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Re: Congratu-well done
Posted: Thu 23 Aug, 2007 15.24
by rob
Never revised for my exams, apart from my French GCSE exam, which was worth it, as I got an A*.
Most of the stuff was in my head anyway, so why revise it?
Re: Congratu-well done
Posted: Thu 23 Aug, 2007 15.31
by Stuart*
Sput wrote:You don't have a right to moan....
Breath in slowly - and out again......slowly!
That's better sput.
Re: Congratu-well done
Posted: Thu 23 Aug, 2007 15.38
by Sput
I appreciate your sentiment, I am actually underwater right n...
Re: Congratu-well done
Posted: Thu 23 Aug, 2007 15.47
by Stuart*
Sput wrote:I appreciate your sentiment, I am actually underwater right n...
as I said - and breath deeply!

Re: Congratu-well done
Posted: Thu 23 Aug, 2007 17.39
by chinajan
Sput wrote: brewhaha
Brouhaha.

Re: Congratu-well done
Posted: Thu 23 Aug, 2007 17.40
by james2001
nodnirG kraM wrote:However I must ask whether today there is any point in setting kids these exams. Citing BBC News Online as
my source, it seems that 98.1% of British children passed their GCSEs last year, and that figure is expected to rise this year. Wow. Truly amazing. We must have the most intelligent children in the world if fewer than 2 out of 100 children are failing their exams. Congratulations to the lot of them. "The government says its focus will remain on 'getting the basics right'." and with these results it seems they have been successful.
Conversely, though, on Monday we were
told that "More than half of employers say school leavers often cannot function in the workplace due to a lack of basic maths and literacy".
So which is it? Are today's kids works of genius or illiterate, innumerate under-achievers?
The thing is, it's what's defined as a "pass". GSCE has grades A*-G, which are all technically classed as a "pass", only a U is classed as a Fail. Of course, A*-C is what employers look for and are the only grades that really mean anything. G is a very poor result indeed, even if it is classed as a pass.
Re: Congratu-well done
Posted: Thu 23 Aug, 2007 18.29
by Stuart*
james2001 wrote:The thing is, it's what's defined as a "pass". GSCE has grades A*-G, which are all technically classed as a "pass", only a U is classed as a Fail. Of course, A*-C is what employers look for and are the only grades that really mean anything. G is a very poor result indeed, even if it is classed as a pass.
Yes, employers look for A-C (what is A* about - re-letter them you planks!).
But since you get an A* for 26% it's all pointless!
Re: Congratu-well done
Posted: Thu 23 Aug, 2007 18.58
by Sput
StuartPlymouth wrote:james2001 wrote:The thing is, it's what's defined as a "pass". GSCE has grades A*-G, which are all technically classed as a "pass", only a U is classed as a Fail. Of course, A*-C is what employers look for and are the only grades that really mean anything. G is a very poor result indeed, even if it is classed as a pass.
Yes, employers look for A-C (what is A* about - re-letter them you planks!).
But since you get an A* for 26% it's all pointless!
Actually it makes perfect sense if, as I presume weirdo HR types do, you're trying to see who did better in a subject. Pointless would be comparing raw percentages from different years for reasons I outlined earlier!
Re: Congratu-well done
Posted: Thu 23 Aug, 2007 19.04
by Ebeneezer Scrooge
I've just been trawling the web to try and find some evidence to back up this claim of an A* for 26%... is there any proof?
Re: Congratu-well done
Posted: Thu 23 Aug, 2007 19.22
by Sput
I've not found any either. I suspect it's real but it's very hard to support an opinion of the entire system based on one module of one subject from one exam board taken during one year.
Re: Congratu-well done
Posted: Thu 23 Aug, 2007 20.15
by Stuart*
Ebeneezer Scrooge wrote:I've just been trawling the web to try and find some evidence to back up this claim of an A* for 26%... is there any proof?
Well aside from that simple fact that now you get an A* for getting 74% of the paper wrong. 20 years ago you had to get 80% right to get a simple A.