need' them. a few people i know thought they 'needed' them but after contacting unis and employers to explain there situation they didnt really need them at all
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I needed an A* in English literature GCSE. I also needed at least a grade B in any foreign language because of the linguistic components of the course. These were prerequisites for the course.
 
She should contact the grad schemes she is interested in applying for an explain the situation, they will be much better able to advise her than this message board. For other jobs it's shouldn't be a problem she just needs to make sure she explains the lack of them it's not like it's because she is thick she has a legitamate reason ie she was educated abroad for an extended period.
 
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