Are GCSE’s that important?

[Jodie.]

I want the truth RIGHT some adults tell me that my whole future depends on my GCSE’s but others tell me that workplaces don’t really care what GCSE’s you have and that I can easily just lie on my CV

So are my exams worth the STRESS? Xx

[Barry.]

For College and Uni it is.

[reece(:]

English and Maths are

[_Tom_]

Not when you get a degree.

Only basic Maths and English really are.

[RichardG]

if you don't get good enough gcse's, you might not get onto the a level/btec courses you want to do after school. if you can't get onto the a level/btec courses you want to do after school, you might not be able to do the degree or get the job that you really want.

do your best in your exams. ^^ study hard!

[Jack_]

One of my biggest bugbears with modern education systems are their obsession with standardised testing and overexaggerating the importance of many inconsequential exams. Teachers being forced to drum into kids 'these are the most important exams of your life' right from Y2 SATs through to GCSEs. It's absurd, a lie, and puts an enormous amount of undue stress and pressure on some students which can cause a whole load of other issues too

The only thing that GCSEs are important for is getting into college/sixth form, and even then you should only need five (I think?) which really isn't that hard. Grade boundaries are also far more lenient and easier to achieve than at A Level especially, so that helps.

Look, I'm not saying don't care about them at all...but take it from me, even in three years you'll be looking back wondering what all the fuss was about. Don't stress, do your best and realise either way it's not the be all and end all of the rest of your life. Good luck :)

English and Maths are

Having said all of that...these are important!

[Rob!]

GCSE's are a joke tbh. They help you get into college I guess, but that's about it and there's ways and means of getting what you need from college.
Like, I got 7 C's and above but I could easily put on a CV that I got all A*. When you reach a certain age, they're not even relevant anymore.

[Eddie.]

Jordi hun we have “O/N” levels here in Singapore and they treat it as really important, it’s something like GCSE, though if you fail, the effect would be quite Long...

If I were you I would work my ass off, I did for my O levels and look where I am today...

[Jason.]

Like someone above said, they're important for getting you onto the courses you wish to study at A Level and if you don't meet the grade requirements for a particular course you want to do then you won't be able to study it at university as you won't have the A Level for it.

They're pretty important for your UCAS application too as they're the most recent qualification your universities will look at. Some universities require them for specific courses and they will certainly make you stand out if you're applying for a competitive university or course.

Once you get your A Levels, they don't really matter in the grand of scheme of things tbh, aside from English and Maths, which most employers ask for a C or above.

[Morgan.]

They're not important as teachers make out, but try your best to get them as they can make your life route easier.

And if you go to college as compared to sixth form (college where you take just 1 subject) then you'll be able to get onto Level 2 without 5 GCSE's (although some get onto Level 3 if they think you can cope with it) and then you can work up from a Level 2 instead of Level 3.

[Morgan.]

I want the truth RIGHT some adults tell me that my whole future depends on my GCSE’s but others tell me that workplaces don’t really care what GCSE’s you have and that I can easily just lie on my CV

So are my exams worth the STRESS? Xx

Lots if places will ask for the official documentation which you can't lie on and I found that out the hard way so don't risk it :hee:

[Matthew.]

even if the path you think you’ll go down doesn’t say that GCSEs are a necessity, still try really hard and do your best. Although for getting into university, in Scotland, they’re more concerned about what Highers you got (I think that’s A-Levels in England)

[Ammi]

..I think everyone has more or less said in terms of their importance, Jordi...their importance depends on your future working life hopes and aims etc...they may have less importance to those things now but could have more in the future...as work paths do change...so there’s that to think of as well...some employers place importance, some not so much etc...the thing I think is to try to focus on managing your stress levels through these things...(...which is easy to say, I know..)...but stress will only ‘prevent’ from achieving the best we can ..so try to focus on balancing with the things you do that relax you...listening to music, playing games or whatever works for you etc.?..to get the right balance needed to counter those stress levels...good luck with them, Jordi..:hug:..(..and you’ll be fine, I’m sure..)...

[Withano]

They are up until you get A Levels... and then your A Levels will be inportant up until you get a degree.

They only really care about your latest education, which will be GCSE’s for some.

Also yeh, maths and English is a requirement for quite a few jobs.

[Withano]

They are up until you get A Levels... and then your A Levels will be inportant up until you get a degree.

