GCSE results?

507021 said:

I did well in my GCSEs, but in all honesty I could and should have done better. I got a mix of Bs and Cs, and was close to an A in French.

Good luck to everyone receiving their results today.

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J-2739 said:

Liking those results. Yeah, I could have done slightly better too, but I was a bit too drunk on procrastination...

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507021 said:

Thanks mate, how did you get on yourself?

In response to whether my GCSE results have had an impact on who I am now, I would say they have in the sense they (and my disappointing A Level results) have driven me to try harder to achieve my goals/aims, because I think if I'd put a bit more effort in with my GCSEs and A Levels I'd have got better grades.

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Cowley said:

My son got a mixture of (and I’ll do this in old money) six Bs, one C, one D (that he knew he wouldn’t get), and one D that was a mark short of a C which he says he’s going to ask to have checked again.
Stepdaughter got one A, five Bs and three Cs (Mrs C wins Top Trump exam results this year )

All a lot better than I did with my grades, maybe not A*s all the way or anything like that but good enough for what they want to do next.

I’m celebrating my thirtieth year of work this year, and I suppose if I’m honest doing so badly in my GCSEs (I believe ours was the first year that did them in 1989) probably did effect me over certainly the first ten years.
So I never had the college - university experience, but then again I had a head start in the workplace in some ways.
I’ve been self employed for slightly more than half of my working life now and I’ve managed to built up a pretty good business. I’ve always felt that I’ve had to that though as I don’t have the qualifications to walk into a job higher up the ladder.

Anyway well done to all of you for taking them and getting the results that you wanted.
And if you didn’t get the results you wanted then don’t give up because there are plenty of different ways to make something good out of your life.

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J-2739 said:

Thank you!

I got a range from 9s-7s (so A*s and As), as well as a merit (grr...) in English Speaking and Listening; overall, a great 8/10!

And yes, although GCSEs/A Levels help a bit, ultimately, it is the hard work and determination that one is willing to put towards getting their desired targets, haha

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J-2739 said:

Those are some good results they can take home and apply to life.

Just one quick nitpick, in that the first GCSEs were in 1988 (God, why do I know this???
)

The fact that you are now running a successful business though, shows that perhaps written exams are not the be all and end all in life (and my fine grades are definitely not gonna make me less lazy, haha).

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DarloRich said:

Edit : I better put that obviously I am being facetious.

If you didnt get the results you wanted dont worry. It means almost nothing. Want to know how many times anyone has ever asked me about GCSE results?

That's right: never.

Just sit down and consider your options carefully and chose one option that suits you. Not anyone else. You.

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underbank said:

GCSE's don't matter as time passes and you've moved on. But they DO matter at the time for the majority, as they're a gateway to apprenticeships, further education, higher education, etc. Yes, you can take them later in life if required, but it's a lot easier/cheaper/quicker to put the effort in and get the best grades you can when you're at school. Then you can do A levels/college course/apprentice you want, and move onto Uni/professional qualifications etc. It's always going to be harder to try to go back later in life to get qualifications and retrain.

I got a load of D grades in my GCEs in 1980. In those days, that meant fails in the real world even though the education system tried to pretend they were passes. Employers/colleges etc wanted C grades for anything decent, so a D was useless unless you wanted a low grade job/college course. I could and should have done far better, as I started secondary as a straight A pupil, but 5 years of crap comp education, bullying, etc., just sucked everything out of me.

I did resits and eventually scraped enough C grades to be able to do A levels, and even though my A level grades were also Ds, at least my professional qualification entry requirements was 3 A levels, not dependant upon grades, so I got in. I managed to get a trainee job in a local small business on a pittance of a wage, but at least I could train and work for professional qualifications which I eventually achieved and have had a good career ever since (albeit limited by not having a Uni degree!).

So, there's always a life after bad exam results, but it's just a lot harder and you may never reach the dizzy heights you could have had you done each level at the right time in the normal course of things.

(Of course, a tiny minority of people succeed big time despite no qualifications, such as a few millionaire businessmen, premier league footballers, top models, etc., but it's a bit disingenuous to say that because Richard Branson or David Beckham didn't get any O levels, then anyone can become a Richard Branson or David Beckham - they're one in a million, not the average Joe Public, so highly unlikely!)

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