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.