Would you take ICT GCSE?

Poll

Would you take the ICT GCSE?

pumps101

2

Lots of mixed opinions here - will do a poll as well.

Reply 1

Don_HH

My school made me do short course, and today i had my MULTIPLE CHOICE PAPER. LOL but i had OCR and they are changing the course. The coursework was very long and next year will be controlled assessment which will make it HARDER to make it really good.

Reply 2

Helloworld_95

19

I had to do it, it has no value whatsoever other than an easy A

Reply 3

username319902

I did a compulsory edexcel course which was 100% coursework. I got 3 distinctions and looks great on your CV...Definitely worth it I think.

Reply 4

InadequateJusticex

18

I did DiDA ICT (Edexcel BTEC); worst mistake of my life. Stressed me out for two years and I've never felt so relieved and carefree after I finally finished the coursework. I say don't take it if it's not compulsory.

Reply 5

destinyx

I'm doing IT for Edexcel.
Good thing is: It's 60% CW. Get an A* in your coursework and you only need 40% in the exam for an A.
Bad thing is: It's boring as heck and what you learn with the CW is so pointless.

Reply 6

In2deep

14

I did it, had 2 practical exams as well. Quite enjoyable but the theory was extremely annoying.

Edit: before you ask questions, I did "IGCSE Information & Communication Technology", CIE board. Please don't ruin your life and take IGCSE's

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 7

Xiomara

18

God no. EVERYONE who has ever done it and spoken to me has hated it, either because of the way it was taught, or the actual course i.e there's a lot of coursework and some teachers are very lax and haven't covered it, etc.

Plus I'm not looking at ICT as a career plan, so it wouldn't be all that useful.

Reply 8

ProgressDesired

9

Original post by pumps101

Lots of mixed opinions here - will do a poll as well.

I did it. GCSE ICT is an easy albeit a bit boring course. Nevertheless, an easy A* for someone who's OK with computers.

Reply 9

xxKiaraxx

14

I was forced to take it by my school in Year 9. Although I wouldn't have picked it of my own free will, I don't regret taking it as it was an easy A* and was actually semi-interesting.

Reply 10

hihihi!!!

Original post by ProgressDesired

I did it. GCSE ICT is an easy albeit a bit boring course. Nevertheless, an easy A* for someone who's OK with computers.

WRONG WRONG WRONG!

If you're doing the 60% CW 40% Exam course this is completely untrue.

Its an easy A* for someone who can get courseworks done by the deadline, and get them redrafted 3 times before the deadline. In higher tier about 3 things need to be advanced level in courseworks, which in themselves aren't very advanced. Its got nothing to do with skill compared to time management and motivation.

Oh and please if your taking it, and are good at I.T., DONT I repeat DONT try to get too ambitious with projects. Spend a lot of time on written stuff, that gets you the marks. I've got my ass handed to me even though technically my projects were good, but I spent way too much time being creative and less time doing the endless written work. Creativity isn't rewarded, following the course to the T is!

Anyway doesnt everyone do controlled assessments now? At least the teacher can watch over your work and tell you when to do what, but not so good as I'm guessing theres no redrafts, thats terrible :/

Reply 11

ProgressDesired

9

Original post by hihihi!!!

WRONG WRONG WRONG!

If you're doing the 60% CW 40% Exam course this is completely untrue.

Its an easy A* for someone who can get courseworks done by the deadline, and get them redrafted 3 times before the deadline. In higher tier about 3 things need to be advanced level in courseworks, which in themselves aren't very advanced. Its got nothing to do with skill compared to time management and motivation.

Oh and please if your taking it, and are good at I.T., DONT I repeat DONT try to get too ambitious with projects. Spend a lot of time on written stuff, that gets you the marks. I've got my ass handed to me even though technically my projects were good, but I spent way too much time being creative and less time doing the endless written work. Creativity isn't rewarded, following the course to the T is!

Anyway doesnt everyone do controlled assessments now? At least the teacher can watch over your work and tell you when to do what, but not so good as I'm guessing theres no redrafts, thats terrible :/

WRONG WRONG WRONG!!!

