American Reacts to "British vs. American EXAMS"
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American exams are mainly multiple choice AND you get tested as you go and not 1 big exam at the end of the final year AND you don't take like 25 exams in a matter of a couple weeks?!? You guys get it so easy!😂
And yet they still struggle in the US. I think it’s mostly because the system has a very bad educational set up, whilst the questions asked in the exams aren’t always covered in the teaching sessions and the grading system isn’t as well lined up.
American schools dont teach much about the rest of the world though.
That was what I was thinking. I'm Belgian and I hardly ever got anything multiple choice in my entire schooling. And if it was then it was for a little test during the year (a.k.a. a pop quiz). Pencil use? Nope. Hardcore baby, all in pen.
Exams in middle school and high school? One before xmas break and one before summer break. All exams back to back in a period of a couple of weeks. End of school year score based on the combination of those 2 exams and that for every subject.
Yah, no wonder that the education levels in the USA are so low.
I live in Scotland are test are different from England on the grading like the Standard Grades is Scotland ( GCSE) are graded 1-6 so 1 =a 2=b down to 6 being a F . Then if you stay at high school after you are 16 then you can do Higer and 6th year studies but I am sure they are graded with A-F . I left school at 16 and went to college for Motor vehicle maintenance and Carpentry and Joinery. But all exam were at the end off the year just before the Sumer break and all exam must be taken using a black ink pen . I remember the English exam they were close to 2-300 people in the assembly hall basically every one that was in the 4 th year off high school. They are not fun or happy memories lol
And you still get a cheat sheet
Whenever we had multiple-choice tests here in the UK, we were always really happy because they’re so much easier. Example, if you can’t remember the answer, then the multiple choice question/answers may well jog your memory.
Never heard of multiple choice questions in British exams !
@@marycarver1542
Yes they were part of the 11+ ones exams and the CSE ones.
I’m shocked that American exams are multiple choice. If that was the case in the U.K. I would have probably passed more exams than I did.
Just to let you know that the English guy was spot on about the English tests and exams.
I did a year as an exchange student in the States. Went in as a C-average student. Finished my year with a 4.0 gpo, it was SO easy.
Yeah, when he said about multiple choice in English I was shocked. I remember having an aching hand after having to write a 1-2 sided essay of a4 for 1 question. Then have to write another 1-2 sides for another question
Multiple choice questions are not necessarily easy - they can be really really hard.
@@cl4re4d4ms Not when compared to having to answer the same questions without having the answer in front of you at all - or knowing that failing all else you can take a wild guess and have a 1 in 4 chance of getting it right.
Using Evan's example 'What does parsimonious mean' - in the states you'd have the actual answer in front of you to help jog your memory and a few to guess from in the event you do not know at all. In the UK you would have the question and then a few lines underneath for you to fill out the answer by writing whatever you think in your own words. No hints and a random guess would be totally random - not 1 in 4.
@@mortisrat I have done difficult multiple choice questions which required you to know whether various statements depended on other statements. Believe me, it is possible to design very very hard multiple choice questions.
In Germany I never in my life had multiple choice. And we weren't allowed to use pencils in tests.
Same for me in the UK, I took mine 40 years ago and a lot has changed.
@@ratowey I took mine 47 yrs ago , Pencil wtf ... Pencils have an eraser on the end you could change your answers with a pencil. Homework which from what that American was saying, counted towards test score. Homework in the UK could be anything from an hour to 3-4, I have to agree with some who argue kids should not have to do homework and just have time to be kids. I always seen homework as a teacher putting the work they should be doing in school , onto the kids. I seen another video with the same guy and he was saying if you put your hand up in class to answer a question, that too went towards your scores. Mental.
@@mefw I couldn't agree more, the homework was torture
The Brit was OK. We have always had our exams set centrally. Pens used, no cheating. No multiple choice. So students have a national set grade, it also highlights failing schools. During the pandemic teachers were able to give an estimate of students grades, not all happy as the teacher could be biased. Some students do better in exams than the teacher expects.
G.C.S.E. = General Certificate for Secondary Education. S.A.T.'s taken at ages 7 & 11 = Standard Assessment Tests.
Multiple choice exams how? Surely that's cheating lmao
Not really, because you still have to know the answer. It is easier though, especially since there are few open book exams (where you can take research and books in with you) which makes it more stressful!
@@gleadhill79 You get to take books in with you?!?
@@gleadhill79 hold up, you get to take notes in!!!!!
@@adamwheeler5690 yes, on open book exams lol
@@lopsplays9535 we had one exam where we spent hours in the library doing our essay answer and then went into the exam and copied it out! Different Uni's will have different rules though and we only had that on one subject!!
