When I was a nipper
we did nine GCSEs. Now they seem to be doing 11. And spending less time in lessons. Either kids today are genii, or the exams aren't as indepth as they used to be.

/old lady moaning
( b3th Not shit. Not mod., Thu 25 Aug 2011, 20:14, 3 replies, latest was 14 years ago)

10 was the norm when I was a young'un, but I was only entered for seven.
lol anal sex etc.
( The Mock TurtIe ™ --- Thinks you are a cunt, on, Thu 25 Aug 2011, 20:15, Reply)

I think the difference is these days, there are more kids on both ends of the spectrum.
Say, 40 years ago,the ratio of clever:average:thick was 15:70:15, whereas today its more like 30:40:30, and the top 30% are the quieter types, so the thicko band get noticed more by adults.
So the pass rate is rising, but there are also more thick kids. So there probably are more genii, we're just being obscured to a greater degree.
(888777555, Thu 25 Aug 2011, 20:19, Reply)

No, you're jsut being coached better to pass exams
Teaching is improving, but only in the sense that you're being taught better how to pass an exam.
(Bazongaloid, Thu 25 Aug 2011, 20:23, Reply)

I'd agree with this
there's less indepth knowledge of a subject and the exams are definitely easier.
( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Thu 25 Aug 2011, 20:24, Reply)

Maybe the top 70% find it easier to pass but the bottom 30% hardly have any qualifications, and whats worse unlike their parents they have no profitable practical skills.
Apart from one C in of the more mocked subjects.
(888777555, Thu 25 Aug 2011, 20:26, Reply)

I don't know if they're easier
but you're better trained how to do it.

I don't think there is any way of measuring peoples common sense though, which is something that is far more important in a working environment.
(Bazongaloid, Thu 25 Aug 2011, 20:26, Reply)

On older maths and science papers, you'd get long questions which awarded 20-30 marks,
and the idea of these was to set a simple-looking but inherently complex problem, make the candidates figure out how to solve it themselves, and use the question to test the candidates' problem-solving skills. But because these questions often led to low marks, they are becoming increasingly rare.
( The Mock TurtIe ™ --- Thinks you are a cunt, on, Thu 25 Aug 2011, 20:31, Reply)

I'm not so sure
our teachers did that joke thing of giving us past papers from quite a few years before and they were substantially harder than the ones we had.
( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Thu 25 Aug 2011, 20:37, Reply)

Because the questions were often written in a different way
or covering slightly different things, that you hadn't been taught how to address.
(Bazongaloid, Thu 25 Aug 2011, 20:43, Reply)

Perhaps
the papers certainly seemed harder, and I was relatively smart.
( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Thu 25 Aug 2011, 20:46, Reply)

I got straight A's through my GCSEs and A levels and a first, so I'm quite happy to say I'm good at doing exams
but as I said, when you look at older papers set under a slightly different curiculum they appear "hard" to me, because I hadn't learnt how to answer those questions. Had I been taught how to answer those questions I doubt I would have found them hard.
(Bazongaloid, Thu 25 Aug 2011, 20:50, Reply)

^this
Edit: it's a bit monkey see monkey do.
(Set your faces to Stunned Bigly, Thu 25 Aug 2011, 20:25, Reply)

This was my problem at school, my ability to memorise things without understanding the logic behind them has always been bad.
My motivation and behaviour were even worse.
( The Mock TurtIe ™ --- Thinks you are a cunt, on, Thu 25 Aug 2011, 20:32, Reply)

Merit is SUCH a 20th century value, darling.

( The Mock TurtIe ™ --- Thinks you are a cunt, on, Thu 25 Aug 2011, 20:26, Reply)

This is true in the short term Al.
Then Bobby will qualify.
( JeffTheDogFucker Can you dig it?, Thu 25 Aug 2011, 20:26, Reply)

There are always outliers

(Bazongaloid, Thu 25 Aug 2011, 20:27, Reply)

When I was a nipper
I did 'O' levels.

It's been a long time since I was a nipper.

EDIT - and I passed an 11 plus and got into grammar school.

This education helps me select a suitable zimmer frame.
( The Disappointed Caravanner of the year, Thu 25 Aug 2011, 20:28, Reply)

OldManCloseToDeathLOLZ

(Bazongaloid, Thu 25 Aug 2011, 20:30, Reply)

Closer
I'm 43 you know...
( The Disappointed Caravanner of the year, Thu 25 Aug 2011, 20:31, Reply)

Whereabouts?

(Set your faces to Stunned Bigly, Thu 25 Aug 2011, 20:31, Reply)

Barrow - in - Furness
Cumbria was the last county to move to the Comprehensive system, and I was the last year to do 11 plus.
( The Disappointed Caravanner of the year, Thu 25 Aug 2011, 20:34, Reply)

I was lucky, Kent still have them.

(Set your faces to Stunned Bigly, Thu 25 Aug 2011, 20:36, Reply)

There are three within five miles of me, but only one of them is free.

( The Mock TurtIe ™ --- Thinks you are a cunt, on, Thu 25 Aug 2011, 20:38, Reply)

Keeps the riff raff out.

(Set your faces to Stunned Bigly, Thu 25 Aug 2011, 20:39, Reply)

You've still got the old 11+ system?
With Grammars and Secondary Moderns and stuff?

Thought that went out with Callaghan.
( The Disappointed Caravanner of the year, Thu 25 Aug 2011, 20:39, Reply)

Sit

(Set your faces to Stunned Bigly, Thu 25 Aug 2011, 20:40, Reply)

Oops, they still test for the top 5 percent.

Sorry new computer
(Set your faces to Stunned Bigly, Thu 25 Aug 2011, 20:42, Reply)

I say that to my dogs and they do
What does it entail? I've no kids myself, so I don't know.
( The Disappointed Caravanner of the year, Thu 25 Aug 2011, 20:44, Reply)

Standard aptitude test.
Maths and English.
(Set your faces to Stunned Bigly, Thu 25 Aug 2011, 20:47, Reply)

So those that pass
Then move to, shall we say, a preferential stream of education?

I'm not being disengenious here - this is something that I've no knowledge of.
( The Disappointed Caravanner of the year, Thu 25 Aug 2011, 20:51, Reply)

Absolutely.

(Set your faces to Stunned Bigly, Thu 25 Aug 2011, 20:52, Reply)

Depends where you live
my grammar school was full of foaming retards, but that's because the whole county was. Same amount of money allocated, but the general theory is that by ability streaming people are less likely to get frustrated at being held back for the slow.
( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Thu 25 Aug 2011, 20:53, Reply)

Right - to both of you
As I say, I've no invested interest in the question.

I'd just assumed that since my schooling in the early '80's nothing had changed and it was simply a question of "you live here - you go to this school unless you can pay for something better."

Thanks
( The Disappointed Caravanner of the year, Thu 25 Aug 2011, 21:02, Reply)

There's four or five counties
that still do grammars. I went to a grammar school for a couple of years
( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Thu 25 Aug 2011, 20:42, Reply)

I pissed my eleven plus.
They gave me 45 minutes to do it, and I was finished in about 20.
( b3th Not shit. Not mod., Thu 25 Aug 2011, 20:32, Reply)

Easiest exam ever
though it was scary at the time
( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Thu 25 Aug 2011, 20:38, Reply)