Results Day

[SuperMikey]

I saw some of the homework that a relative was given for language. English for me should be studying classic literary texts andbeing inspired by it. Just my opinion you understand.

 

Of course I respect your opinion, but that is more the Literature side of things. Language is much more in origin, influence and structure of languages rather than focusing on the literature.

Either way, it was still f*cking boring.

[hypochondriac]

Of course I respect your opinion, but that is more the Literature side of things. Language is much more in origin, influence and structure of languages rather than focusing on the literature.

Either way, it was still f*cking boring.

 

Yeah but what practical use does studying baby speech patterns and writing phonetic poetry have? Give me Orwell, Blake, Shakespeare and Chaucer any day!

[SuperMikey]

What practical use does Shakespeare have? I suppose if you're a Danish prince trying to avenge your father's death, it may work...

I learned a lot about the origins of English, how it's evolved through all of these other different languages and how rich and complex our language really is. Better than some stuffy old poems any day imo.

[OldNick]

I can see why you didn't get very good grades, and have achieved nothing since, if you honestly believe a High Court Judge can possibly attain such a position WITHOUT going to University - and studying something along the lines of LAW

 

Still, I guess you're another advert for dumbing down Britain...

 

hey Weston don't have a go at one of my Forum home team players, he's a star on the pitch

[OldNick]

Sorry St Keith, not the work of Bill Gates http://www.snopes.com/language/document/liferule.asp

 

For me University was a great experience and I would have found it difficult to get my current role without. But if you work hard and have average or above intelligence then you will do well degree or no degree. Same with respect to A Levels, I know plenty of peple who've got good jobs etc even though they got 'crap' results.

Whether from Gates or not it is blimmin true

[amsterdam]

Just get ready for ****s with a name like a certain shoe shop in West Quay to start spouting: "They're so easy these days, a trained turd could get an 'A'"

 

Good luck to those today and those on Tuesday who are waiting for their GCSEs.

 

Hmmmm.... Define "trained"...!

 

Seriously - good luck to all those getting their results today; if you're off to Uni, then have a great 3 to 4 years; I had a great time at Newcastle (after bumming off to Paris for a year, busking) and don't regret it for an instant. To those who didn't get the grades - don't worry - do your re-sits and pay more attention this time round - you can do it!

And those who decide that Uni is NOT for them, them good luck too! You are all my Saint's brothers and sisters and if our path's cross at some point in life, know that you will always have the edge over a fish fiddler from the other end of the M27!!

[RedAndWhite91]

I can see why you didn't get very good grades, and have achieved nothing since, if you honestly believe a High Court Judge can possibly attain such a position WITHOUT going to University - and studying something along the lines of LAW

 

Still, I guess you're another advert for dumbing down Britain...

 

I chose to have a laugh in the classroom instead of knuckling down, to go out and play football in the time I should have been revising, and this is why I perhaps didn't get the grades I could have got. I obviously knew he went to Uni, it didn't come across as one but it was a rhetorical question, I was making the point in asking how am I supposed to achieve something like that without going to Uni. Unfortunately you can't get across phonetics on an internet forum. I could have gone of course, but I chose not to, it wasn't for me. My mate got the same grades and went and did History at Uni. Don't judge me by a post on a forum, I'm actually quite intelligent. Another advert for dumbing down Britain, no, don't be ridiculous.

[RedAndWhite91]

hey Weston don't have a go at one of my Forum home team players, he's a star on the pitch

 

Ahhh thanks Gaffer!

[for_heaven's_Saint]

Yeah but what practical use does studying baby speech patterns and writing phonetic poetry have? Give me Orwell, Blake, Shakespeare and Chaucer any day!

 

I did lit and language at college and they're quite different but I enjoyed both. Language is probably more restrictive in what it allows you to go on to do, i.e you're a bit restricted to one area but I probably enjoyed it more because it's really interesting to learn the origins of our language. However I chose Lit to carry on as it's a well respected degree which arguably teaches more transferable skills.

[Thedelldays]

I never went to uni..

 

im a complete thicko in the forces...

still, they pay this thicko over £40k a year....not bad

[RedAndWhite91]

I never went to uni..

 

im a complete thicko in the forces...

still, they pay this thicko over £40k a year....not bad

 

You're lucky, I applied as an officer in the Army, but didn't get in because of medical reasons.

[Turkish]

I never went to uni..

 

im a complete thicko in the forces...

still, they pay this thicko over £40k a year....not bad

 

Is that considered a lot of money in Devon?

[Thedelldays]

Is that considered a lot of money in Devon?

 

yes...

[for_heaven's_Saint]

Is that considered a lot of money in Devon?

 

It's considered a lot of money in my head

[aintforever]

40K is alot more than what I earn.

 

Probably deserved as well, I wouldn't want to spend my life spanking the monkey in a large metal tube half a mile underwater.

