Would retaking GCSE's serve much purpose at my stage in life?

slugger09

I'm 30 now, the way it worked when I was at school in the early 90's was in years 1-3 we had a variety of subjects, then in 4th and 5th year we had to pick subjects for GCSE's, maybe it still works this way I don't know.

The subjects I was good at and enjoyed in 1st - 3rd year there was no option for whatever reason to do them in GCSE's, It was a small school so I suppose lack of interest may off been the issue, these subjects were IT or ICT as its now called, Home Economics, PE and French

So I took on subjects I had no interest in, we had to pick 4, the 4 I picked were Art as it was supposed to be easy, CDT as again was supposed to be easy, Maths and English

I am a very passionate person when I have an interest in something as my wife will tell you about my cooking, if however I have no interest I will simply not try, So the way my exams worked were a certain percentage of the final grade was made up of course work and then the final exams, I blitzed the coursework and really enjoyed it as I could type it out on my PC and draw diagrams/tables etc and it really impressed all my teachers as none of the other kids did but totally made a hash of the final exams which resulted in a string of D's and E's as coursework can only get you so far which resulted in me not being able to do my BTEC Diploma in Computers at the local tech and so I have drifted along in my working life in jobs I hate, and as I said above if I have an interest in something I will be a total perfectionist about it, if i've no interest I'll simply not try so this is where I am at now in my life and wonder would resitting GCSE's do any good or what path do I take now? I did get a certificate in computing from the Open University a few years back and an RSA certificate in typing but they have proved to be useless.

pinkshoes

What sort of school did you go to????
I did my GSCE's probably the same year (1996??), and HAD to do maths, english, science, a humanity subject (History, geography, RE, sociology etc...), a practical subject (art, music, CDT etc...)and a language, then had to pick others to make the quantity up to at least 8.

You can probably find a free class to do Maths and English, as these are generally the ones that matter.

My OH has b*gger all GSCEs, and it's not stopped him having a good career. I think it's more about motivation and determination rather than grades.

DCFC79

I did my gcse's around same time as pinkshoes and like the OP didnt do very well in them, got nothing higher than a D, ive wondered whether retaking maths and english or maths(got an F) at least would be beneficial as ive managed 10+ years with it and not had a problem but not because i didnt use addition, division and subtraction as i did.

KiKi

I think it depends on the sort of job you want to go into.

If you are seeking to move to a role which requires someone with experience, they probably aren't going to care about your GCSE results too much, as relevant experience will count for more.

However, if you are looking to change your career for something more interesting and, therefore, may have to start in a junior position to work your way up, then Maths and English with a C or better may be very important.

Rather than jumping into qualifications, look at the sorts of jobs that will interest you, that you will feel passionate about, then find out how to get into them. The positions you will need to apply for will come from that, and so will any required qualifications. As you discovered from your OU and RSA qualifications - they may not help you in your career (but that *doesn't* make them 'useless', it just makes them not relevant to the roles you've been working in). You have to look at the job first, and work backwards to how to get it.

Best of luck!
KiKi

slugger09

KiKi wrote: »

I think it depends on the sort of job you want to go into.

If you are seeking to move to a role which requires someone with experience, they probably aren't going to care about your GCSE results too much, as relevant experience will count for more.

However, if you are looking to change your career for something more interesting and, therefore, may have to start in a junior position to work your way up, then Maths and English with a C or better may be very important.

Rather than jumping into qualifications, look at the sorts of jobs that will interest you, that you will feel passionate about, then find out how to get into them. The positions you will need to apply for will come from that, and so will any required qualifications. As you discovered from your OU and RSA qualifications - they may not help you in your career (but that *doesn't* make them 'useless', it just makes them not relevant to the roles you've been working in). You have to look at the job first, and work backwards to how to get it.

Best of luck!
KiKi

I think this is very good advice, start with the job and work backwards, My head is fried thinking about what route to take to be honest, If I went with the OU again GCSE's are irrelevant I can just go straight into IT but there choices in what direction you go in IT are very limited, if I go to a regular uni I will need GCSE's and A-Levels but have a better selection when I got to the regular uni.

slugger09

pinkshoes wrote: »

What sort of school did you go to????
I did my GSCE's probably the same year (1996??), and HAD to do maths, english, science, a humanity subject (History, geography, RE, sociology etc...), a practical subject (art, music, CDT etc...)and a language, then had to pick others to make the quantity up to at least 8.

