A levels

[Yorick]

My O'levels arrived on my 16th birthday.
Youngest in my year, but only kid in school to pass 8

[Horse]

There is no incentive for the education authorities to give poor marks.

There's an awful lot of universities that need bums on seats, regardless of A level results.

Foal had the same offer from five Unis: AAB

But the 'offers' were qualified, with alternatives from "What do you mean, 'drop one grade'?" through "Make us your first choice and we'll accept ABB" and "If you don't quite get your grades, give us a call" to "Come on in!".

He got ABB, went to the third alternative.

[Docca]

So no, my son didn’t get all As. He did get into his first choice uni

I’d say he gave it about 60% with study mixed with FIFA/travelling/working and partying. ( he paid his own way)

So he’s ‘in’ and nobody will really GAS about grades.

I got expelled from 6th form so didn’t do A-levels, my wife flunked hers. We’ve since gone on to get a number of degrees at a number of levels and earn well.

GCSEs next week.

I think I’m saying mindset and not grades matter. Some of the smartest kids I knew at school/uni are nowhere now.

[MyLittleStudPony]

If one of my kids didn't get all As (or A stars, or nines or whatever the highest grade is now), I'd chase them out into the darkness with a replica samurai sword.

I got all As. And look at me now, living the dream and driving the Crazy Uber.

[ZRX61]

I got a U and a F in my A levels. I could have got A* in playing cards and lying in.

My English teacher framed an essay of mine & hung it on the wall. It was still there over a decade later.

It wasn't particularly outstanding, it was the only one I produced in three years.

[DefTrap]

Exams are at least partially about how good you are at exams, a real life-skill ffs. Grades aren't necessarily an indication of hard work - I had to 'have a word" with my youngest in the latter stages of his secondary education because his grades plummeted - he pointed out that the grades for that year had no bearing on his final marks, so it was a sound decision to just cruise it. In the end he did great, both of them did, decent grades in baccalaureate in their second language and then uni in the UK.

But, old man whining aside. Well done to all those progressing to HE, you'll have a blast. Try and work hard, decent degrees are still worth something.

[ZRX61]

Exams are at least partially about how good you are at exams, a real life-skill ffs. Grades aren't necessarily an indication of hard work -

In the US a HUGE number of qualifications are based on multiple choice tests, not just school, but also trades like mechanic, sparky etc... & to make it an even bigger farce, practice tests are available on line. Lots of people do the practice tests 10-15 times a day for a couple of weeks & score in the mid-high 90%. By the time you get that level of practice knocked out you can just click you way through the tests without even understanding the question OR the answer.
Auto mechs are "ASE Certified". Any damn fool that knows which end of a screwdriver to hold can pass those tests.... However, you do have to be signed off to take the tests to show you have actual hands-on experience.
The FAA tests for aircraft mechs can be taken after something like 1900 hours (IIRC) of school, which is less than 1 year of a proper apprenticeship*.... That's why newly minted A&P's are closely watched/supervised when they appear at the airport while the ink is still wet on their ticket. But with that said, there are also oral & practical parts to getting your ticket, not just the multiple choice malarky.

* or you get signed off by someone you worked for at the airport who showed you which end of the screwdriver to hold. If you go that route you can also do a 2 week cram session to prep for the tests.

[Jody]

An ex of mine would always tell people she had a degree, but rarely admitted it was in Media Studies as its one of those faux degrees. In fact even Jamie Lang has a degree in media studies and that man can hardly spell his own name !!

[MyLittleStudPony]

All my friends call it "The Big D".

I went to school and I got The Big D.



This enables brighter people to boss it over tooley goons and NDWiITs.

[KungFooBob]

All my friends call it "The Big D".

I went to school and I got The Big D.



This enables brighter people to boss it over tooley goons and NDWiITs.

Wet Dream is betterer.