GCSE results?

[J-2739]

Hello guys, you may not know, but the current Year 11s have just received their GCSE results (of which I am proper happy with !).

Just creating this thread to see how others in my year (on this forum) performed, as well as past candidates too. As for past candidates, did your GCSE result make you who you are today?

Thanks for replying!

 

[507021]

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.

 

[J-2739]

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.

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

 

[507021]

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

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.

 

[J-2739]

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.

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

 

[Cowley]

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.

 

[J-2739]

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.

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).

 

[507021]

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

Well done mate.

 

[DarloRich]

Years since I got my GCSE results. They were proper exams then. Really dumbed down these days.

I got 12 GCSE all grade a to c. None of these numbers.

 

[DarloRich]

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.

 

[Cowley]

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).

@J-2739 - That’s fine to point that out. I think I’d got my years mixed up with the fact that we were the first fully mixed year at our school (separate all girls and all boys schools had recently combined to form our school). Anyway thanks for your post I appreciated it.

 

[Cowley]

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.

Wise words Rich.

 

[J-2739]

Thanks guys!!!

 

[underbank]

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!)

 

[J-2739]

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!)

This is also great, in which that even the lack of a Uni degree should not shackle you to the ground, let alone a lack of GCSEs. You just have to graft harder!

And yes, it is a bit absurd to say that everyone can have the luck that David Beckham had in no O levels (if that's what he did), and become a multimillionaire, but on the other hand, it can provide many people motivation, especially if they are not particularly skilled in examinations.

 

[johntea]

My CV states the following, for some reason I don't even mention the grades of my AS / A levels (they weren't bad!). It highlights the most important ones, i.e. English and Maths and that I wasn't ashamed of getting a D at high school in Maths since I took it again for a year in college and gained a C.

Interestingly the college approach to GCSE Maths was a more 'modular' one so you learnt about specific subjects then took 3-4 exams over the year rather than a more generic single one at the end of the year which really helped!

2004 2006 AS Level ICT and AS Level Computing, A Level Business Studies and A Level English Language and GCSE Maths grade ‘C’ resit

1999 – 2004 11 GCSEs (including grades ‘B’ in English Language, ‘C’ in English Literature and ‘D’ in Maths)

By the time I was at college I knew 100% I didn't want to go to University, I just wanted a job in IT! (In fact I even had a job interview when I was 16/17 at my old high school as a suitable position came up but the headteacher had a grudge against me so despite the department being keen to hire me I didn't get that! )

Another thing I remember is I was absolutely terrible at languages which back then was a mandatory GCSE (not sure if it still is these days) so they advised I could drop it and take up a manufacturing course instead...what they failed to tell me was all the other students in the class had 4 lessons a week of it whereas I only got 2 so it was impossible to keep up with the coursework! In the end I think I got a G for the coursework and a C in the exam for an overall E/F so that was a bit of a con!

In my experience the hardest part of the whole process is actually getting your foot in the door and that first job due to having no experience, after that it is pretty plain sailing! I went on an apprenticeship scheme to gain some certifications which helped slightly but certainly not a GUARANTEED job at the end of it that they were pitching initially!