You can probably find a free class to do Maths and English, as these are generally the ones that matter.

My OH has b*gger all GSCEs, and it's not stopped him having a good career. I think it's more about motivation and determination rather than grades.

I went to a small rural High School with a total of about 250 students if even over 5 years and I'm sure a good 60-70% were farmers so had no real interest in school as they would of had jobs lined up on there parents farms anyway.

libra10

I did my GCSEs in my forties, and gained about 6 A grades. Then followed on to do 4 A levels.

The classes were made up of mature students who were (like myself) totally motivated, very much different to when I was a pupil at school.

Apart from excellent grades you will probably gain much more, friends, fun and a total sense of achievement. The teachers were inspirational and very supportive.

I considered going on to university but was offered a job and decided to take it.

Good luck whatever you decide.

slugger09

libra10 wrote: »

I did my GCSEs in my forties, and gained about 6 A grades. Then followed on to do 4 A levels.

The classes were made up of mature students who were (like myself) totally motivated, very much different to when I was a pupil at school.

Apart from excellent grades you will probably gain much more, friends, fun and a total sense of achievement. The teachers were inspirational and very supportive.

I considered going on to university but was offered a job and decided to take it.

Good luck whatever you decide.

Really, so GCSE's alone got you a job you wanted? I've never had any real issues getting work, just none of the jobs I've wanted, I'd love to get into IT, even a basic data entry job would suit me fine but it seems you need a string of degrees, I am a very motivated person IF it is something I have an interest in, if not I simply won't even try hence why at the min I am a skivvy in a factory.

bristol_pilot

If you don't have a grade C or better in Maths and English GCSE then a whole range of careers will be closed to you as you will not meet the minimum person specification. Worth re-taking these if that is the case. I wouldn't bother about other subjects, but absence of Maths and English will be taken by employers that you cannot count or read which we all know is not the case but there you are. I was asked for my GCSE results when I was 35, btw, so these grades do stick with you for a long time.

libra10

slugger09 wrote: »

Really, so GCSE's alone got you a job you wanted? I've never had any real issues getting work, just none of the jobs I've wanted, I'd love to get into IT, even a basic data entry job would suit me fine but it seems you need a string of degrees, I am a very motivated person IF it is something I have an interest in, if not I simply won't even try hence why at the min I am a skivvy in a factory.

GCSEs definitely helped me gaining the job. I started doing basic admin work and progressed higher as I gained experience.

The atmosphere in adult education is geared to helping mature students gain the self confidence to study, and is a totally different environment to studying as a child.

Studying increases your interest in the subject. While studying English we had trips to Stratford watching Hamlet and A Winter's Tale. I had never been interested in Shakespeare before. Pure magic!

History - we visited Quarry Bank Mills at Cheshire and experenced first hand the living and working conditions of children and adults working in the mills.

I gained lots of interest in pyschology and sociology, along with Accounts and other subject.

Your interest will increase as the course develops.

Give it a try, good luck.

KiKi

slugger09 wrote: »

Really, so GCSE's alone got you a job you wanted?

That's not what the poster intimated! The poster did GCSEs and A-levels, and was offered a job. Whilst it may have been a key reason, it was probably not the only reason s/he got the job. You have to be able to pass interviews, have the right attitude, the right experience (in some roles).

One doesn't necessarily lead to the other. The poster clearly had a great experience in re-taking GCSEs which is fab, but s/he didn't say that GCSEs alone led to the job offer!

bristol_pilot wrote: »

If you don't have a grade C or better in Maths and English GCSE then a whole range of careers will be closed to you as you will not meet the minimum person specification...I was asked for my GCSE results when I was 35, btw, so these grades do stick with you for a long time.

I partly agree - but this will depend on the industry and the entry level. In the roles and industry I work in, I would never, ever be asked for GCSE or A-level results. But I agree that if the OP needs to start at entry level then Maths and English may be very important.

KiKi