They only really care about your latest education, which will be GCSE’s for some.

Also yeh, maths and English is a requirement for quite a few jobs.

[Wizard.]

Lots if places will ask for the official documentation which you can't lie on and I found that out the hard way so don't risk it :hee:

But once you get your A Levels that’s all employers care about and GCSEs become redundant

[Jay28jay2]

For College and Uni it is.

.

You don't really need them otherwise, I wish I didn't stress as much as I did when I did my GCSE's last year because it was unnecessary.

[Niamh.]

I think your GCSEs are similar to our Junior Cert, they're important to get you into a good class and whether you're able to do Honours subjects for Leaving cert (similar to your A levels) which then is important for University. If you aren't planning on going to university then I don't think they will mean very much

[AnnieK]

GCSEs are a means to an end - if you want to do an academic course at college (A'Levels or similar) you will need 5 usually at C or above including Maths and English although I know people who got lower grades at GCSE in Maths and English and were allowed to do the courses they wanted but had to re-sit to bring the grades up to a C. A lot of jobs will require a C or above in Maths and English too - work hard now and you won't have to work harder in the future to do what you want :love:

[Cherie]

It depends, if you weren't born outside the UK in a country where English is not the first language, but came here and studied you need your English GCSE to avoid having to do an English language test to get into University, that is if you didn't take English at A level.

[jaxie]

I think GCSE's are quite important because they are the foundation on which the rest of your education is built. They say that you have a good all round education and without some you won't be able to go on to A levels and University.

Of course there are other routes like BTec and Apprenticeships but most of them would expect you have some GCSE's.

English, Maths and Science are the most important. But Jordi try not to stress too much. At the end of the day you can always take them again if something goes wrong, just try to relax and do your best.

[Underscore]

Yes because they unlock your places in Sixth Form/College and Uni

[Ant.]

I mean not really?
They are important because you'll need them to get into college, but not that important
Like my college only required a few Bs and Cs which is like, manageable
But of course your chosen college may not offer you a certain course/certain courses if you don't reach a certain grade in a particular subject (we needed a 7 for Further Maths for example)

Also it depends on whether or not you want to be on the High Achievers programme at colleges. You need a lot of A*s (8s/9s in your case) for this and it the programme differs between colleges and some colleges don't offer it, and it's not even anything fancy, at our college they do push all the HA to apply to Unis early but that's it, High Achievers is only really tailored to people who want to go to Uni so if you're not interested in Uni I guess there's no point in pushing for a majority of A*s in that case

We also had to achieve a certain number of As/A*s to be able to do 4 A Levels too I believe? The rules will change for colleges obviously but I imagine this will be similar across the board

Also given the fact I haven't yet applied to Unis I can't speak for this, but I don't know any Unis that care for GCSEs (excluding a pass in English Lang/Maths/Science) as they focus on your A Levels/BTECs/Personal Statement (or so I'm led to believe)
That said, Medicine and Dentistry do have certain GCSE requirements. I think some of them require a 6 in Maths and English? I can't speak for all degrees but it's worth looking at some degrees you want to do (and the minimum requirements for your ideal courses at college)

This was an incoherent mess but honestly? GCSEs don't matter generally, but that said you're gonna need good grades under certain scenarios

Are you sitting your GCSEs this year, or next year? Even this time last year I'd say I was in your situation, but come the actual GCSEs I found myself not actually revising :laugh:

[Ant.]

My friend lied about her GCSEs for ha maccies application and they didnt care but you're not gonna wanna lie about your GCSEs for college or University. Pretty sure that's fraud?

[LaLaLand]

I think they are, but not as important as you're lead to believe at the time, I can remember the stress now.

Can honestly say I've never had to rely on mine for uni or any job I've ever had.

[RichardG]

My friend lied about her GCSEs for ha maccies application and they didnt care but you're not gonna wanna lie about your GCSEs for college or University. Pretty sure that's fraud?

not sure you'd get very far if you lied about your gcse grades in a university application. all five universities i applied to offered me a place, on the condition that i emailed them proof of my gcse and a level grades first. same for my a level college, i had to provide proof of results to enrol.

i think it's best if u study hard and get the best results u can. it makes things a little bit easier later on. ^^

[Tom4784]

Important for college and stuff but you won't ever get asked about it in most jobs.

