11 Plus Exams Forum

Hi All. My DS is in year 10, so will be sitting the new exam format. I attended a recent presentation at DS's school about the exam and it sounded very like the O'Levels I took when I was at school (I'm giving away my age!). I confess to being a bit of a novice/ignorant about all this education stuff but I just wondered what are everyone's general thoughts on the new exams- do you think they will be much tougher than the current GCSE'S?
I do feel a bit sorry for DS's year, it feels like they are the Guinea pigs?

Well they aren't really. The current Y11s are doing the new GCSEs in Maths and English (ie will get a 1-9 grade not A-C etc).

Welcome! Actually, the current Year 11 are the first to sit with new grades in Maths and English.

The proportion getting 7+ will be the same as those getting grade A at the moment - there are a lot of scare stories out there.

Look for my thread 'Timeline of reform' or here to see how it affects each year group:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... d-a-levels" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


[I did O levels and the grading we got was numerical with 1 being the highest; grade 1 to 6 were a pass with 7 to 9 a fail]

eta: crossed post with KCG but left as there is a link to the full information

Thanks for the link and your kind welcome. I guess there are lots of horror stories out there like like it being impossible to get a 9, grade 7 & 8's being tough to achieve and yet not really recognised and employers not really understanding the new grading system.
It will be interesting to see how the current year 11's get on with their maths and English.

Guest55 wrote:[I did O levels and the grading we got was numerical with 1 being the highest; grade 1 to 6 were a pass with 7 to 9 a fail]

G55 giving your age away

It is all rather confusing from a historical point of view when we did O levels and GCSEs we were awarded grades A to C for passes and D to E or U if we had failed the O levels. For the GCSEs you had two certificates if you got anything between A to C you would get a 1 in your CSE certificate and the grades went correspondingly down from D to E to U to higher numerical numbers up to 5 and U.

The numerical system now is the opposite of what it was once.

quasimodo wrote:The numerical system now is the opposite of what it was once.

I think they have done it that way to allow for grade inflation in future. Saves reforming the whole shebang again in 4 years (whatever will the education secretary do then? ). Technically there will be no limit: our great-grandchildren will be up in the 70s and laughing at the idea of a grade 9.

quasimodo wrote: It is all rather confusing from a historical point of view when we did O levels and GCSEs we were awarded grades A to C for passes and D to E or U if we had failed the O levels. For the GCSEs you had two certificates if you got anything between A to C you would get a 1 in your CSE certificate and the grades went correspondingly down from D to E to U to higher numerical numbers up to 5 and U.

The numerical system now is the opposite of what it was once.

From memory, GCSEs came in around 1988 and replaced O level/CSEs; I am old enought to have been teaching then!
GCSEs brought in coursework and in Maths we had the choice of 0%, 20% or 40%; students did two or three pieces completely in class. At the time it was a breath of fresh air for students to work on different problems and, with no League tables, no-one even thought about 'giving too much help'.
I don't remember any 'double certification'; an old CSE grade 1 was considered equivalent to an O level pass.

Guest55 wrote:.I don't remember any 'double certification'; an old CSE grade 1 was considered equivalent to an O level pass.

Somewhere in my study I have my old certificates.I took some O levels and some GCSEs. For the latter I received O level and CSE certificates.The O levels and GCSEs were with different boards.Without finding them I can't tell you which board at present.Just remember receiving these CSE certificates with my O level certificates from taking the one set of GCSE exams in 1979.Giving my age away now.

There was the 16+ scheme. I did both English and physics 16+. At the end you were awarded both an O level and a cse.

The 16+ was something different though, wasn't it? You did get two certificates but technically not GCSE?