The amount of actual work there was was perfectly doable during the lessons and if you weren't a total muppet you were able to get the coursework right the first time with only minor tweaks on the teacher's suggestion the second time.

It is true that creativity isn't rewarded though - it's the same in all D&T subjects. It's more about the "process" of manufacturing a product than the actual thing you build.

Reply 12

aeterno

15

It was a mother****ing bitch when I did it. I hated it. Although having an absolutely **** teacher didn't particularly help.

That's all I have to say :colonhash:

Reply 13

jarekd1234

I would not do it again. Never.

I've been doing unit 1 ocr nationals, and I've done it multiple times. Teachers said it's alright, it's finished, but no, i always had to re-do something. Even one task, i done it right- it was wrong- and i had to do it as i had it before and wrong again etc.

Right now I need to complete everything by wednesday and there is no way I am finishing it. I've done units MANY times and got told it was finished but then I had to re-do****load of stuff and had to do it again and again. I hate it. And I am not going to finish it.

Any of you failing it as well? I'm in yr 11.

Reply 14

Miss Anonymous

9

Do you like using computers in general? Not technical stuff. Just database + word + spreadsheet, etc :smile:

Then the coursework will be easy for you. Plus, if you are on the computer a lot and know how to "take precautions for virus and hacking", etc and be able to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of modern issues, exams will be easy too.
However, if not, then it won't be "easy". But still with revising, you can get high marks :smile:

I'm personally on my computer a lot :p:

and some of the stuff in the exams are general understand questions like:
- Advantages/disadvantages of emails
- Advantages/disadvantages of network
- How ICT has changed the employment pattern
- Describe how the student can use the data to make a presentation for something
You can *think* in the exam and get the right answer.

Other questions do require knowledge but personally, far less than subjects like geography (that might be just me). And the grade boundaries for the exams are low :rolleyes:

One advice though, coursework takes so much time! :frown:

So make sure you don't procrastinate if you choose to do ICT :smile:

(I took the exam today)

:smile:

Hope this helps.

Reply 15

Mocking_bird

11

Which ICT?
I'm doing ICT DIDA on Edexcel, 100% coursework.
But i say yes, as long as you keep up with the work! Because believe me, if you dont keep up it will stress you out immensely!
There is alot of work for it, but I enjoyed it.
Just please don't take it for a "doss" subject; because there is alot of work!

Reply 16

HolyFuzazzle

10

ICT was the most stressful GCSE... Yes I got an A* but GOD it's 60% coursework and I lost ALL my coursework af ew months before the year 11 deadline... had to redo it all. Also, felt like I had to teach myself ALL the exam material again a week before the exam.
I would say No, but having said that, it was useful and I still learnt valuable computer skills, and my teacher was cool.

Reply 17

hihihi!!!

Original post by ProgressDesired

WRONG WRONG WRONG!!!

The amount of actual work there was was perfectly doable during the lessons and if you weren't a total muppet you were able to get the coursework right the first time with only minor tweaks on the teacher's suggestion the second time.

It is true that creativity isn't rewarded though - it's the same in all D&T subjects. It's more about the "process" of manufacturing a product than the actual thing you build.

do work in an I.T. lesson? You MUST be having a laugh right? it is the most distracting lesson ever, you need to meet my friend Mr. Mozilla Firefox.

Reply 18

Lilmzbest

i took the OCR Nationals in IT Award, which was worth 2 GCSE's and 100% coursework. While this meant that at least the whole qualification was finished before study leave, it also meant a LOT of panicking and rushing about to finish little things at the last minute, particulary since the examiner who checked the work was really fussy about tiny little details ¬_¬

i found the coursework extremely long and boring, it was mainly print screening every little thing that we did, but i was also quite behind on deadlines due to missing lessons, so this may just be a personal experience of always having to rush to finish things

on the other hand, it is compulsory to do either IT or business at my school, and IT is definitely slightly better than business since that has an apparently very hard exam and a lot of horrible controlled courseworks

if you are doing the same IT course as me, i would say to always keep on top of the coursework, as it is really annoying having to do excessive screenshoting for hours on end :smile:

Reply 19

hootdoot04

20

It was hell :frown:

Would you take ICT GCSE?

Would you take the ICT GCSE?

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