[restoration]

Probably. As it stands though at the moment GCSE's really don't test academic ability, it's all common sense, and a memory test, there's no proper application, and schools put a huge pressure on kids making out they're the most important thing when really no oen cares about them as long as you get above C's which isn't exactly hard to do :/

[fudgesundae]

I don't think there is any denying that GCSEs are easier than they were 20-30+ years ago. 10 years ago? Maybe slightly easier, but not significantly.

But what people need to remember is that just because they have become easier, does not mean they are easy, just easier than they used to be.

[Stopmessing]

(Original post by Plums&Peaches)
It depends on the exam board. Edexcel iGCSE was quite good at assessing skills whereas iGCSE chem was a joke. All memorising and learning past mark schemes.

The IGCSE chem paper this year was actually pretty difficult.

[Plums&Peaches]

(Original post by Stopmessing)
The IGCSE chem paper this year was actually pretty difficult.

I agree it was But past ones have been a joke!

[▀▀▒=(◕ ‿ ◕)=▒r▀▀]

It became easier for me recently after i followed the great advice here.
It worked miracles
http://www.squidoo.com/top-ten-tips-to-exam-success

[`God]

(Original post by fudgesundae)
I don't think there is any denying that GCSEs are easier than they were 20-30+ years ago. 10 years ago? Maybe slightly easier, but not significantly.

But what people need to remember is that just because they have become easier, does not mean they are easy, just easier than they used to be.

Why is there no denying that?

A student who gets straight C's with difficulty will tell their children "Oh in my days, GCSEs were way harder, you get spoon-fed right now"

Also, making all GCSE subjects easier defeats the purpose, let me explain. Over the past 27 years (something around that) GCSE results have been better each year, wouldn't it just be stupid to make them easier? surely if anything, they should be harder.

[just george]

(Original post by `God)
Why is there no denying that?

A student who gets straight C's with difficulty will tell their children "Oh in my days, GCSEs were way harder, you get spoon-fed right now"

Also, making all GCSE subjects easier defeats the purpose, let me explain. Over the past 27 years (something around that) GCSE results have been better each year, wouldn't it just be stupid to make them easier? surely if anything, they should be harder.

and remind me, who is in control of overall GCSE results?

[`God]

(Original post by just george)
and remind me, who is in control of overall GCSE results?

Who is in control? I guess the students are in control of what they get + exam boards are in control of what raw mark should be a specific grade. Overall the government overlooks what the exam boards do (I think ~).

[just george]

(Original post by `God)
Who is in control? I guess the students are in control of what they get + exam boards are in control of what raw mark should be a specific grade. Overall the government overlooks what the exam boards do (I think ~).

yes, so if gcse results are improving every year, then that doesnt say the students are doing better/are smarter, it says the % of people who pass etc is increasing, which is controlled by the government :L

[Plums&Peaches]

(Original post by just george)
yes, so if gcse results are improving every year, then that doesnt say the students are doing better/are smarter, it says the % of people who pass etc is increasing, which is controlled by the government :L

This Which is why i find it really stupid when people state the percentage of kids that are failing...well someone has to fail, you can't all pass In Gandalf style:

[hannah60000]

GCSEs are not getting eaiser in my opinion they are relatively very easy comapred to A levels when I here my fellow A level peers at school say "GCSEs are easy and common sense" I reply: did you get all A*s most case the answer is "NO" so then they are not easy if they dear to come back with: "I didn't revise" BS! I say:"then it cannot be easy or common sense them right?".

Overall as you get older things appear less difficult than they did imagine Year 6 SATS are you really going to tell a 11 year their easy compared to GCSEs duh obviously but look at where they are relative to you.
I remember last year working very hard for my GCSEs and would not dear insult any year 11 saying they are easy because I'm doing A levels which are much harder well obviously you expect it to be as you are in further education. It's away to show of and act superior some people have a power complex. Year 11s continue to work hard and get good GCSEs and ignore they BS about them being easy maybe they are compared to 5-10 yrs ago but they are not a walk in the park that you can fart an A/A* out your ***! with out a thought...........

[electriic_ink]

(Original post by `God)
1) GCSE's have not become easier, it's just that people are becoming more aware of it's importance

What? GCSEs used to be important, before AS levels. Now, very few people give a toss.

Also, if no one's mentioned your terrible grammar.

