Gcse?

Hello every1, while surfing I found this student forum and I would like to ask a question. I live in The Netherlands and I have this problem: In the 3rd class of my secondary school when I had to choose my subjects ( 6 or so) the whole school system changed and instead of choosing subjects i had to choose "profiles" with subjects that were compulsory and I ended up with 14 subjects. Now because i`m very bad in german or other foreign languages i decide to leave school and find another way to finish my school. Tried many times but these languages came in my way. Point is I want to become a pilot (and im sure i can, i did psychological and medical tests) but every good flightschool asks a completed secundary school or like in the UK, 5 GCSE`s levels.
Now I didnt pass my secundary school in THe Netherlands but I did finish all my classes. Ok now after this long story I wanted to know what GCSE levels exactly are, who many subjects u need, and what the entry requirments are. Basicly I`d like to know every thing from the 1st class till the end how the whole school system in UK is established.

THanks a lot, coz i cant find the information on sites. :frown:

Btw, im sorry for my bad english, trying to improve it time to time.

Reply 1

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Originally posted by ajnabi
Hello every1, while surfing I found this student forum and I would like to ask a question. I live in The Netherlands and I have this problem: In the 3rd class of my secondary school when I had to choose my subjects ( 6 or so) the whole school system changed and instead of choosing subjects i had to choose "profiles" with subjects that were compulsory and I ended up with 14 subjects. Now because i`m very bad in german or other foreign languages i decide to leave school and find another way to finish my school. Tried many times but these languages came in my way. Point is I want to become a pilot (and im sure i can, i did psychological and medical tests) but every good flightschool asks a completed secundary school or like in the UK, 5 GCSE`s levels.
Now I didnt pass my secundary school in THe Netherlands but I did finish all my classes. Ok now after this long story I wanted to know what GCSE levels exactly are, who many subjects u need, and what the entry requirments are. Basicly I`d like to know every thing from the 1st class till the end how the whole school system in UK is established.

THanks a lot, coz i cant find the information on sites. :frown:

Btw, im sorry for my bad english, trying to improve it time to time.

GCSE's are the "General Certificate of Secondary Education", every person in their final year of compulsary education (aged 15-16) will sit in the summer that they finish.

There are no entry requirements to be able to join a course that teaches them, however a solid ability to be able to understand the English language as a written media would be highly beneficual as the exam papers are written in English.

If you are a mature student, (ie over 16), you would need to go to a local college enroling on the GCSE subjects of your choice, and for pilot I would expect that the 5, A*-C GCSE grades required would have to include Science (or Science based subject), Mathematics and English Language.

I would suggest that you speak to a careers advisor in the Netherlands to discuss your options.

The only reason that for airline pilot schemes GCSE's are listed is that it is universal to either use British qualifications, or American ones - there will probably be somewhere in brackets, the words "or equivalent qualifications", but given that you failed them, you may need to seriously consider whether this is the route for you.

Reply 2

ajnabi

Hi Thanks a lot for replying.. point is, that im not bad in school or failed subjects because it was hard for me. But the school system in The Netherlands and made me do about 15 subjects. Like Cultural education, politics, history were subjects which i had to do. And I really hate these subjects. Maths etc, are subject which i can easly do.

But thaaaankssss for ur reply :smile:

Reply 3

tweetsy85

I don't know how many GCSEs you'd need to be a pilot, but this is info about GCSEs from my experience:

Most people took 9-11 GCSEs where maths, english language, english literature, and science were compulsory

GCSEs are only the first step of education. They are the very basic qualification. A-levels are studied after GCSEs and take all the subjects to a slightly higher level. From my experience, A-levels are far more important than GCSEs. eg. you could come to England at the age of 16/7 and start studying A-levels without doing GCSEs first. There were several people in my class at A-level who came from other countries without doing the English GCSEs.

Reply 4

ajnabi

Well this is what is mentioned on the site of a good flight school:

Education: You must have passed a minimum of 5 GCSE's at grade C or above to include Maths, English and a Science. In addition you must have 2 “A” Levels at grade C or above or an Honours Degree, minimum level 2:2. (Equivalent qualifications will be considered)

And since its my dream to become a pilot and i`m sure i can, i dont need to do more than this :smile:

Reply 5

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Originally posted by ajnabi
Well this is what is mentioned on the site of a good flight school:

Education: You must have passed a minimum of 5 GCSE's at grade C or above to include Maths, English and a Science. In addition you must have 2 “A” Levels at grade C or above or an Honours Degree, minimum level 2:2. (Equivalent qualifications will be considered)

And since its my dream to become a pilot and i`m sure i can, i dont need to do more than this :smile:

According to that then, there are probably 4 years work there - assuming you don't go for the degree route, and just stick with the A-Levels.

There'll be work to do, despite only C grades being required.

Reply 6

ajnabi

Why is it going to take about 4 years then? I think it takes about 2 years. And whats the difference between what you call a "degree" and GCSE levels?

As far as I know if you pass a few GCSE levels you get a degree right? Like certificates and doploma`s right ?

explain please..

Reply 7

Ollie

no, here is the uk education system in a nutshell

We do 2 years of GCSE's from the age of about 14 - 16 ish. Most ppl do 9-11 of these. You are graded A* through to G. A* being the best. If they ask for 5 gcse's at C, you need to do any 5 gcse's and achieve at least a c in them.

Then you can go on and do A Levels. Again 2 years. Usually finish them when u are 18. The first year most people take 4 AS's (half an A level) then drop one (thus cashing in one AS level) and in the second year extend the other 3 to full A levels. These are much harder and are graded A-E a being the best. These usually form the basis of offers for university.

