GCSE shake up

[evilwebby]

It's been a long time since I was a highschool student, but from my experience:

- GCSEs do a lousy job of preparing you for the type of work you do at A-Levels. The jump is huge.
- A-Levels do a lousy job of preparing you for University and degree-level education.
- A degree is a pretty lousy qualification for preparing you for gainful employment in the real world.

 

[toffeeben15]

Finished school 2 years ago got 10 gsce 8 c 2 B . My school was made to do a language as a compulsory subject which is pointless as I will never use. Problems school is they don't teach you enought life and employability skills . Instead of making people do languages or history they should have lessons for cv writing job interviews and application as it's pretty useless if you have a gsce in Spanish yet you can't write a cv

 

[Mrk]

They 'shake it up' every few years and nothing ever changes.

 

[Blue 1]

Said before the trouble with the DofE is that education secretaries often just see it as a stepping stone to bigger and better things so meddle as much as possible in order to make a name for themselves.

 

[tonyhorne]

we tend to meet any new situation by reorganising; and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency and demoralisation

Petronius

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Finished school 2 years ago got 10 gsce 8 c 2 B . My school was made to do a language as a compulsory subject which is pointless as I will never use. Problems school is they don't teach you enought life and employability skills . Instead of making people do languages or history they should have lessons for cv writing job interviews and application as it's pretty useless if you have a gsce in Spanish yet you can't write a cv

Or how to spell enough

Seriously though, languages are often very useful, especially in a globalised world. I mean I suspect if you went to work with TxBill down in Texas that Spanish would come in handy, or went out to Brazil to work on the deep ocean drilling they're about to do out there (obviously they speak Portuguese but you know what I mean).

Lets face it, if you can pass a GCSE at >C yet can't enter into Google 'how to write a CV' then that's not a good testimony for the education you've received There's an absolute wealth of free stuff online about all manner of job related things, all a search away.

 

[toffeeben15]

Or how to spell enough

Seriously though, languages are often very useful, especially in a globalised world. I mean I suspect if you went to work with TxBill down in Texas that Spanish would come in handy, or went out to Brazil to work on the deep ocean drilling they're about to do out there (obviously they speak Portuguese but you know what I mean).

Lets face it, if you can pass a GCSE at >C yet can't enter into Google 'how to write a CV' then that's not a good testimony for the education you've received There's an absolute wealth of free stuff online about all manner of job related things, all a search away.

I can write a cv but some people my age get a bit stuck of what to write about

 

[StracsEyebrows]

Utterly terrible. Coursework is a big deal for some people and gives them choice. And what is the point in changing the grading system ?

Michael Gove is a top bell-whiff.

 

[tonyhorne]

GCSEs replaced O-levels as the latter were very good at showing who was the best in each year (useful for future applications to university) but gave very little information about the absolute "level" achieved by the majority of the year which is the sort of information needed by employers etc.

GCSEs examine absolute rather than relative achievements and, in so doing, have largely lost the ability to identify the top academic elite. It is not an easy situation to resolve. A steady stream of changes have failed to strike the right balance. Maybe this will be the one to sort it all out.

Unlikely, in my view..........

 

[Hayee]

it kinda makes sense as SAT's are in a numbered system (year 6 is 1-5; year 9 is 1-7) so in that respect it allows for continuity. As for the coursework argument, i did very very little coursework as 98% of mine were solely on the day exam based and it did me no harm! Admittedly i'm gash at exams so would have done much better with coursework, but it's the luck of the draw and if you revise like you're supposed to (did i balls!) then there shouldn't be an issue!

 

[neil999]

school isnt just about how to get a job! its how to inteeact with people, learn new skills, enjoying learning and engaging, this seems to get lost sometimes...

 

[Dylan]

I can write a cv but some people my age get a bit stuck of what to write about

No offense mate, but that would be because you (and people your age) don't have jack to write about yet. You get that when you have experience.

School will always be irrelevant to the students who are going through it ("why am I learning 'x'...I am never going to use it when I am older")

And then when you are actually older, you wish you could go back to school and do it all again.

Also, there is no 'be all end all' method for measuring progress. What works for one will invariably not work for another.

Rather than gnash teeth on here, write your MP and tell them what you think! Make use of that elected official that 'you' put there!!!!