G.C.S.E's

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by MELT, Aug 25, 2011.

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  1. MELT

    MELT Registered User

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    I just heard on the news that g.c.s.e results went up for like the 20th year on the trot

    but more than that 25% of people sitting them received an A or A*

    Whilst I am all for education, I just don’t see the point in having exams where a quarter of the people get a grade A.

    I think it completely devalues the examination system and there’s no way to differentiate between people

    I remember when strictly the top 5% of those examined were awarded the top A grade

    when they used kelvin rank coefficent curves to ranks the students

    the whole thing is one huge scam to get the students to go on and do a levels and then go to university

    thereby keeping them off the jobless total then they end up in huge debt and can’t get a job because they went and did a worthless degree.
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  3. Ash1

    Ash1 Registered User

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    Yes agreed, and this majority of people who will walk away with super impressive grades will be the ones thinking they are over-qualified to work in bog-standard jobs, and be disaapointed after finishing stdying to find they can not just walk into a job they are skilled for
  4. BRID

    BRID Has name in red. Staff

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    The whole point of a grading curve is to ensure that only the best, get the best grades.

    When seemingly everyone is getting top grades, it suggests either

    a) we arent marking things hard enough
    b) we have an incredibly well educated population

    .... but looking at the clip of people gormlessly shuffling around mobile phone shops and primark these days, high on milkshakes with twix'es blended into them ..... i find myself err'ing on the side of A).
  5. MELT

    MELT Registered User

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    this is exactly what happens

    i recall a time when i like only knew about 4 or 5 peole got say 4or 5 a's at OLEVEL / GCSE

    i aint going to mention how many years ago this was but it was a long long time ago (in a galaxy far far away) ANYWAY the bottom line was like 1 of those people went to oxford uni and ended up with a second class shonours degree in maths and then eneded up working for the minsitry of defence on mucho wonga

    these days that person would probably come out with like 10 A*s

    i mean why do we need a*'s its because everyone was getting A's and so they had to invent something else

    it makes everyone think they are mint , every1 goes to uni....politically its a dreamFOR SUCCESSIVE governments to have everyone going into academia as the jobless total stays lower but its just storing up the problems for the long term like

    you end up with people doing degrees that are not going to be valued in say 4or 5 years time and it saddles a generation with ridiculous levels of debt and no way to pay it back and the ruling classes then wonder why people get disaffected and turn to an easier route to get the things they want i would say qualified people who suddenly come to the realisation that everything in the garden aint rosey are as much of a ticking timebomb as uneducated unqualified people

    BRING BACK VOCATIONAL APPRENTICESHIPS
  6. BRID

    BRID Has name in red. Staff

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    Too far gone now eh.

    Everyone now believes they are ENTITLED to have the CHANCE to get into DEBT/HIGHER EDUCATION.

    Labour did another skillful pied piper, teary eyed 'you deserve better than what the tories did to you' job of taking care of a large portion of unemployment statistics by basically keeping people racking up debt learning useless unmarketable facts.

    These days i'm in two minds about whether to take of the 'BA HONS' part against my CV next to my name, as it takes up space that could otherwise be used to describe my relevant experience in the job/contract i'm applying for, rather than thinking it's a magic 6 letters that are going to guarantee me a better life.
  7. MELT

    MELT Registered User

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    if I had my time over again i would have done IT / MATHS / ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH OFFICER degree rather than a pure science degree

    however, my degree has come in very useful and it has opened the doors on occasion to even get to the interview stage when the job spec has demanded its preferable to have a degree but degrees in some tin pot subjects are not useful at all.

    I agree society can't turn the clock back but I would say go and study a subject you have a fair idea theres a shortage of qualified people in.

    anyway back to subject more youngsters work harder now but you dont go from 5% of population to 25% of population getting grade As in a period of 15-20 years

    there was a programme onchannel 4 or 5 a while back and they made these A grade gcse students take a 1960s or 1970s style eductaion with O level style exams and people getting mint grades and coasting it at gcse were ending up getting grade c's d's and e's so i dont need convincing otherwise.

    if you get a whole range of top grades you buy the notion that you are well bright then you go on and do A levels which are all modular these days whihc some argue makes it easier again , you then come out with mint a-level grades so you bomb off to university and discover life, rack up debt and hey you may just get a job at the end of it
  8. Rossy

    Rossy . Staff

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    What did you do your degree in melt?

    Everybody knows person 1. They walked out of uni, and with a degree behind them & a bit of luck, they've nailed a decent job and lived happily ever after.

