The 20+yr old GCSE Thread!

Amp34 · 26 Aug 2006 at 01:50

I agree with you there, since the new Core units have come in maths has gotten easier (I did P1, P2, P3 etc. and missed the core units by a year). Although that was changed mainly so you could actually get to the end of the course before your exam. The syllubus wasn't changed to allow for less time due to the AS exams etc being brought in so it was almost impossible to get through the entire syllubus in structured lesson time. I don't think the exams had gotten easier before then but I did do Edexel which was regarded as the hardest of the 3 main exam boards by far.

nealw · 26 Aug 2006 at 02:09

Amp34 said:
I don't think the exams had gotten easier before then but I did do Edexel which was regarded as the hardest of the 3 main exam boards by far.

*Checks certificate*

Mine was OCR apparently.

paradigm · 26 Aug 2006 at 02:26

LeperousDust said:
By the looks of it he was banned about 10 minutes after he started the thread

I would imagine dual accounts, or someone banned trying to sign up again which is just a variation on dual accounts.

I'd imagine he used to be called Oracle

Amp34 · 26 Aug 2006 at 02:32

paradigm said:
I'd imagine he used to be called Oracle

And what did Oracle do?

badgermonkey · 26 Aug 2006 at 02:37

50/50 said:
'C1' is a joke compared to P1.
.

But I believe there are now more modules to sit than before. Therefore as a rule each paper is easier as there is less to learn for each paper. I disagree with the "getting easier", i did many past papers in revision and although some were harder than my "C(nmbr)" papers, there were a fair share easier too. (I have just sat my A-levels). It is proven fact (

) that my mind is very mathematical, I managed a C, but that's because I forgot all the methods for C4 and made them up on the spot... still managed lol.

badgermonkey · 26 Aug 2006 at 02:38

Amp34 said:
And what did Oracle do?

Made a second account called Oxbow

Amp34 · 26 Aug 2006 at 02:44

badgermonkey said:
But I believe there are now more modules to sit than before. Therefore as a rule each paper is easier as there is less to learn for each paper. I disagree with the "getting easier", i did many past papers in revision and although some were harder than my "C(nmbr)" papers, there were a fair share easier too. (I have just sat my A-levels). It is proven fact ( ) that my mind is very mathematical, I managed a C, but that's because I forgot all the methods for C4 and made them up on the spot... still managed lol.

What units did you do?

Made a second account called Oxbow

PaulStat · 26 Aug 2006 at 08:57

Did my GCSE's in 1997, tbh they were pretty damn easy back then. For example this was one of the questions in my Biology paper.

"A monkey in a hot climate has short hair, what sort of hair would a monkey in a cold climate have?"

alexakasloth · 26 Aug 2006 at 09:54

Maybe the youth of today are just getting smarter than you were at that age

Jonny69 · 26 Aug 2006 at 10:47

I did mine in 1994 and like said before they were pretty easy back then, they brought in an A* mark because so many people were hitting 95+% in the papers. We used to do lots of test papers and they were all the same questions so it wasn't exactly difficult to fill in the gaps for our real exam.

And what's the deal with there being an easier paper with a maximum mark of a B? The questions were blatantaly geared to coach you through and get a C whether you could do the subject or not

Computers? 1994? What's a computer? :eek:

UKTopGun · 26 Aug 2006 at 11:04

Well, there was even that program where people who were taking there GCSE's took O-Level exams and even the ones who got say D or E in there actual GCSE's got a high mark in O-Levels :rolleyes:

.

Everybody is saying GCSE's are so easy blah blah blah but I'm still taking them, I'm and A or B student and I still find it hard trying to learn Science biology, science physics, science chemistry, maths, english litterature, english reading, religious studies, history, ICT, business studies, electronics all within 1 week.

And all the people who say they "didnt revise" you obviously either paid attention in class and have the gift of being able to remember stuff or your just went through the test using common knowledge which is pretty damn hard as only 3 or 4 questions need common knowledge.

We take papers from 1997 to 2005 (next year 2006) and tbh, the students who are A or B in 2006 get A or B's in 1997 papers and the students who are A or B in 2006 get A or B's in the 2005 papers. Hell we even once took a paper from 1990 (So people who are now 32) and still everybody got there average grades (obviously exceptions as there are in all of the papers).

And about the coursework, my school acctually has a database where you have to send your word file to your teacher and it is then scanned to check whether you have been copying from websites. One boy found this out last year and now his coursework is void. And the subjects which do have a lot of coursework are ones such as Design Technology, practical subjects where if your sitting in an exam you can only do theory but coursework means you can do practical. Yes coursework is a lot but how is 1 hour of your life meant to justify what you get in the future? I think coursework is a good thing because (for the people not going into sixth form) why should they depend on what they can do in the future (obviously there are exceptions) by sitting one exam. They might have worked hard all year then its mucked up in 1 hour? That wouldn't be right.

