[MrHappy_J]

(Original post by + polarity -)
I'm a recidivist.

What did you do instead?

I have no idea what that means lol

I was schooled in Spain so I have an ESO certificate. The level is nowhere near the same, especially in maths and of course, English, which is taught as a foreign language. I probably would have done better at an international school.

[+ polarity -]

(Original post by MrHappy_J)
I have no idea what that means lol

I was schooled in Spain so I have an ESO certificate. The level is nowhere near the same, especially in maths and of course, English, which is taught as a foreign language. I probably would have done better at an international school.

Let's just say, I'm a repeat offender

I see.

[buchanan700]

BBBBBBCCCCCD at GCSE,
A*BC at A level, plus a B in AS.
Getting Cs at uni so far.

No worries.

[MrHappy_J]

(Original post by + polarity -)
Let's just say, I'm a repeat offender

I see.

haha right


anyone who thinks the british education system is crap should check out spain. It's honestly one of the worst in Europe if you're not rich.

[+ polarity -]

(Original post by MrHappy_J)
anyone who thinks the british education system is crap should check out spain. It's honestly one of the worst in Europe if you're not rich.

What's wrong with it?

[MoonShadowWolf]

Got mine through pure stubborn-ness.... Also how I got my a-level's. Be as stubborn as hell and no intelligence is required

[MrHappy_J]

(Original post by + polarity -)
What's wrong with it?

Everything from the disparity between state schools and private schools to the lack of formal assessments, the shoddy teachers, unruly classmates creating havoc as soon as the teacher walks out of the door, long hours (9 to 5, 8 to 5 in a state school), low level of English teaching and lack of school uniforms outside of private schools leading to a fundamental lack of respect for the rules. Not to mention the rubbish school dinners consisting of fake, overcooked, overboiled, mediterranean "healthy" food, and highlighted by a distinct lack of custard pudding to make it better.

Still, I musn't dwell on the past *sigh*

ESO sounds for Obligatory Secondary Education btw

[+ polarity -]

(Original post by MrHappy_J)
Everything from the disparity between state schools and private schools to the lack of formal assessments, the shoddy teachers, unruly classmates creating havoc as soon as the teacher walks out of the door, long hours (9 to 5, 8 to 5 in a state school), low level of English teaching and lack of school uniforms outside of private schools leading to a fundamental lack of respect for the rules. Not to mention the rubbish school dinners highlighted by fake, overcooked, overboiled, mediterranean "healthy" food, and highlighted by a distinct lack of custard pudding to make it better.

Still, I musn't dwell on the past *sigh*

ESO sounds for Obligatory Secondary Education btw

I'm fairly sure some of that exists here too

[MrHappy_J]

(Original post by + polarity -)
I'm fairly sure some of that exists here too

Yeah I figured, but I genuinely don't think there's a single good state school in Spain, whereas in this country it varies.


As you can tell, I'm not bitter. Not bitter at all.

[Selym95]

'TSR' attracts the vein intelligentsia dominantly. Most would argue that the further qualifications after GCSE's are a better indication of intelligence e.g. A-level and degree. The contrast in intellectual demands of GCSE's seem to be dominantly less than A-levels and further qualifications.

[MrHappy_J]

(Original post by Selym95)
'TSR' attracts the vein intelligentsia dominantly. Most would argue that the further qualifications after GCSE's are a better indication of intelligence e.g. A-level and degree. The contrast in intellectual demands of GCSE's seem to be dominantly less than A-levels and further qualifications.

I can't say I agree, I'm at uni and I'm fairly stupid.

[Chezsa]

Woah o.o I didn't get any A*'s but I was happy getting 7As out of 14 GCSE's c:
I'm predicted a BBBC but currently going through a lot and I'm really struggling with revision and my stupid memory but going to buckle down from tomorrow!

[PinkEye]

In my opinion, GCSEs are not an accurate way of measuring 'intelligence'.

Achieving A*s at GCSE generally constitues rote learning the content, doing past papers and learning the mark schemes. I've found, from personal experience, that if you do that, you will most likely achieve A*s.

But then again I have friends who performed average at GCSE and then went on to get As at A Level!

[bananaterracottapie]

i dread to think so.

[chocolate buttons]

Probably going to get negged for this, but GCSE's and A Levels are all down to how well you memorise things, not intelligence. Anyone can pick up a book, read it then answer questions about it in an exam

[Henwin]

I think it depends on the subject.

In my opinion, an A* in a subjective subject like History is more of a sign of intelligence than an A* in Biology (and that's from someone who has a B in History and an A* in Biology)

Subjects like sciences are considered harder, but really all they require is focused revision and memorising the key words and concepts, whereas essay subjects like History and English require understanding and the intelligence to create something if that makes sense.

Maybe not so much at A Level but at GCSE, you can literally memorise your notes for the science subjects and it's not difficult to tick some boxes and define some key words. I'm not saying it's easy, just that it needs memorising more than anything else.

[The Socktor]

I disprove that statement; all I got were 2 Bs, 3 Cs, 2 Ds and an E.

Then again I had a lot of family issues at the time.

[matty123]

There is no such thing as intelligence, you study hard, you get good grades. Simple as that.

[Aquar]

Someone that isn't clever will not get straight A*s; they are intelligent if they do so, end of story.

However, that does not mean that someone that doesn't get straight A*s isn't clever, because I know that there are many things that can stop this, such as lack of effort, anomalous exam results, lack of revision, etc.

[littlemissmidget123]

im not a terribly high achiever, but not a low one either.. its just down to hard work to get top grades, and a bit of natural talent... exam technique usually fails me...

i lived in munich to took the IBMYP and a handful of igcses on top... they are much harder than normal gcses, no coursework, and harder topics.. i did stuff that wasnt taught here until alevel maths