The Student Room Group
Reply 1
Well.. According to the older generations (i.e. my parents :tongue:) Apparently O levels were harder than GCSEs :smile: Hence why they only took around 6/7 O levels and we take around 10+ GCSEs :biggrin:
Reply 2
Original post by xPixie

Original post by xPixie
Well.. According to the older generations (i.e. my parents :tongue:) Apparently O levels were harder than GCSEs :smile: Hence why they only took around 6/7 O levels and we take around 10+ GCSEs :biggrin:


exactly! and i think they still ARE!
taking 10+ subjects in o levels is a big deal but as i recently found out, taking 10+ GCSEs is well, normal.
:O
Thb parents are always going to say that their o levels were a lot harder
I don't think O Levels are harder I just think that before people didn't have as many revision resources. Also before only the really bright students went to university. Now lots more people go and you can't get a job without at the very least good GCSE's.
Original post by Henry_Tudor
Thb parents are always going to say that their o levels were a lot harder


so true:rolleyes:
Some GCSE's are BS.........

Idk if O levels are ......but if you do 6-7 maybe majority actually may have been more useful.
Reply 9
I think that as an 'oldie' having taken 'O' levels and GCSEs....... the old 'O' levels made it more difficult to obtain top grades as only a certain percentage were allowed to obtain an A or a B grade etc so there was true competition in each subject. Approx 40 to 50 percent were total failures each year..Hard I know, but one way of differentiating quality within each year group for employers and for universities each year. .. Now because it is about reaching a certain standard rather than deciding who deserves the best results ( qualitative testing versus quantitative) makes it more difficult for employers/ universities. Just imagine if we expected today for 40 to 50 percent of school leaver's to leave school having failed or with few qualifications..... and that is having sat the exams... This was the norm!!! Imagine that as a system today .....
Reply 10
Maybe, everyone should be looking at not the number of subjects they are taking when comparing past with the present systems but with how they were assessed...(ie, qualitative versus quantitative). The old, very old system expected only the top 5% to achieve a top grade and for 40/50% to actually FAIL... A true competition with peers..... more helpful for employers/universities. to judge potential candidates. Imagine a schooling system that allowed pupils to fail....
(edited 3 years ago)
1978 Waddell Report, when comparing O-Level and CSE entrants stated:
Reply 12
Original post by aysha.19
:confused:
How are GCSEs and O Levels different?
Is GCSE easier than O levels? I've been told that it is... not sure.


If you're referring to when we had O-levels in the UK (up to 1987; they're still available in other countries) then the standard was in many subjects much higher.

You'll notice I say 'standard'; I'm not referring to breadth of syllabus though in Maths, that too was higher. The exam were largely 'norm referenced' meaning that grade depended on percentiles for the exam cohort, thereby almost eliminating grade inflation. From 1975 onwards, grade c was considered a pass, and the standard needed to achieve this was extremely high by contemporary standards.

Anything less than 50% in a Maths or English exam was unlikely to be awarded a 'C' and in English, they even looked at how you'd achieved the overall score. A candidate getting 70% in their essay paper, but only 30% for for their comprehension, would fail to pass, but someone achieving 50% in each, would!

There's been much media coverage in recent years, highlighting the differences between O-level and GCSE Maths, and many Maths O-level papers from years gone by are available on the internet, as free downloads. Past O-level papers in other subjects are harder to find, though I do have one dating back to 1977, in Physics. The standard of question is exceedingly high compared to GCSE and, in contrast to hearsay, the emphasis was very much on understanding rather than recall. As an example, the first three parts of the first question were as follows:

A boy holds the end, O, of a rubber chord from which hangs a metal ball.

(a) When the ball is in Fig.(I) [just suspended] the chord stretches. Draw a diagram showing the forces acting on the ball. What do you know about these forces? [3 marks]

(b) In Fig.(ii) the boy whirls the ball in a horizontal circle, keeping his hand still. Draw a diagram showing the forces acting on the ball in the position A [while moving in a horizontal circle]. Explain carefully why the rubber chord stretches more in the situation of Fig.(ii) than in Fig. (I). [4 marks]

(c) Explain why each of these forces in the situation of Fig.(ii) does no work as the ball rotates. [4 marks].

