GCSEs are an utter joke

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That's what A-levels are for. I agree gcses are easy, but many people find them very hard and that's why the government target is 5 gcses!!!! if you made them harder then the target would have to be about 1. Plus many employers ask for 5 gcses, if you made them too hard then hardly anyone would get 5 and it would be impossible for employers to distinguish between average people and thick people . . . (academic wise)

Reply 261

Fool In The Rain

I agree that GCSEs are overrated in the difficulty scale, especially hearing about the tremendous workload you get in college. But, some people do struggle in some exams. I think that revision is necessary for the A/A*, but I believe most of the classwork alone, guarantees you above a C. My major problem is that the history exam I took in year 10 was ridiculously easy (compared to what my expectations of it would be). If you know how to structure the question and a little background knowledge, it's relatively easy to get at least a B, although I ended up with an A* :biggrin:

. GCSEs come to the easiest levels when it comes to coursework, ICT (all coursework) is by far the easiest topic I've chosen, all Distinctions and in my geography and history, I was shocked to get an A* in all of the geography coursework and full marks on the 1st part of the history.
BUT, these are only my opinions, I understand that some people do struggle and for that reason, they should only be a slight more difficult, but even that is not fully neccesary, everyone has to be respected and a majority (including myself) do struggle on some topics, so they aren't easy to the point you get an A* without revising (that would make my life a lot easier :tongue:

)

Reply 262

username919394

I gave up doing any revision for my GCSE's and got 2A*'s and 9A's.
I did find that I had to put a lot of work into the lessons though and I'm not a moron because I'm now getting A's and B's in my A level mocks, and I'm predicted A's at the end of the year.
Lots of my friends worked a lot harder than I did and only got D's so I guess it's down to the individual, if you're someone who can remember the answers (like I can) then you're pretty much guaranteed a decent grade.
There's only so much harder they can make it though - they want more people to get into Sixth form and college and then go on to higher education and I guess making it harder might put people off going into A levels.

Reply 263

LETSJaM

It seems that the govt agrees with you OP. :smile:

<3 x

Reply 264

Kim-x

Tried to edit but accidentally quoted, see below.

This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 265

Kim-x

Certain ones are. Worked my backside off trying to get an A in AQA English Lit but got a B, and in AQA Business Studies and OCR RE trying to get an A*. Got A's. Hated Additional Science, did minimal work, wrote rubbish in the exam and thought I'd get a D if I was lucky; got an A. Same with OCR Geography. The coursework assignment and DME exam I tried in because they were interesting, so thought I might get a B because I had those marks to pull it up. Still got an A in the final paper.

This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 266

User570431

Another GCSE bash thread. You did them and didn't complain then, so don't complain now.

Reply 267

Changing Skies

I agree that it really does depend on the subject and the person. Doing an AQA ICT exam with no revision at all was the easiest thing I have ever done. In a generation in which technology is massive, anyone with common sense could answer the majority. Writing about the advantages and disadvantages of social websites and entertainment technology for 12 marks? Anyone could do it.

As well as this, in my opinion but not everyone's, I found both English Language and Literature pretty easy as they don't require much knowledge, only analytical skills.

On the other hand, I have to try a bit harder for subjects such as Maths and Science, merely because I'm not as confident with them. Whereas other people achieve great grades with minimal effort. GCSEs are not easy, as many have said, this can't be the case as regardless of the amount of revision done, not everyone achieves A*s. My friend put in about 10 hours of work for History and ended up with a B, I did last minute revision and came out with an A*. It depends on natural ability for some, and dedication for others. GCSEs are not as easy as people make out.

Reply 268

Alexander94

I didn't find the content of GCSE's hard, however I did find the endurance test of it hard. At A level you have to remember 3 to 5 subjects, on the other hand at GCSE there are thirteen or more! I don't think GCSE's are meant to challenge bright students (thats not to say they shouldnt) but to sort out those who have the potential to pass A levels.

Reply 269

CraigFrew

Original post by Sabster

FFS i took a GCSE in Italian with no knowledge of italian and got an A*

Bull****

Reply 270

Ursin

Original post by Aldridge

Does anybody else agree GCSE's are a complete pisstake?

They are far too easy, you can practically turn up on the day and get an A* using common sense.

IMO they definitely need to make them far, far more difficult, to separate people with intelligence from people with common sense.

I suppose you got straight A*s. Thanks for completely degrading the vast majority of us who didn't get all A*s.

Reply 271

Ursin

Original post by CraigFrew

Bull****

Right you are. As if.

Reply 272

InternetGangster

Original post by Aldridge

Firstly, A levels do not correlate with intelligence any more than GCSE's do. They're not IQ tests, and intelligence is only a small factor which accounts for someone's overall grade. Secondly, it's good that they reward people for hard work, as opposed to just intelligence. An employer would rather take on a person that works extremely hard, and has average intelligence than someone who is a genius, yet couldn't give a toss. Also, maybe some, but certainly not all GCSE's are to do with 'common sense'. You couldn't, for any subject just walk into the exam and walk out with an A* without having done any revision.

Reply 273

miser

I don't think they're a pisstake - only about 60% of all students get the requisite 5 A*-C grades that further education and employers generally require. A 40% rate of failing to get those 5 A*-Cs is pretty unacceptable I think. Myself, I only got 5 (1 B and 4 Cs), so I can assure you that you can't just 'turn up on the day' and get As using just 'common sense'. The reason I failed was because I didn't do any work or revision, and didn't care for more than 5 when 5 was all I needed. And even if you could just employ 'common sense' to pass science, maths, english, or any subject, you can't just 'turn up on the day' to rush a coursework based on 'common sense' and not a knowledge of the subject.

Reply 274

InternetGangster

Original post by Sabster

Finally someone who thinks like me....

Yes I agree, they are a complete piss take, most of them you can just turn up with no revision whatsoever A* (like Maths, French, Biology, Geography etc). And it just makes a complete mockery of the system.

They need to be made sooo much harder.

FFS i took a GCSE in Italian with no knowledge of italian and got an A*

It is a complete piss take and makes all grades worthless.

Get back under the bridge, troll :whip:

Reply 275

InternetGangster

Original post by TheCurlyHairedDude

No-one can turn up on the day and get an A*

That's stupid. I'd get an E if I did that. However with a little work you can get an A*.

In fact I never even got one A* at GCSE and I worked my butt off! GCSEs are so much about being smart, it's more being able to remember answers.

...

Reply 276

Bellissima

if you are naturally smart... yes, you can... but those people are in the minority.

Reply 277

craglyboy

Original post by JOR2010

I did a Spanish GCSE Higher Reading as a laugh (never studied Spanish), and got a comfortable A*! :')

You did a GCSE as a laugh, wow your hilarious. You must be the life of the party.

Reply 278

craglyboy

Original post by Sabster

Because, I did get straight A*s and the problem is GCSEs don't distinguish the best candidates neither do A-Levels

Neither does a levels and neither do degrees these days. What does separate you from the pack is how employable you are if people want to work with you and if you can work with others clearly this is something you need to work on.