Aspies For Freedom

Did anyone find the GCSE hard? I'm struggling like hell. I've discovered that I lack empathy and thoughts and feelings and stuff. It's doing my head in !

First time I took GCSE English I got a grade D...second time a grade D...third time a grade D. Fourth time...persistence seemed to pay off and I got an A.

My GCSE grades...first time around.

English...D
Mathamatics... *Ungraded*
French...G (I didn't even know it was possible to get a 'G')
History...F
Geography...F
Cookery...F
Science...F
Art and Design...E

Eventually however I did manage to get to university...god knows how I managed it.

English D
Maths U
History C (no CW)
Geography (no CW)
Science A*
Double Science A*
IT..wasnt allowed to take the exam, the teacher was a complete jackass
Business D

and I did no coursework for Geography or History, but I did for English and Business...go figure?

I did okay at GCSE but I went to a very good school where teachers were very strict and gave lots of homework which worked well for me.

The only thing that I really struggled with in English was having to give presentatation in front of the class. How exactly are you supposed to give a confident articulate presentation in front of all of the people that bully you and generally make your life miserable?

I would have preferred to give my presentation in front of a group of teachers or a panel of examiners who I didn't know and would never see again and who were not the people who bullied me daily.

oh. I'm really screwed cos, I've been informed by connexions that if i get a D, then i won't be able to go to uni as well as college as most colleges require a C in English Language. I'm hopefully going to Henley College {Oxon} and 98% of courses need english language:

My original choices:

French
Spanish {GCSE}
Computing
RE

Now because of the D i'll likely get, the new choices are:

French
Critical Thinking
RE
Ancient History

It's so horrible. You don't want to be me today... :'(

ah...thats not true.

GCSEs are completely worthless.

look, if you really want to get in, ask for an interview with a tutor from the course. if you know your stuff, they should let you on.

A word of warning.
is it a BTEC First Diploma, National Diploma et al?
it is USELESS.they only lead onto the next BTEC qualification, and are not really internationally recognized. also, they are very, very basic, and coursework centred.

if you want a USEFUL qualification, start looking at Cisco Systems CCNA, COMPTIA's Network+ and A+, and the Microsoft MCSE.

bearing in mind that I am advising you from the standpoint of someone who is going into hardware and networking. if you want programming or Game Design, then disregard the above.

oh ok. Ye it was, thats what they sed, btec first diploma. Cheers for that.

welcome.

its all basic stuff, and my tutors actually told me to  not go into so much depth on the CW, because its just not worth it.

its mostly (at first diploma level) basic skills; Office, installing an OS (typically XP), identifying basic computer components, proving you know what plugs in where, some basic HTML, some Java IF you are lucky, mobile communications and a little bit on security; all basic stuff. you will be bored.

the next level up covers a basic bit of C++, the SSDAM, goes into a little more depth on hardware. second year of that then covers more in depth programming, networking et al. I dropped out at the end of the first year though.

the annoying thing?
I could have gotten a useful qualification, like a CCNA or a network+, in a little under a fortnight.

lol. Thx again, it says in the prospectus that it aims to combine Computing and ICT together, its like 80% IT 20% computing... haha

I've always found English a hard subject. I love reading and in class I would do well but i've always been bad at the exams. I got better during GCSE because the subject was more structured. I managed to get BB in English (& English Lit) which is extremely well for me since my teacher couldn't control the class and therefore I spent most lessons bored and played games on my laptop because the teacher made us wait for the people to stop talking before doing any work. Which was a poor attempt at discipline because they wouldn't. Also because of the lack of proper teaching I didn't not know about one of the English exams until the morning before hand.

My other GCSE results:
Maths-A (1% off an A*,grr)
Classical Civilisation-A*
Business Studies-B
Double Science-AA
Art & Design-A*

I got to drop Spanish because I was so bad at it. And I didn't do IT because my school forced you to do a BTEC, however I got around it by my parents refusing to pay the £60. I got 3hrs worth of free periods a week which helped me concentrate on my other subjects.

We don't have a government-mandated national test of any sort over here, certainly nothing like the GCSE.  No certification at all is awarded at that level.  Local school districts have the option of issuing different levels of high school diplomas.  Very often, they break down to "college-oriented", "made it through", and "here's a piece of paper for you, just go away".

When I retook my GCSE's at college I got...

3D design A*
English A
Maths C
Biology B
Sociology B
Psychology B
Art and Design B

GCSE stands for General Certificate of Secondary Education. It's a 2 year course, although some schools like to cut them down to one year by just doing less at one time or a 1/2 GCSE (1/2 GCSEs are worthless to an individual).

They are generally taken from year 10 to year 11 (14-16) but some schools like people to take them earlier.
For example most state schools will make you take a GCSE in a subject you are good at when you are younger to improve their league table scores even if you are only going to get a C which is considered a fail at a private school. This is because of the league tables the grades are grouped A-C.

( In league tables all the students grades are turned into points, those are added up so prosepective parents can see what school is the 'best' because they score highest, although there are several tricks schools can do to be higher up which are usually at the penalty of the child)
because of this a large amount of state schools will only teach a child up to C grade level so that the child can then take many more GCSEs and get more points, than if they were to teach a child to A or A* (Which is possible for any GCSE because they are very basic level of education, no matter what intelligence level the child is as long as there is enough time given and good teaching)

A GCSE is the first level of qualification in England, they are genrally needed to be able to do A-level although you can get around that. A-levels are very important and are needed to get into University. 3 are the normal amount needed. Most A-levels are very difficult and are very intensive. Not all though.

Also you can go to a college which is different from schools (less community based and less social expectations) where you can choose what you want to do and the time period (e.g. GCSEs, A-levels, BTECs/ few months, 1 year, 2 years)

Please note, my view on private/ state schools are based on ones in London, I hear they are different outside London. Also there are a few good State schools in London, but they are extremely difficult to get into. For me to have gotten into one at 11 (the age of transition between Junior School and Secondary) my parents would have had to of moved house (Priority is given to closest distance to the school) or for me to be disabled (I was not diagnosed with Dslyxia or Asperger's until 13 and 15).

yeah, that was a monumental cockup by the examining board (Edexcel, or whomever)