9-1 ****ed me up

9-1 has really f*cked me up. I get a 7 and think 'eh could be better' when that's literally an A! I tell myself 'shut up that's a high grade' but I really can't get my brain to understand that because it's 2 grades away from the highest you can get. A 6 is a B and most of my classmates feel crappy when they get it, but a B is really not a bad grade at all. Anyone else feel this way?

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Reply 1

WittyAndWilde

I have never related to a post so much 🙌🏼

I feel the exact same, if I get a 7, I'm disappointed because I know that there is a 9 there to be aimed for, but I'm my opinion, the 9 shouldn't exist...it is literally an A**...it sets expectations waaaaaay to high and just creates a maelstrom of disappointment

Reply 2

physconomics

Did my GCSE’s last year and got a 987 (Maths, Eng Lang, Eng Lit) and I was so disappointed because even though my english grades are still good, they felt really low when you think of it out of 9, I feel really sorry that your year has to go through that with every GCSE

Reply 3

ErwinRommel

why didnt they just make it A** it look better when you get an A and it wont confuse empolyers.

Reply 4

lolu123

truusssss me i go through this

Reply 5

ces.nicola

honestlyyy, wish they just kept it A*-G, so much easier and even though we know how good a seven is, so many people will think its sh*t... :frown:

Reply 6

YouAreAYute

yesyesyes yes
tell my parents i got a 7 and they seem so disappointed when i am so happy smh

Reply 7

JT_888

Original post by candydarling

A Grade 7 which is equivalent to the old Grade A is certainly a good grade so is a Grade 6 which is equivalent to the old Grade B. Don't beat yourself up about it if anything you should be proud of those grades. Obviously, if you want to get the highest grade possible, Grade 9 which is basically the top end of A* you just need to learn from your mistakes. Hope this helps. :smile:

Reply 8

thotproduct

i did the 9-1 last year and got 9, 9, 8, but since we were legacy for everything else there was a bunch of letters surrounded with the numbers and it just created confusion.

imo the new maths was more challenging, slightly than old spec, however i'd have preferred if they kept the old grading system as in a*-g.

i just consider 9 to be a high a*

Reply 9

Victoria1018

I genuinely prefer numbers

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 10

Citizenofpanem

The 9-1 system is ridiculous. There’s enough bloody pressure on 16 year olds as it is. Try not to punish yourself over it, because a 7 should be something to be proud of.

Reply 11

Gent2324

Careers Forum Helper

at the same time though, we know that the questions on the specimen papers wont be on the exam since they were only made 1-2 years ago (english lit poems, chracter/theme questions etc) and also, the grade boundries are going to be ridiculously low. the government know its harder and they wouldnt want everyone to do ****, so im pretty sure that the exams this year will be the easiest in the years to come. and just look at maths last year, a grade 4 was 17%... now other exams wont be exactly like that since we arent forced to take them but they will be pretty damn low nonetheless.

Reply 12

Tom191

I don't understand what was wrong with the old A* A etc system to be honest. I agree, an A sounds far more impressive than a 7/9 despite them being the same thing.

Reply 13

Amyaintlamey

As a perfectionist who did their GCSEs prior to the 1-9 system I feel really bad for you guys; I know 9 must feel a long way off from 7 compared to A-A*. However I can definitely say my GCSEs haven't really been significant for anything other than getting me into A-levels so please try not to beat yourself up about it; just do the best you can and then focus on your A level grades next year which are a bit more important.

Reply 14

Muttley79

Original post by candydarling

Just wait until they introduce a grade 10.

Reply 15

The RAR

You can thank Micheal Gove, stupid ****ing ****

Original post by Tom191

I don't understand what was wrong with the old A* A etc system to be honest. I agree, an A sounds far more impressive than a 7/9 despite them being the same thing.

Apparently they thought "too many" people were getting As and A*s and I am like **** off, wish I did my studies in the 1900s

Reply 16

username3236796

I felt the same way last year.

I got 775. English Language was the 5- mostly because we got pretty much no preparation for the second paper and we started preparation in Year 11 instead of 9/10 like every other school (and we had to sit Biology in year 10 without a teacher, so I didn't have time to think about other GCSE prep). I am hoping resit in November so it shouldn't look as bad when I inevitably apply to university a second time, but the 9-1 system does a worse job at differentiating students than A*-G. 2 grade Cs and 2 grade A*s. Universities clump them together when considering applications, so someone who is a whole grade above is treated in the same way as the grade below (unless a requirement specifically states a 5- but few do).

And as for the 7s, I feel disappointed because an 8 seems super-achievable due to the other grade above it. Knowing that I probably would have achieved an A* in maths for the old spec makes it worse (they didn't have a lot of the harder stuff that I had to self teach), and even an old spec A would feel better slightly better.

I get them changing the content- some subjects weren't up to the same standards that other GCSE equivalents are. But introducing a new grading system was pointless.

A side note- don't feel disappointed with a 7 because it's two grades from the top. If you could have done better (like me, due to my own fault and the school's- a story I don't really feel like mentioning again), then you do have the right to be disappointed with an A.

Reply 17

_gcx

Study Forum Helper

It only really effects students at the middle end and the very top end. Those who would have scraped a C will be in a tough position, because they may struggle to achieve a 4 while the course they're aiming for requires a 5. (allowing to discriminate in this way is probably favoured by universities who would prefer to take only the upper end of the C) A perfectionists nightmare in the upper end of course because people that would have got A*s will now be left with a handful of 8s and 9s, and feel like they could've done better. I like the differentiation at the upper end, but I feel like it could have been better done by some kind of extension qualification similar to the now obsolete AEA.

Original post by bookloverlolly

Knowing that I probably would have achieved an A* in maths for the old spec makes it worse (they didn't have a lot of the harder stuff that I had to self teach), and even an old spec A would feel better slightly better.

The proportion of students being awarded an 8/9 is larger than the proportion that was awarded A*s, actually. 10ish% vs 7%, off the top of my head.

Reply 18

ScottishBrexitor

It's much better the crap in Scotland ran by the god awful SNP and SQA.

IMO it should be 100-1 with exams being worth a total of 100 points. Much better than the stupid and outdated ABC grading.

Reply 19

XxxvatxxX

I think for us (the year that just had 1-9 in Maths and English) we are kind of lucky because for us both an 8 and 9 are equivalent to an A*, so basically universities don't discriminate between those 2 grades....something tells me in the future that won't happen and getting a 9 in comparison to an 8 WILL make a difference.

Good luck for the upcoming years too, I'm sure by the time you get to GCSEs, something else would have happened by then too, just making GCSE harder.