If you get the neccessary grades to meet the offer that the university you chose offered you, (eg. exeter university have offerered me 3 B's at A2 level to include maths and physics) then you go to university. If you fufill all the requirement and pass the exams you will get a degree. The exams are graded also. a first being the best then, 2.1, 2.2, 3, 4 etc. So for example i could get a 2.1 in mechanical engineering. The bad news is that degree courses are usually 3-4 years full time.

When ure flight school state they will accept equivilent qualifications, they will most likely accept qualifications from ure country. email them and find out!

Reply 8

ajnabi

Hey Ollie, thanks for the reply.

Point is, that I don not have a qualification right now in The Netherlands because the whole system changed. So lets say what they call a secundary school here (after this you can go to UNI) has about 15 to 18 subjects compulsary. I finished the school but didnt pass the exams.

Now as far as I can make up from the text on the site of a flight school I only need 5 GSCE`s.

Education: You must have passed a minimum of 5 GCSE's at grade C or above to include Maths, English and a Science. In addition you must have 2 “A” Levels at grade C or above or an Honours Degree, minimum level 2:2. (Equivalent qualifications will be considered)

And as they say " In addition" does that mean that you really need them along with the 5 GCSE`s or is it that you need 5 GCSE`s or 2 "A" Levels (science subjects)

I do have all the necessary knowledge in science, maths well i hope english also hehe :smile:

and some other subjects like geography etc. So.. well Could anyone explain what i exactly need to get admission to the school? thanks a ton

BTW everyone who replied me... thaaaankssss a lot.. u all are helping me on my way to somehow achieve my dream and some hope

Reply 9

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Originally posted by ajnabi
Now as far as I can make up from the text on the site of a flight school I only need 5 GSCE`s.

Education: You must have passed a minimum of 5 GCSE's at grade C or above to include Maths, English and a Science. In addition you must have 2 “A” Levels at grade C or above or an Honours Degree, minimum level 2:2. (Equivalent qualifications will be considered)

And as they say " In addition" does that mean that you really need them along with the 5 GCSE`s or is it that you need 5 GCSE`s or 2 "A" Levels (science subjects)

"In addition" means "and", or as you put it "you really need them along with the 5 GCSE's ".

Such that,

You require 5 GCSE's at grades A*- C, including Maths, English and a Science subject. As well as the GCSE's you need 2 GCE A Levels, at grades A - C.

So when I say you need at least 4 years, I think I know what I'm on about.

Originally posted by ajnabi
As far as I know (which clearly is not a whole lot) if you pass a few GCSE levels you get a degree right? Like certificates and doploma`s right ?

Load of bollox ! Yes you get some nice certificates at the end of GCSE, as you do at the end of GCE A Levels, but they are certainly not Degrees. (Oh if it was so simple).

I would strongly advise you to forget what ever knowledge of the British education system you came into this board with, and start listening carefully to what we (the people in the British education system) are saying.

Reply 10

ajnabi

There is this misunderstanding. I thought that the UK system and the system in THe Netherlands was somehow the same.

But it isn`t.

And I am listening carefully to everything you all r saying :smile:

Sorry guys... I`m just trying to find everything out.

Reply 11

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Originally posted by ajnabi
There is this misunderstanding. I thought that the UK system and the system in THe Netherlands was somehow the same.

But it isn`t.

And I am listening carefully to everything you all r saying :smile:

There are some 'subtle' differences, as there are with the American system which I don't fully understand.

They seem to "Graduate" from everything, the end of high-school (compulsary education), AND University.

We simply graduate (verb), when we become a graduate (noun) - at the end of University !

Reply 12

PHIL

The education system is kinda confusing and annoying, especially as there are such large differences, even within EU countries. What's the point in having a single currency (in the Eurozone), but have different education standards and qualifications. It kinda goes against the idea of making europe a single massive country doesn't it.

Phil

Reply 13

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Originally posted by PHIL
The education system is kinda confusing and annoying, especially as there are such large differences, even within EU countries. What's the point in having a single currency (in the Eurozone), but have different education standards and qualifications. It kinda goes against the idea of making europe a single massive country doesn't it.

Phil

You suggesting a European Curriculum ?

Or a European Qualifications Framework... ?

Reply 14

PHIL

Whilst I am personally against the adoption of the Euro, I believe that if there is to be a true EU there should be a greater amount of similarity between EU countries, such as education, defense, etc. I therefore believe that there should be a basic European curriculum, which would be implemented across EU countries, only there'd be some leeway in certain subjects, e.g. maths and sciences etc would be the same across the whole EU, but certain subjects such as history, English (in the case of the UK), and other such subjects, would be adjusted by the country's own education authority, so that it was more relevant to that country. E.G. teaching the history of the UK in the UK, but the history of France in France. There should also be common qualifications, to ease the ability for citizens in 1 EU country to go and find work in another.

Phil

Reply 15

Ollie

You must have passed a minimum of 5 GCSE's at grade C or above to include Maths, English and a Science

you must take at least 5 gcse exams and achieve at least a c in all of them. I would recomend maths, double sci, double english (lit and lang). Geog etc would just be a bonus. check out the exam board sites eg . www.edexcel.org.uk and check out the subject specifications to c if u think ure up to these.

In addition you must have 2 “A” Levels at grade C or above or an Honours Degree, minimum level 2:2.

Pretty clear, you need 2 a levels, these are the ones after gcse's. You need to get both with at least C's. Examples would be chemistry and physics (maths is hard though!)

You need both gcse's and A levels, you cant do A levels without gcse's. I dont no why it says A levels or a degree cos you need a levels to do a degree.

To do your gcse's and A levels, if you hold the knowledge you should just enter and try the exams. try here

http://www.edexcel-international.org/Studying/PrivateCandidates.aspx?id=59506

u should be able to enter gcse and a levels with them.

is that clear? anything else you need to know?

Ollie

Reply 16

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