Annoyed with GCSE's

This might sound really weird. I don't like doing my GCSE exams. I just want to get on with my A-levels already. For example science exams, not everything in the syllabus is in the exam... Which I don't think is a true representation of ones knowledge. I just want to go more into the subject and actually learn the 'truth' about the subject (in general)
I know I sound like a complete nerd. But does anyone else feel like this.

Now results day has come :colonhash:

(I can't believe I'm done)

Still annoyed even though I'm done, I worry for the younger ones

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 1

JoeJoe45

11

I know exactly what you mean, don't worry!

I think it's just a testament to how silly our education system is (especially at GCSE standard), that someone can just conveniently only revise a few topics and then get full marks and an A*, even without understanding it. And I would argue that the constant fiddling of it all by certain Education Ministers has really not ended up helping. It's almost as if they only change things in the most irritating ways (such as the utterly pointless changing of grading of letters into numbers), just so they can make claims about what they have actually achieved during their time, 'in charge'.

My school's been hyping up GCSEs for too long, as the thing that will 'impact upon YOUR future', since Year 7. And it's really not all that. I don't find them challenging, I just find them fairly pointless. We will all forget about everything we've learnt within a few weeks if not, days. I've actually become so drained that I've revised less for the real exams, than for any of my mocks, and I still feel I've been doing fine (mostly through cramming a few days before if that). And the exam boards actually reward you for that!

All it really comes down to is learning the specific techniques that the exam boards love, in order to please them, rather then actually furthering your education and understanding of topics in meaningful ways that actually inspire students.

But just stay tuned, we're almost there! I'm sure there's quite a few people like us who would rather just get on with their A-Levels, where understanding of topics and actual hard work should be rewarded. :smile:

Reply 2

username1560589

20

Original post by aamirac

For example science exams, not everything in the syllabus is in the exam...

This is also the case with science A-levels. There's so much content that there's no way they could test all of it in only 6 hours of exams.

Reply 3

JoeJoe45

11

Original post by morgan8002

This is also the case with science A-levels. There's so much content that there's no way they could test all of it in only 6 hours of exams.

Shouldn't this in itself, encourage the use of more modular (assessed) exams, perhaps alongside the end of year ones, to make a final - and fuller - qualification, so that enough of the syllabus is covered as possible?

I guess it's hard to think of better solutions, but there must be a better way of dealing with education than the way we do now! :P

Reply 4

shwansalah

2

the real problem is people putting the apostrophe on GCSE'S , it's plural as you do more than one gcses so please stop doing that people, it's starting to irritate me.

Reply 5

muonfrisbee98

13

Original post by aamirac

This might sound really weird. I don't like doing my GCSE exams. I just want to get on with my A-levels already. For example science exams, not everything in the syllabus is in the exam... Which I don't think is a true representation of ones knowledge. I just want to go more into the subject and actually learn the 'truth' about the subject (in general)
I know I sound like a complete nerd. But does anyone else feel like this.

Yeah, I'm in exactly the same boat. For example, we're taught in GCSE chemistry that the electron structure is 2, 8, 8 which isn't actually correct but we only get to do the 'correct' way at A-Level. I can't help but feel lied to! :biggrin:

Don't worry- you're not the only one who is accused of being a nerd...

Reply 6

TheNervousWreck

13

Don't worry, It's the same at A-level. In my Chemistry exam on Friday I had to tell them how you could make drugs testing athletes reliable, and had to say why drugs testing was bad for athletes, nothing to do with chemistry.

Reply 7

0lut0

20

I think the real problem with Science at GCSE level is that it isn't Science.
My Science teacher once said that all GCSE Science is, is maths problems, common sense and basic understanding.
I would say 40% of the Science exams are actually based on Science.

Reply 8

username1560589

20

Original post by BroJoeJoe

Shouldn't this in itself, encourage the use of more modular (assessed) exams, perhaps alongside the end of year ones, to make a final - and fuller - qualification, so that enough of the syllabus is covered as possible?

I guess it's hard to think of better solutions, but there must be a better way of dealing with education than the way we do now! :P

In terms of the amount of content that gets assessed, the current sytem works for some(low content) subjects, such as maths. Most A-level maths exams cover all or nearly all of the specification.

More or longer exams or a combination of the two are solutions. These would also solve another problem, detailed at the bottom of the post.
While I think January exams should be reinstated to reduce the sheer number of exams students have in a few weeks, any more than two exam series per year would encourage students to cram all of the content for the first exam and then forget it all in preparation for the next series. This would defeat some of the objectives of the assessments.
A-level assessment is actually going in the opposite direction, with only a few exams at the end of two years.

There are many other things that should change about education, such as it should be much more difficult/advanced(What do you even learn reception to year 9?) and exams should be tougher(more like STEP, AEA and the old A-level exams). Providing the tools for and promoting self-study would fix some of the issues, but it shouldn't just be the students' responsibility if they want a decent education.

It also seems very unfair that the proportion of time that you work for a subject that is assessed is so low. You study a subject for hundreds of hours each year and the exams only make up a couple of hours. For example, having one bad day or being ill can have drastic consequences. If say the exams were doubled in quantity this would make the system a lot fairer. This obviously wouldn't work without January exams though because it would just be too much.

Reply 9

username1560589

20

Original post by aamirac

Which I don't think is a true representation of ones knowledge.

Original post by shwansalah

the real problem is people putting the apostrophe on GCSE'S , it's plural as you do more than one gcses so please stop doing that people, it's starting to irritate me.

You don't mind the above sentence?

Reply 10

aamirac

OP

20

Original post by morgan8002

You don't mind the above sentence?

English language is an exam we have next week...
(and one of the ones I see importance of in terms of 'the real world')

Reply 11

Mojojojo

19

Original post by aamirac

This might sound really weird. I don't like doing my GCSE exams. I just want to get on with my A-levels already. For example science exams, not everything in the syllabus is in the exam... Which I don't think is a true representation of ones knowledge. I just want to go more into the subject and actually learn the 'truth' about the subject (in general)
I know I sound like a complete nerd. But does anyone else feel like this.

In literally all exams most of the syllabus isn't covered in the exam. I did A-Level biology, and there were always be a couple of huge topics that weren't covered in the exam, in sociology, 2 essay questions would come up, and the other 20 or whatever weren't included. In psychology it was the same.
I do psychology at university now, and had to revise 22 lectures for 2 essay questions in each exam. Even in stats, some of the tests don't come up in the exams, and some are repeated.
GCSEs aren't unique, you'll get it all throughout your life in education.