Memory test for you! GCE "O" Levels...

[CHOIRBOY]

I took my O Levels in 1956 and the certificate just list the subjects in which i passed no grade were mentioned

[Code13]

I took my GCE O Levels in 1979 and we were clearly told that A-C were passes, D and E were "a lower level of achievement, considered worth recording" and U was "a level not considered worth recording". Although I didn't take any CSEs, those who did were formally told that a CSE Grade 1 was equivalent to an O level grade C.

[convert]

Did anyone sit the S Level (higher than A-level) papers at all?

 

I sat one in Maths, and as I recall there were 3 possible grades. 1,2 and U. I got a 2.

[Greybeard]

I took my O Levels in 1956 and the certificate just list the subjects in which i passed no grade were mentioned

 

Same here. I seem to recall that you had to obtain a mark of 75% to gain a pass ?

 

In those days there were no cribs, no calculators, no sample papers to download from the internet and no 'continous assessment' projects to boost your scores

[shoeshine]

I sat my G.C.E 'O' Levels in 1958.

 

My school used the Cambridge Examination Board (or something similar to that title) exams.

 

I recall a 'C' Grade was the minimum requirement to achieve a "Pass". I was also told by my teachers at the time there was no "fixed" Pass or Grade Marks as such......it "floated" year-to-year.

 

This system restricted the number of pupils achieving a minimum Pass mark and measured the "ease/difficulty" of the examination questions to maintain the value of the Examinations year-on-year.

 

I managed to get 2 'A' Grades, 2 'B' Grades and 2 'C' Grades, and failed two others which were to me "minor" subjects with no relevance to my chosen career path.

 

At the time, 4 G.C.E 'O' Level passes or less were the norm.

[CHAIRBOY]

I sat my G.C.E 'O' Levels in 1958.

 

My school used the Cambridge Examination Board (or something similar to that title) exams.

 

I recall a 'C' Grade was the minimum requirement to achieve a "Pass". I was also told by my teachers at the time there was no "fixed" Pass or Grade Marks as such......it "floated" year-to-year.

 

This system restricted the number of pupils achieving a minimum Pass mark and measured the "ease/difficulty" of the examination questions to maintain the value of the Examinations year-on-year.

 

I managed to get 2 'A' Grades, 2 'B' Grades and 2 'C' Grades, and failed two others which were to me "minor" subjects with no relevance to my chosen career path.

 

At the time, 4 G.C.E 'O' Level passes or less were the norm.

 

I am confused by this. You sat the 'O' levels in 1958 and you are quoting grades with letters. "Academiclady" confirmed my view on Page 1 that at that time - she says until 1975 - numbers were used; 1-6 passes, 7-9 failures, so I am mystified as to how you received passes with letters at that time?

[Greybeard]

I've an idea the different examining boards in the 50s had different schemes. My school, Nether Edge, operated under the Northern Universities (Joint Matriculation ?) Board.

[shoeshine]

I am confused by this. You sat the 'O' levels in 1958 and you are quoting grades with letters. "Academiclady" confirmed my view on Page 1 that at that time - she says until 1975 - numbers were used; 1-6 passes, 7-9 failures, so I am mystified as to how you received passes with letters at that time?

 

Are you insisting I climb into the loft?

 

I shall do so this weekend and look at the results from all those years ago and confirm the alphabetic or Numeric System in use at the time.

 

It's possible I may be confusing it with the Ordinary and Higher National Certificates and/or the C&Guilds Certificates I received a few years later.

[deadheadfred]

I sat my GCE's at De La Salle in 1974 under the JMB examining board, and the gradings were definitely alphabetic. That grade C in religious education certainly has proved invaluable.

[CHAIRBOY]

No, please don't do any climbing on my account! As others have pointed out, we don't think the grades were on the certificates although mine were listed on a postcard from the Northern JMB as greybeard said. His explanation of different boards is a possibility but I just thought AL had come up with a definitive answer from Wikipedia.

I have just found mine, there was no grade on it, letter or number, merely saying: "has reached the pass standard in the following subjects".