    And everybody also knows Person 2. They got a degree, weren't quite so lucky and ended up at the ministry.

    When people bang on about how a degree is worthless, it's just because there are so many of the latter.

    The trick is to choose a subject that you love, completely immerse yourself in it, and put yourself in positions in which you are able to build up a network of like minded people. You can't just go relying on the degree to do all the work for you (unless you're person 1, of course).

    I think that anybody who does this (providing they haven't wasted their time doing a completely bollocks degree), can take themselves pretty far in life.

    Unfortunately for a lot of people, they can't be arsed to do this because they were never really that interested in the first place. All they ever wanted was to be person 1.
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  9. MELT

    MELT Registered User

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    how to be a troll on message boards

    i graduated with first class honours mate:wink:
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  10. MELT

    MELT Registered User

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    if you do something you love and are good at then your are more likely to do well at it and become successful

    from success comes money / fame / all the other nice~ities in life

    these days people want money and fame without any of the leg work that goes before

    I blame BIG BROTHER
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  11. Rossy

    Rossy . Staff

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    This country really needs to address the way in which careers advice is offered to young people.

    We had "connexions" when I was in high school. Pretty sure it was some labour government idea. Utter bollocks.
  12. MELT

    MELT Registered User

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    rossy are you still at college / uni or the like!???

    arent you an engineer turned psy trance wizard
  13. stuwrong

    stuwrong Registered User

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    Nail on head Rossy, careers advice was so shit at our school, basically just told us to go to college and do A levels which looking back was the wrong choice for me and a few of my mates. And yeh i agree with melt GCSE's are far too easy..
  14. Rigsby420

    Rigsby420 Registered User

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    My eldest got 5 A lvls :D
  15. Conway

    Conway helmet Staff

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    The whole emphasis and focus on GCSEs/AS/A-Levels/Degrees is just plain wrong, it does not work for everybody and is not required for all professions and lines of work. Add into that the shit careers advice given at GCSE/A-Level age (as mentioned by Rossy) and I suspect a lot of people feel pushed down the academic route of slogging for qualifications.

    It's only getting worse with our latest education minister wanting to do away with coursework and just have one great big exam at the end for GCSEs. Thats all well and good for people with photographic memories, but shit for everyone else. I personally prefer coursework and assignments - get each subject written up as you do it, it's all fresh in your head instead of competing with other subjects for room. It can only lead to the depth of these qualifications being reduced in order to compensate for sitting them all at the same time.

    My last team was a mix of people who had degrees, and a mix of people who were ex-forces, trained up on the job and then moved into the private sector. Both kinds of people were just as capable as the other, some of our best network engineers were ex RAF.

    Another problem with degrees is that in the past, there was few people with them, but those few people were able to pretty much fall into any job in their chosen field. Now, everyone has one and it's a lot harder to simply fall into a job, even a shit one. I did a Masters degree to try and give me an edge over everyone with a Bachelors, but even then it took me a while to get a job in my chosen field and start to make headway - I applied for 300+ jobs before eventually getting the one I wanted in the right area. I didn't consider myself entitled to a job - I knew people that did and they gave up fairly quickly.

    From what I've seen, degrees are still valuable as long as they're relevant in the field you're looking at as a career, but don't discount the vocational way of doing things (gaining experience and on-the-job qualifications). It's still just as relevant and sought after as the academic route, even in IT circles.
  16. Gary Proud

    Gary Proud Registered User

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    Totally agree, I never went to college or Uni and I know few people in my circles who earn more money than the ones who built up career experience over the years or can even brag that they work in a role remotely relevant to their degree? and the very few that do have the pleasure of carrying a £25,000 rope round their necks for the next 20+ years. No thanks!
  17. N.C.

    N.C. ............?

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    20years? People who take that long do a degree with no job prospects at the end of it.
  18. Dennis the Menace

    Dennis the Menace Registered User

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    many did you get Melt????lol i bet all yours were A's
  19. MELT

    MELT Registered User

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    5A's 3B's and a C.

    i asked for a remark of my C and it got upgraded to an A.

    :)

    this is when A's were REAL A's
  20. Dennis the Menace

    Dennis the Menace Registered User

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    yeah i though youd be one of the high fliers in school, remember when me and johnson got d's in the last EVER O level in maths we took it a year early too, and got demoted to the top set , lmao
  21. MELT

    MELT Registered User

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    i wouldnt call it a demotion lol lower set 1 had all the sound people in I WAS stuck with all the wankers

    :wink::wink::wink:

    ps: when 900 years of age you reach look as good you will not - YODA - DAGOBAH - 1983

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