Have schools stopped pupils taking GCSE's early?

daisiegg

securityguy wrote: »

Oxford appear to disagree.

A-levels taken in or before Year 13
All courses at Oxford are academically rigorous. Tutors need to be convinced of your ability to manage an intense workload, so that you will be able to cope with the demands of studying here. If any student feels that studying three A-Levels (or equivalent qualifications) at the same time would be too much work for them, we would encourage them to consider whether an Oxford degree is really the best choice. Where there are specific requirements for any course – including any requirement for A-Levels to be taken together or at particular times – these will be clearly stated in the entrance requirements listed on the relevant course page.

Courses other than Medicine
The usual expectation is that candidates will complete the A-Levels specified in their applications within a two year period. Where a candidate completes a relevant A-Level before they apply, this will be taken into account.

Medicine
Conditional offers for students applying to study Medicine are usually A*AA in three A-levels which must be completed in the same academic year.

Applicants for Medicine are very welcome to take one or more of their A-Levels early, and their grades will be taken into account along with all other aspects of their application. They will still need to study a further three A-Levels (or equivalent qualifications) in their final year at school or college in order to meet Oxford’s entrance requirements. Any conditional offer will be based upon these final three grades.

Ah ok - all the people I am talking about did 4 or 5 A Levels in total including the one done early. I agree that only taking 2 in Year 13 could look bad, but I didn't know anyone did that.

Dunroamin

thorsoak wrote: »

I certainly didn't take A level maths ...just scraped through O level maths with what would have been a B/C grade (59%) - but remember algebra, trig and calculus as well as geometry playing a large part in the maths syllabus way back in the Dark Ages (1959!)

Do you mean B/C then or the equivalent to B/C now?

mumps

Dunroamin wrote: »

Do you mean B/C then or the equivalent to B/C now?

My sister did O level maths in 1968 and got a top grade. She has just done a GCSE in maths, just for fun she said but obviously her idea of fun is somewhat different to mine. She said she was finding it challenging in many ways with somethings not included that she did in the 60s but other things she had never done, I must give her a ring and find out what her result was.

Dunroamin

mumps wrote: »

My sister did O level maths in 1968 and got a top grade. She has just done a GCSE in maths, just for fun she said but obviously her idea of fun is somewhat different to mine. She said she was finding it challenging in many ways with somethings not included that she did in the 60s but other things she had never done, I must give her a ring and find out what her result was.

Did she do the GCSE course or just sit the exam?

Person_one

Dunroamin wrote: »

Do you mean B/C then or the equivalent to B/C now?

:rotfl::rotfl:

mumps

Dunroamin wrote: »

Did she do the GCSE course or just sit the exam?

She did a course as far as I know, I think it might have been distance learning. I only heard about it because she was asking my daughter about something about it and I asked if it was something one of her grandchildren was doing and she said she was taking GCSE maths for a bit of fun. I think she mustn't have enough to do.

Spendless

There was a woman in my class who went on to become a journalist. She writes a weekly column in our local rag. This week she is talking about GCSE results as her son has just got his. He also attends same school as my son. In the paper she writes about re-taking GCSEs and that her son did this with one, but chose not to with the others. He is a school year above the girl I wrote about in the opening post. I'm taking this to mean that the school used to have pupils sitting exams early but has stopped it with the children that are about to go into yr 11?

thorsoak

Dunroamin wrote: »

Do you mean B/C then or the equivalent to B/C now?

Don't know ....we were just given the percentages ....had to be over 55% to achieve an "O" level pass back in those days - over 85% was merit (I think) and over 95% distinction ...or it could have been the other way round!

GwylimT

Dunroamin wrote: »

Mock coursework? How does that work?

What's the point of doing a GCSE that doesn't need true understanding and where you can do a good grade without doing the course? Why would any school waste money in that way?

It is just like a mock exam, you sit the previous years coursework and we mark it using the mark scheme. It isn't a waste of money, some children want to study ethics, religion, politics and social studies, by not giving the opportunity to study R.E to GCSE level at school these students would have to take their GCSE alongside their A-levels.