Tina C Posted November 23, 2007 Share Posted November 23, 2007 I find this all pretty mystifying! I am one of the oldies who did O levels. I was under the impression that GCSEs were designed to pull in the people who previously were put down for CSEs but were capable of getting a pass at O level grade - ie not limiting them, because although a grade 1 CSE was supposed to be the equivalent of a pass at O level there was still a kind of stigma attached to them. One of the exams I did (in 1978) was called a 16-plus and you could end up with with an O level or a CSE grade and was clearly an experiment prior to introducing the GCSE. I really don't see the point in having two 'levels' of GCSE. Well, I do see that you can split the class so that the 'less capable' (for want of a better phrase) don't get put off by having to do the higher level work. However, I am a bit fed up the attempt to make everyone 'excel' academically. We all have different talents and capabilities and children (I am including teenagers here) have different aspirations, priorities and rates of development. There still seems to be too much emphasis on 'qualifications' for qualfications sake. And the attempts to blur the differences in ability are leading to all sorts of problems for empoyers and univerisities who cannot distinguish between candidates. Sorry I am in danger of going well off-topic into a rant on a very complex subject. Kate, I think you should let your daughter be guided by her teachers, as long as she is not uncomfortable with their advice. As others have said, she can re-take at any time in the future if ever she needs to. I believe that maths and english are the most important ones - as they will probably be required if she then goes on to further education either in New Zealand or back here in the future, or if she wants to work in education. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