[Turkish]

40K is alot more than what I earn.

 

Probably deserved as well, I wouldn't want to spend my life spanking the monkey in a large metal tube half a mile underwater.

 

Jamie doesn't either, he is the real life Kevin Darling.

Edited 19 August, 2010 by Turkish

[Turkish]

yes...

 

Having been down to Plymouth on business a couple of time and had the misfortune to have been into the big Sainsburys (?) on the left on the main road into Plymouth, not far from the Marroit hotel where i met a new client, i would be inclined to agree with you. Tis true what they say though, the only people that say money doesn't bring you happiness are the ones that dont f*cking have any.

[MINIBARCELONASAINT]

A*

A*

A*

A

A

A

B

B

B

B

B

 

That's GCSEs btw.

[Jones91]

Apparently a lot of Pakistani students are below C-level

[Thorpe-le-Saint]

Apparently a lot of Pakistani students are below C-level

 

That's ****ing disgraceful, you're a grade A ****.

[Thorpe-le-Saint]

A*

A*

A*

A

A

A

B

B

B

B

B

 

That's GCSEs btw.

 

Well done!! :-). Await the 'they were harder in my day' comments...

[dune]

I noticed that the GCSE's have got easier again. What a surprise that was.

[MINIBARCELONASAINT]

Cant wait for them to get easier again next year so I can be a moany pr!ck too.

[dune]

Cant wait for them to get easier again next year so I can be a moany pr!ck too.

 

They've got easier year on year for the past 23 years so I expect your wish will be granted.

 

This study proves my point: http://blogs.notw.co.uk/politics/2010/06/gcses-are-getting-easier.html

Edited 26 August, 2010 by dune

[Saintandy666]

I noticed that the GCSE's have got easier again. What a surprise that was.

 

GCSE's aren't easy. Only A*-C grades are actually passes so the pass rate in reality is much lower than you think, more like 70%.

 

In addition to this there are several bands on which to judge people.

 

5A*-C

5A*-C including maths and english(national average for this in 2009 was 49.8%. Did enough people fail this quota for you?)

7A*-B which I think you will find is much lower.

 

These are the statistics that actually mean something about how well people did. I worked very hard for my GCSE's and they were not easy. There is a massive difference between a G grade and an A* grade.

[dune]

GCSE's aren't easy. Only A*-C grades are actually passes so the pass rate in reality is much lower than you think, more like 70%.

 

In addition to this there are several bands on which to judge people.

 

5A*-C

5A*-C including maths and english(national average for this in 2009 was 49.8%. Did enough people fail this quota for you?)

7A*-B which I think you will find is much lower.

 

These are the statistics that actually mean something about how well people did. I worked very hard for my GCSE's and they were not easy. There is a massive difference between a G grade and an A* grade.

 

But they are easier than they used to be, and this is not a criticism of students, but of the exam boards that set the questions.

 

Education Secretary Michael Gove was shocked when presented with the News of the World findings and promised action to make the exams system more robust.

 

He claimed there was too many multiple choice questions, which had turned some exams into a written version of the TV quiz show Who Wants to be a Millionaire?

 

Mr Gove added: "I want all exams taken here to be as good as those in other countries - Australia, Canada, Singapore and Hong Kong.

 

"We shall be sending a strong signal to exam boards that it's no longer good enough to say our GCSEs and A-levels are down in comparison with a few years ago. It's important that our exams are world-beating."

 

Fears about "easy" exams mounted after more than a fifth of papers were graded A* or A last summer - double the number when the GCSE was first introduced in 1988.

 

In our test, pupils would be expected to do worse on older exams because the syllabus has changed and they are more used to new style questions.

 

But the huge gulf in results staggered the experts.

 

Last night Dr Richard Pike, Chief Executive of the Royal Society of Chemistry, blasted: “There has been a systematic dumbing down of GCSEs.

 

“The UK is slipping into mediocrity and for the sake of the country, for the sake of the kids, we’ve got to change this.

 

“It’s difficult to speak out without being criticised for demotivating students who are currently taking GCSEs.

 

“But it’s better to be honest now than to let them continue as they are, because in five or ten years they will be struggling to find jobs on the international market.”

 

Dr Pike is so concerned about science GCSE standards that he wrote to Schools Secretary Michael Gove last week.

 

The watchdog Ofqual has also attacked the new tests for being too easy.

 

The regulator raised concerns in 2009 that science GCSEs were failing to stretch bright pupils - and ordered the exam boards to make them more challenging.

 

But last week the awarding bodies were sent back to the drawing board with a slap on the wrist, after Ofqual said the exams are STILL too simple.

 

The new science papers will be used from September 2011, so must be toughened up before then.

 

Isabel Nisbet, chief executive of Ofqual, said: "Some of the content was not as weighty as you would expect at GCSE.