[Ant.]

not sure you'd get very far if you lied about your gcse grades in a university application. all five universities i applied to offered me a place, on the condition that i emailed them proof of my gcse and a level grades first. same for my a level college, i had to provide proof of results to enrol.

i think it's best if u study hard and get the best results u can. it makes things a little bit easier later on. ^^

Yeah, we had to bring our GCSE results to enrolment day
I'm reading now though and I've seen like three people claim using the wrong GCSE results is fraud and would be taken seriously (and others say the application would just be ignored which is well, understandable and expected)

But I'd imagine colleges would review the uni application anyway? Regardless there's NO way you'd get away with it

[Matthew.]

i remember my maths teacher telling my class that if we didn’t get our intermediate 2 maths qualification that we’d be living in caravan sites by the age of 20.

Not quite as dramatic as that, however and I think this is the correct terms, GCSEs (Int 2/Nat 5) lead you to A-Levels (Higher) which will lead you to college or university applications. My brother is doing his Nat 5’s just now and like me, he isn’t doing N5 maths this year because we failed our prelims but will do it next year alongside some Highers.

[armand.kay]

English and maths are to continue into college but I'll be honest with you I don't even put them on my cv anymore, when I was applying for post grad jobs I was told not to bother with GCSE's and I still got a few responses.

[Morgan.]

I mean not really?
They are important because you'll need them to get into college, but not that important
Like my college only required a few Bs and Cs which is like, manageable
But of course your chosen college may not offer you a certain course/certain courses if you don't reach a certain grade in a particular subject (we needed a 7 for Further Maths for example)

Also it depends on whether or not you want to be on the High Achievers programme at colleges. You need a lot of A*s (8s/9s in your case) for this and it the programme differs between colleges and some colleges don't offer it, and it's not even anything fancy, at our college they do push all the HA to apply to Unis early but that's it, High Achievers is only really tailored to people who want to go to Uni so if you're not interested in Uni I guess there's no point in pushing for a majority of A*s in that case

We also had to achieve a certain number of As/A*s to be able to do 4 A Levels too I believe? The rules will change for colleges obviously but I imagine this will be similar across the board

Also given the fact I haven't yet applied to Unis I can't speak for this, but I don't know any Unis that care for GCSEs (excluding a pass in English Lang/Maths/Science) as they focus on your A Levels/BTECs/Personal Statement (or so I'm led to believe)
That said, Medicine and Dentistry do have certain GCSE requirements. I think some of them require a 6 in Maths and English? I can't speak for all degrees but it's worth looking at some degrees you want to do (and the minimum requirements for your ideal courses at college)

This was an incoherent mess but honestly? GCSEs don't matter generally, but that said you're gonna need good grades under certain scenarios

Are you sitting your GCSEs this year, or next year? Even this time last year I'd say I was in your situation, but come the actual GCSEs I found myself not actually revising :laugh:

I didn't revise and ended up with A, A, B, B, B, C, C, C, C - you just have to know how to structure the questions and how to talk bull ****.

[Ant.]

I didn't revise and ended up with A, A, B, B, B, C, C, C, C - you just have to know how to structure the questions and how to talk bull ****.

I wish you got an extra GCSE that was an A because that'd be 3 As, 3 Bs, and 3 Cs :clap1:

It's ironic, I'd say my worst grades were the ones I revised the most for (Maths and Geography) yet the rest I honestly didn't revise as much as I should've and got really high in them
That said, I got VERY lucky with my Lit questions :joker:

[Matthew.]

oh and you can answer the questions in any order you like. you are not penalised for doing them in a different order

[Ant.]

oh and you can answer the questions in any order you like. you are not penalised for doing them in a different order

I'd actually do this imo
For maths I definitely spent too long on the longer questions which resulted in me missing out half the second paper :laugh:
For science I learnt, I always left the big question of the paper until the end because I just KNEW I'd spend so much time on it

One technique my teachers recommended me that I never considered (but you may find useful) is quickly skimming the paper at the start and reading the questions so you have a general idea and can sorta think of what you'd write in advance? I always thought that'd waste time but I'd try it while you're doing past papers and see how that works

[michael21]

I want the truth RIGHT some adults tell me that my whole future depends on my GCSE’s but others tell me that workplaces don’t really care what GCSE’s you have and that I can easily just lie on my CV

So are my exams worth the STRESS? Xx

No there nt worth the stress