Left school at 15 in 1967...

Fash

before it was compulsory to stay on until 16 as my parents couldn't afford or me to stay on at school. As a result I have no qualifications, however, I have taken on the job training, eg MS Office, and have a full career history from age 15 until now (58) as a secretary / administrator / manager and have extensive transferrable skills.

I was made redundant recently and applied for a position which asked for 2 GCSEs at Grade C or over (or equivalent) and because I don't have these qualifications I was unsuccessful in my application.

My first query is: If the legal age was changed to 16 and GCSEs were introduced after I left school would I, under age discrimination, be exempt from the requirement to have them as I was not legally obliged to stay on after 15 and GCSEs did not exist?

and secondly, under current rules, is it possible to site experience and on the job training as an acceptable equivalent when a pers spec says "2 GCSEs or equivalent?"

I would be so grateful for any advice you can give me. I really would like to continue working and am now worried that I'm going to be excluded because I don't have GCSEs.

Thanks in advance.
Regards

heretolearn_2

I don't see how it could be age discrimination, as GCSE equivalents were available then (O levels), you just didn't do them.

However, I also think you've got a good chance of getting round this as a requirement - your other qualifications should usually do fine, I'm sure, as long as someone actually looks at the application and it isn't just a tick box type of recruitment. Don't be knocked back by one refusal.

If you really think it is a problem, you can do adult Literacy and Numeracy tests that are supposed to be the equivalent to the GSCE English and Maths. They are pretty simple little tests though, not like doing a big exam, just check you are basically literate and numerate! But you can list those on your CV as equivalents.

McKneff

Employers just don bother checking whether you have exam results from 1967.

At your age I would nt even mention them (Im just older than you and never did as I had the same sort of experience as you
and emphasied that)

MsHoarder

It is acceptable to site experience and on the job training, and it does not seem fair that you need to have qualifications that it was reasonable not to get when you left school.

If its causing you problems however, it may be worth sitting a couple of GCSEs/Key Skills exams, so that you can prove to employers that you can do it. Your local further education college might be able to help, or possibly even the job centre (although I'm not sure about the later).

Good luck!

SevenOfNine

Did you take any formal computer qualifications? I also left at 15 with no 'O' levels but can list my CLAIT and 5 of 7 modules for ECDL (redundant before I could complete it) and 2 Level 2 NVQ's I did. I shove that under the 'education' bit on CV and applications (thank goodness for those, filling the education 'hole').

If your MS Office was just 'on the job' training then you might want to consider formalising it a bit with some proper training to get the CLAIT or ECDL qualifications. IMO you may do better with some paper qualifications of one description or another and heretolearn has made a couple of easy, excellent suggestions.

lincroft1710

But there were exams in existence then for secondary modern schools - CSEs and a Grade 1 pass was equal to a GCE O-level. The two exams were merged into GCSEs some years later.

bristol_pilot

It would be illegal age discrimination to accept only GCSEs but not their equivalent from an earlier time (i.e. O-levels or CSE grade 1).

If this a is a public sector organisation, they might not accept experience or on-the job training in lieu of qualifications for an older applicant if they form part of the minimum person specification as that could be seen as discrimination against younger candidates for whom no such allowance is made (if you see what I mean).

If this is private sector I would hope they would assess your recent work history rather than school exams taken (or not taken) 40+ years ago.

jfdi

GCSE or equivalent surely is taken as exactly that.

If you have the aptitude (reflected from past employment) to work at at least that level, then there shouldn't be any issues.

It doesn't come under Age Discrimination (I don't think), but is certainly against any 'Full and Open Competition' requirements.

Sounds like it was a very inexperienced Recruitment person.

LittleVoice

heretolearn wrote: »

I
If you really think it is a problem, you can do adult Literacy and Numeracy tests that are supposed to be the equivalent to the GSCE English and Maths. They are pretty simple little tests though, not like doing a big exam, just check you are basically literate and numerate! But you can list those on your CV as equivalents.

Agree with you htl.

Citing the Adult Certificates in Literacy and Numeracy at Level 2 (they are available at Level 1 too) on a CV can be helpful.

It is possible to do those at no cost if you don't already have the equivalent.

The certificates are technically at an equivalent level to GCSE A* to C rather than being full equivalent qualificatiions. However they demonstrate that the holder can spell, construct grammatical sentences and understand written English.

Fash

Hi - as usual thank you all for your responses. The adult certificates in literacy and numeracy sound like just the ticket for me LittleVoice and Heartolearn. Any idea where I could do them free of cost please?

Thank you all again - you're wonderful!
Regards

hitatotatus

Your local library should have information on Adult Education classes, and there should be info online too. They have classes both daytime and evening so you can use which ever is convenient. The lesson was just once a week for two hours.
I did a Level 1 and 2 exam recently for maths. The teacher goes at your own pace and if you have basic knowledge already, they should just be able to fill in any gaps. Each person in my class was working at a different level which means it is pretty much one-to-one teaching. There is no charge for the lessons or the exam and they are good to use as a entry for us older ladies in the pesky "qualifications" part of application forms!