[electriic_ink]

(Original post by hannah60000)
GCSEs are not getting eaiser in my opinion they are relatively very easy comapred to A levels when I here my fellow A level peers at school say "GCSEs are easy and common sense" I reply: did you get all A*s most case the answer is "NO"

You heard it here first: GCSEs aren't easier now than they were ten years ago because most of hannah60000's friends didn't get straight A*s.

[fudgesundae]

(Original post by `God)
Why is there no denying that?

A student who gets straight C's with difficulty will tell their children "Oh in my days, GCSEs were way harder, you get spoon-fed right now"

Also, making all GCSE subjects easier defeats the purpose, let me explain. Over the past 27 years (something around that) GCSE results have been better each year, wouldn't it just be stupid to make them easier? surely if anything, they should be harder.

Well grades have increased because they have been getting easier, so you are using circular logic there.

And there is no denying it because you can quite easily look at a GCSE paper from 30 years and see that the amount you needed to know and the level at which you needed to know it was far greater than it is now. The curriculum has narrowed and there has been a trend of teaching to the exam which has meant that students are now only exposed to a very small part of the subject.

Taking the example of Maths A level as well, there is a noticeable trend in the last 5 years of papers becoming much easier.

[Jack22031994]

(Original post by fudgesundae)
Well grades have increased because they have been getting easier, so you are using circular logic there.

And there is no denying it because you can quite easily look at a GCSE paper from 30 years and see that the amount you needed to know and the level at which you needed to know it was far greater than it is now. The curriculum has narrowed and there has been a trend of teaching to the exam which has meant that students are now only exposed to a very small part of the subject.

Taking the example of Maths A level as well, there is a noticeable trend in the last 5 years of papers becoming much easier.

You could easily argue teaching standards have got better over the last 5 years?


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

[UnderPost]

It doesn't matter if the papers have got harder or not- around the same amount of people will get A*, A's, B's etc regardless of the year.

This is what annoys me about exams. If you are in a 'thick' year just because of this you may get an A, if you are in a 'clever' year then you could get a B. How is that right?.
.
So the papers vary from year to year, the hardest ones (for those doing them) is when the format changes. But this just doesn't matter as even if you had a super hard paper- the same % of people will get an A*, A etc.
It's the same with A-levels.
And it is gradually coming into Universities.

[LordBradburn]

The new GCSE science spec is fricken hard, whenever i look at the old spec papers I just wish I was born a year earlier (im in year 10 BTW) i could easily get 100%,as they don't have any long English questions like us! My year has 400 people in it and it is in quite a good area and only 1 person got an A* in one module of C1 (no A* in B1, P1), also last year my teacher says 50 people out of the 400 got A*s! Trust me GCSE science has got hard

[Plums&Peaches]

(Original post by electriic_ink)
You heard it here first: GCSEs aren't easier now than they were ten years ago because most of hannah60000's friends didn't get straight A*s.

This.

[LordBradburn]

(Original post by UnderPost)
It doesn't matter if the papers have got harder or not- around the same amount of people will get A*, A's, B's etc regardless of the year.

This is what annoys me about exams. If you are in a 'thick' year just because of this you may get an A, if you are in a 'clever' year then you could get a B. How is that right?.
.
So the papers vary from year to year, the hardest ones (for those doing them) is when the format changes. But this just doesn't matter as even if you had a super hard paper- the same % of people will get an A*, A etc.
It's the same with A-levels.
And it is gradually coming into Universities.

Yes but if you think about it you get a really easy paper loads of people will get 100% so will have to get an A* wheras in hard papers it's really difficult to max the paper out..

[fudgesundae]

(Original post by Jack22031994)
You could easily argue teaching standards have got better over the last 5 years?


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

But I am talking about actually looking at the exam papers not just the raw statistics of how many got what grade.

Another example from A levels (I am doing A levels so it is easier for me to give an example from my studies, although the same point stands for GCSEs).

I tried 2 or 3 Maths papers from 2005 and got 80-85% in them. Before that I was doing papers from 2010-2012 and was consistently getting 100%. This is not just from my experience either, other people have commented that they have found the same thing, and the grade boundaries from 2005 reflect it as well. Whilst you used to need to get 70-75% for an A on some of the papers back then, the mark needed for an A is consistently over 85% now.

(Original post by UnderPost)
It doesn't matter if the papers have got harder or not- around the same amount of people will get A*, A's, B's etc regardless of the year.

Really? The percentage of people getting A* and A grades has been increasing every year for the last 25 years or so.