Mr Mag00 · 26 Aug 2006 at 11:18

As far as revision goes, I have problems motivating myself to do work if I'm on the computer - find myself on the forums instead I found it much easier to sit in my room, stick some beets on and break out the notes I'd made in lessons.

i dont think we need say anymore on the subject, sorry to pick it up, but that is the standard of education today. I know we can all make mistakes whilst typing, there is a difference between typo and spelling error, and i frequently do, but on the whole i can spell and todays education does not place any weight on the ability to spell correctly except english. My son has just passed all his B and above, however a couple of years ago i was aghast at open evening regarding science coursework. I was told that the pupils can resubmit as many times as possible before the deadline to get as high a mark as posssible, each time it will be returned pointing out where marks can be gained. I know for a fact he had passed a number of gcse from coursework alone!!

Leeum · 26 Aug 2006 at 11:27

Mr Mag00 said:
i dont think we need say anymore on the subject, sorry to pick it up, but that is the standard of education today.

That was a deliberate spelling mistake, think of it as slang if you like

Mr Mag00 said:
I was told that the pupils can resubmit as many times as possible before the deadline to get as high a mark as posssible, each time it will be returned pointing out where marks can be gained. I know for a fact he had passed a number of gcse from coursework alone!!

Not really sure about that one. You have to take into consideration that the final grade of a course consists of roughly 40% coursework and 60% exams.

Eliot · 26 Aug 2006 at 12:38

I found this years maths paper (wjec) WAY harder than the papers from 2002-2005 because i had those nailed but 06's paper was a bit harder

Mr Mag00 · 26 Aug 2006 at 13:10

Sorry, i was sat at the meeting about my sons gcse science course.

Gman · 26 Aug 2006 at 13:34

PaulStat said:
Did my GCSE's in 1997, tbh they were pretty damn easy back then. For example this was one of the questions in my Biology paper.

"A monkey in a hot climate has short hair, what sort of hair would a monkey in a cold climate have?"

Come on admit it, you were in the "Special" class wern't you

|Thomas| · 26 Aug 2006 at 14:11

Mr Mag00 said:
i dont think we need say anymore on the subject, sorry to pick it up, but that is the standard of education today. I know we can all make mistakes whilst typing, there is a difference between typo and spelling error, and i frequently do, but on the whole i can spell and todays education does not place any weight on the ability to spell correctly except english. My son has just passed all his B and above, however a couple of years ago i was aghast at open evening regarding science coursework. I was told that the pupils can resubmit as many times as possible before the deadline to get as high a mark as posssible, each time it will be returned pointing out where marks can be gained. I know for a fact he had passed a number of gcse from coursework alone!!

I'm sorry but that is rubbish. Most GCSE exams are now marked to include quality of written communication, which is basically spelling, punctuation and grammar. If you fail to convey meaning in your answer you don't get any marks, nor do you get the extra QWC marks.

I feel however the modern system is failing us on two fronts:

1. Repetitive questions. Every year there are similar questions for most exams so it is simply a case of looking at the past papers and learning what they are looking for. They need to bring in new material and open up the syllabi a bit so that questions can be written on a wider range of areas.

2. Modules, and particularly the ability to resit modules, is what I feel is the main issue with the modern system. An A2 student could take their AS modules as many times as they like to get the best grade possible on the easiest sections. They need to put some sort of limit on the number resits you can do, or get rid of the modules entirely.

Beansprout · 26 Aug 2006 at 14:19

MastermindUK said:
Maths GCSE and A level are easier, lots of topics have been moved from GCSE -> A level and A level -> further. Also the questions are more straight forward, it's more like putting numbers into a formula than actually having to think about it, they're usually broken down a lot more too.

That's weird, my A-level maths teacher has been teaching A-level maths and said only a couple of things have changed, such as imaginary numbers being pushed out to further maths. He reckons the style of the course/exams has changed, not the content

aardvark · 26 Aug 2006 at 14:21

i was the second year to do GCSE's and my brother did O'levels a couple of years before and mine were definitely a lot easier - and they have got a lot easier since then - but everything has - A Levels are easier and so are degrees, because the emphasis is on getting results (from a university perpective) so they have been getting slightly easier as time goes by.

mainly because of the greater use of coursework - which is a) very easy to cheat and b) very easy full stop - if you can't get a 1st with access to libraries of books then you are an idiot.

SwishSpencor · 26 Aug 2006 at 15:03

Gman said:
But looking at GCSE's now it seem they have a lot more choice in the subjects, back when I did them you had to choose a lanaguage now you don't have to. Then you've got the IT subject etc. Generaly I think the exams are of the same standard it's just that the students can now pick the subjects they know and like as opposed to being forced to pick subjects they have no motivation for.

I think this is the main reason people grades are better, when i was in school [only a couple years or so ago

] we had to do lessons we didn't like such has languages and R.E, i think if i didn't have to do them i would have gotten better marks. They made me unmotivated, lowered morale and such.

kids have it easy these days