They are not meaningless!!

That's a fair point, for those who want to succeed (i.e go to a top university and get a respectable job) GCSE's are most certainly not meaningless.

why did you make this thread? I don't think anyone really cares..

What did you achieve at GCSE btw, just being curious...

yeah, agreed they are important, but the reason a lot of people downplay them is that for those with moderate academic ability, it is very easy to achieve mostly A's and A*'s with very little effort. That doesn't mean they aren't necessary, but success is kind of taken for granted so they get pushed to the side a bit.

When I was doing my GCSE's in year 10 I messed about a lot and didn't take them seriously. It was only until year 11 when I cleaned up my act though. Most people in my year improved significantly after year 10.

I'm sorry but it is not good advice to say that they are meaningless, it's annoying to keep seeing it being said too.
In retrospect you might find them easy, maybe relative to you meaningless, but in context GCSE's are the standard, the expectation and a means to judge you. Like it or not, agree with them or not, they actually matter. Yes, A levels mean more, and so does a degree,- but that does not mean that GCSE's are not important.

If you're going to do something, why not give it your best shot,- it concludes secondary school, something you've worked towards for ages.

If you're applying to Medicine, Economics or another competitive course, these could be your downfall.

Good academic performance is standard, it is required. The majority of people applying to university will have strong GCSE grades, in an era of strong competition; any reason to reject a candidate is a reason. GCSE grades could be the difference between gaining a place or not.

Why not prove to yourself, family and friends that your education was worth it?

Don't do something by half, trying costs nothing

If you want a job during college, your GCSE's matter.

It costs money to educate you, enter you for exams and mark them,- don't waste tax payers money.

"Strong academic performance",- a requirement of many post grad courses,- this includes GCSE grades.

Manual work,- if people only have GCSE's then they become very important when looking for work

No apostrophe.



True, but most couldn't give a damn. Or they're so easy, most people don't even bother that much.



Due to the 5A*-C targets that schools have to obtain, some students have to take some subjects they are not of a high ability at, take "equivalent" qualifications, or do not have opportunities to take GCSEs where they could have achieved those A*s. I.e. GCSE performance is not entirely accurate.



Not even Oxbridge decide candidates based on one more A* or whatever. The only situation where you might be rejected based on GCSEs per se is when you did not fulfill entry requirements e.g. a GCSE grade D in Maths when it requires a grade B.



GCSEs =/= highly educated. At all.



Some people just don't give a ****.



Depends really.



I certainly agree with this statement and it does infuriate me that they are given a taxpayer-funded education for doing **** all. I'm saddened that the school leaving age is being raised from 16 to 18. If anything, it should be lowered. If you don't want to go to school, don't go and stop wasting money.

The reason why people don't care is because of the system at present. If they fail their exams, they can easily go on the dole.



Like the PGCE? People just retake them if they're not up to scratch and often it's Maths and English.



Or the ability to do the work in itself.

Essentially the real reason why they're meaningless is because the content is highly diluted and simplified. Just look on past O level papers for evidence. Yet, people STILL fail GCSEs. How this really happens, I have not got a clue.

I agree with everything you said, but they are important.
Oh by the way Oxford and Cambridge do care about GCSE grades, as do Birmingham for medicine.
I didn't say that they mean someone is highly educated, but it's a stepping stone, and a record of performance and progression.

Oxbridge do care about GCSEs (yet I've heard from others that this is not always the case), but really, does who apply to Oxbridge have excellent GCSEs anyways. They also have entrance tests and interviews which omits the need to base academic performance/potential on qualifications taken at 16.

I disagree with your last statement. You might think they're not meaningless, but they're certainly worthless in terms of their academic credibility.

No, to get to the latter stages of assessment,- you need to have good GCSE grades in almost all cases.
Not meeting a high standard will mean you don't get onto the interview stage,- three of my friends this year were rejected from Oxford based on GCSE results.

Qualifications taken at 16 are a means to judge academic performance at 16, maybe not the best means,- but THE MEANS. It is one of the only choices and the most widely taken choice.
Seriously, like it or not, they matter because it is the standard for all 16 year olds, they might not hold academic weight but it is the system, and it is the means that people are judged.

Rejected based on GCSE results per se? I don't believe that as they take all information they receive pre-test/interview holistically.

Sure, at 16 you are judged on your GCSE results. The fact that you can still get into college even if you failed the majority of GCSEs could also explain the apathy for their academics. (Which begs the question, why do they even intend to go into college anyways?)

Yes, one of my friends had AAA at AS, a brilliant Personal Statement, was told by teachers she'd go far.

Rejected from University of Manchester for PPE and Politics from Oxford.

She took iGCSE's, had like 8 at grade B.

She was told her GCSE grades let her down.

They matter, in many cases, honestly.

To be fair, you don't expect an 8B student to be aspiring to Oxbridge. In fact, if you were at age 15/16 and haven't even heard of the word Oxbridge, let alone what they expect academically - would you think that student would aspire to hit A*s?

People usually say if the B in 8A*s 3As 1B would let them down - that's an entirely different issue. But for a candidate to achieve BBBBBBBB for Oxbridge, well, obviously that isn't acceptable (though there have been instances where people were accepted with even less than 8Bs).