 

“Too many questions are based on recall. People were asked to apply general knowledge, rather than using their skills and understanding of science to evaluate the evidence and make a reasoned judgment."

 

Ms Nisbet also said the maths content of science GCSEs was not sufficiently rigorous, and there were too many multiple choice questions.

 

Our investigation uncovered a range of questions that are embarrassingly easy.

 

One of the new science papers asked pupils to name “two types of local organisations that provide sport or fitness facilities for the community.”

 

Another common sense question asks: “Mike goes into hospital for a major operation.

 

“The nurse asks Mike some questions about his lifestyle and medical history.

 

“Write down two questions that the nurse may ask Mike about his lifestyle.”

[Thorpe-le-Saint]

I noticed that the GCSE's have got easier again. What a surprise that was.

 

Obviously.

 

What your Mail doesn't tell you dune is that ACTUALLY when you take into consideration simply Maths and English pass rates are only around 50%. But I'm sure that just means those subject teachers arn't doing their job properly...

 

Furthermore any moronic study you use to back up your opinion will choose questions from 'foundation' rather than 'higher' papers where the highest grade you can achieve is a 'C'. Ah well, what do I care, my yr.11s did fantastic and I was paid today for doing **** all for 6 weeks. BEAUTIFUL!

[Saintandy666]

Maybe, maybe not. Getting a string of A and A*'s is not easy though. However, I think I see your point slightly and I think it is because a lot of tests have to assess G grade to A* grade so obviously some questions will be relatively easy but once you get up to the harder questions it is not easy(this is obviously only in question style tests). There used to be CSE and O levels so this wouldn't happen. The easy questions that newspapers pick out from these exams are G grade questions and a G grade is a fail grade. Tonnes of my friends have bombed GCSE's and now AS levels, so they aren't easy.

[MINIBARCELONASAINT]

Would it help if I pointed out some things in my Exams?

 

My 3 A*s were in English Language, Sport Science and Religion.

My 3 As were in English Literature, Maths and Biology.

My Bs were in Physics, Chemistry, Spanish, Art and Economics.

 

Biology is assessed over 2 exams and coursework; in which i scored 100% and 95% in the tests and still I only got an A. I got 73% in my coursework. If you average my 3 percentages I scored 89.33% and that is only an A. For an A* you need to score 90.33% I was exactly 1% off of an A*.

 

Whilst you sit there and argue GCSEs have got easier, remember they have only got easier to PASS, not easier to score higher grades, the boundaries for top grades have more or less remained the same and are set depending on how the country performed.

 

I am happy for Dune to sit my Biology paper and try to drop less than 5 marks over 200 marks.

[Saintandy666]

Would it help if I pointed out some things in my Exams?

 

My 3 A*s were in English Language, Sport Science and Religion.

My 3 As were in English Literature, Maths and Biology.

My Bs were in Physics, Chemistry, Spanish, Art and Economics.

 

Biology is assessed over 2 exams and coursework; in which i scored 100% and 95% in the tests and still I only got an A. I got 73% in my coursework. If you average my 3 percentages I scored 89.33% and that is only an A. For an A* you need to score 90.33% I was exactly 1% off of an A*.

 

Whilst you sit there and argue GCSEs have got easier, remember they have only got easier to PASS, not easier to score higher grades, the boundaries for top grades have more or less remained the same and are set depending on how the country performed.

 

I am happy for Dune to sit my Biology paper and try to drop less than 5 marks over 200 marks.

 

Exactly, my 3 A*'s in Physics Biology and Chemistry were incredibly hard to get. In fact, I was the only person in my school who managed to achieve this. You have to score consistently over 90% in the tests you have and if you fail or slip in one that is it. Getting A*'s is not easy.

[dune]

Coursework must be so difficult. Google. Cut. Paste. Swop a few words around. Done.

 

I used to breeze through coursework (all of it done the night before) with sheer waffle and common sense. If I had to do coursework now with the limitless supply of information on the net it would be a piece of p!ss.

 

So not only are the exams easier now, so is the coursework.

[badgerx16]

I think the problem with the exam system is not the "easier or not" debate, but the fact that there is congestion at the top of the marking scheme - with increasing numbers of successful candidates gaining more A* & A grades, whether in GCSE or A levels, how can employers / colleges discriminate ? If the pressure on schools to continually produce improved pass rates was removed, this would allow the marking scheme to be reviewed. As it is, some Unis are now effectively setting entrance exams which are taken alongside the A levels, because they need to identify the elite among the high achievers, and the exams themselves fail to do this any more.

[harvey]

Why oh why is it on the news every year?, so you've added up some sums and done some joined up writing, and then you all jump around and hug eachother (in a x factor stylee) ...just leave school, get a job and get on with your life like everybody else does.