The remaining three parts of the question are similar in terms of standard, to what you'd have today, in a GCSE Physics exam. They carry 3, 4, and 2 marks. The standard of question is similar throughout, with one question even harder, such that many A-level students would struggle with it these days. This 'Paper 1' had a time limit of 2 hours, and you had to answer 5 questions, not more than 2 from each section. 'Paper 2' was a multiple choice exam, testing the entire syllabus. All questions needed to be answered, and some sections required you to state whether the answer given was true, false and if true, whether the second statement a correct explanation of the first. You could therefore have two statements about something, with both being true, but the second not a correct explanation of the first.

O-levels were a throwback to the grammar and secondary modern schools, with selection depending on ability, in terms of passing the Eleven Plus exam. If you passed, you were deemed to be in at least the top 10% of the population in terms of ability and O-levels, in contrast to CSEs, were designed to cater for this.

If any of you want a copy of the June 1977, O-level Physics paper, message me (MOD EDIT - EMAIL REMOVED) and I'll send you a PDF. I also have two, O-level Maths papers dating back to 1976, and a 1971, O-level Additional Maths paper.
Reply 13
This is a mega old thread but here goes just in case there is an interest.

I did CSEs, Olevel and GCSEs

CSEs were multiple choice and todays version would be the GCSE foundation level. I took 11 and passed all at various grades 1 being the top and 5 the bottom. I got 2s, 3s and a 4 and 5. They were fine until you left school. Not a single employer recognised them, unless it was a grade 1 = Olevel C.

Then I did 6 Olevels. They were based typically on 3 exam papers. You had no modules to sit, it was based on your answers for the day. All spelling mistakes equalled a dropped mark.

There were no past papers, no internet, no exam revision guides, no curriculum available to students, no stationery, just the library. Literally no help at all. Not even help with revising etc., you were expected to know. No one got extra time, no one was given special consideration and there were no resits. Remarks cost a bomb which most couldn’t afford.

The Olevels I did were a lot harder then the GCSEs and A levels. In English Language you had to know how to analyse and draw a diagram of a sentence structure. Replacing words like with like was common ie replace escalating with: ascension, descending, raising, lifting, proceeding or progressing. Plus you had to know all the 9 parts of speech plus the subcategories. There was no novels or analysis of text - that was Literature.

In Olevel Literature you weren’t allowed to take the book in with you. Everything had to be memorised. You were given a sentence of text and had to describe where in the story it came from. Also how it effected the story and the reader etc. You had to know about the author and how the story reflected their life. For Chaucer you had to transcribe old English into modern with no help at all.

Nearly all subjects had projects you had to do. Most weren’t towards the pass mark, but they had to be done to the teachers satisfaction.

NB. In all subjects you were marked down for spelling mistakes. All spelling mistakes not just relevant lingo.

One O level teacher gave us three page essays by dictation. They had to be word perfect. The next day we were expected to have memorised it completely and write it word for word. Any words incorrect or paraphrased were docked points.

Yep GCSES are easier, just because the resources are there etc.
(edited 2 years ago)
Reply 14
Ps I just found this chart on the forum. If you look at the early O levels compared to the GCSE. You can see it was very hard to pass.

96BD33C2-F4C3-401A-BE1F-D75A53E7AF7C.jpeg


Ps I passed three out of the six. I have gone on to do a modern A level.
(edited 2 years ago)
Original post by xPixie
Well.. According to the older generations (i.e. my parents :tongue:) Apparently O levels were harder than GCSEs :smile: Hence why they only took around 6/7 O levels and we take around 10+ GCSEs :biggrin:

By logic GCSEs are harder. Because G is higher on the alphabet than O for olevels. Also GCSEs we’re created later on so they needed more time to be created. Also, you have to study more subjects in GCSEs than Olevels. The more subjects you have to study means the more intelligent you are because their is more knowledge.