With regards to A Levels, you’re required to get top grades to get into a good university. So for example I’m taking Chemistry, Biology, and Psychology. I want to study biomedical science/neuroscience. If I want to go to a top uni I need to get A* in Bio and Chem, and at least an A in Psychology. The thing is, it’s not cut and dried like 90% = A*. The grade boundaries move every year. So the top 5% of students get an A*, the 10% below that get an A, and so on. It’s so they can fairly grade the papers in case the questions were too harsh, or didn’t accurately represent how the current cohort were taught. It can be worrying though! Because of the variability I have to know absolutely everything on the course. If you look up an A Level Chemistry curriculum you’ll probably think it’s college/university level - it certainly feels that way, and the papers are so variable sometimes! Fingers crossed for this autumn’s exams and good luck to everyone who was just assessed using TAGs :)
The biggest differences in schools are the assessment as we have seen here, but also the specialisation and the structure of study. UK students will have a balance of subjects up to 16, from 14 to 16 they will study the GSSE syllabus and the exams are based on what they learned in those two years. They might then opt for a vocational course or an apprenticeship, but if they want to go to University, they must do A Levels. They choose three subjects for A Level, I did Chemistry, Physics and Maths, and that is it for two years, no History no English, or anything else, unless they have picked them as one of their three. The A Level exams at the end of what would be your senior year, no doing the test the year before, student will only know how they have done in August, a month before they are due to start Uni.
This has made me realise how much I don't miss exams. Lol
I did a BTEC instead, its another option instead of taking A levels.Which means you mainly do course work and its on one subject and you go to a different place to do it, a college, which is not the same as university.
Also doing an equivalent to a btec. Going to college for two years for a specific area of study, but then im moving onto university
@@lolimapotato yep! I did 3 years car mechanic’s at collage.
For my GCSE mocks, I had special requirements, and because of that I was given the wrong test on the first exam - the only reason I realised it was the wrong one was because there were three multiple choice questions 😂
I’m still reeling at the thought of 20% of the final grade being on class participation. No real invigilators. Tests marked by teachers. I am of the O level generation and exams would be essay style; the word discuss being prevalent. I think the more rigorous, standardised exams that we have are better. In fact, I think that the American system probably fails its brighter students by not stretching them. I would imagine the average British child is around two years ahead of their American equivalent. I get the impression that your eighteen year old graduates are at about the same level as our sixteen year old GCSE candidates.
There is a channel on YT called "Myworldisgettingdumber" on which interviewers go round asking college students what most people would call simple questions. What staggers me is not just how many cannot answer them correctly, but how the answers they do give are so stupid. At times it would appear that anything related to before they were born is of no consequence and therefore they do not need to know it.
SATs in England test Primary school kids 5-11 on their abilities. I believe it stands for Standard Aptitude Test. It benefits the school only to see how they are performing. In some parts of the UK (particularly Kent where I am from) at the end of September (bearing in mind school starts after summer holidays in the beginning of September) kids sit an exam called the 11+, which decides whether a kid can go to Grammar school or just Secondary school. Grammar school is considered generally a higher standard of education and also is more geared to kids who excel in the main subjects. Secondary school is a ‘one size fits all’ level of education although some have ‘Grammar stream’ for kids who excel in certain subjects.
For Years 10 & 11 you will have chosen to study only some subjects. You have to do English, Maths, Science & usually a foreign language but you choose other subjects & don’t have to do others. Subjects like Music, History, Geography, PE (sport etc), Design Technology etc are ‘options’. You would have to have about 8-10 subjects in your timetable. At the end of Year 11 (the year of your 16th Birthday) you sit GCSEs, (General Certificate of Secondary Education), which as Jack explained are standardised throughout the country by various exam boards. Regardless of whether you go to Grammar or Secondary you sit the same exam. The expectation however, is that Grammar kids will get A*, A or maybe B grades across the board but secondary kids will get A*, A, B, C all the way down to F. Having said that the grading system recently changed to numbers 9-1 with 9 highest.
At the end of Year 11 you can stay on at school to do either A Levels or the International Baccalaureate; you can transfer to another school if you wish Secondary to Grammar or Grammar to Secondary); go to college, which offers mainly vocational courses, or do an apprenticeship (learning a trade, being paid a low wage & doing day release to an educational establishment to study the theory of the relevant trade). At 18 you then take on a job or go to University. Sometimes gap years are taken & you start Uni a year later.
For me my GCSE English was on the book inspector calls, when we did the exam my whole year group did it at once. So there was 180 of use in the sports hall at once.
For me in the 90s all schools did the same exam at the same time so people who had friends in other schools couldn't confer about what the questions were going to be.
You also did Shakespeare
Interesting to hear these young people talking especially the English guy as I am realising that the British system has hardly changes since my student time in the 50's and 60's. The SAT(standard assessment tasks) are basically not part of the student assessment process but were brought in the 1980's as a Government effort to try and raise school standards generally. Although there was a lot of waffle about feedback etc, they are basically a cudgel to beat schools that are under-achieving. The key pupil exams are the GCSE's taken at 16 after 5 years of secondary education usually in 6 - 10 subjects and then 'A' levels taken at 18 after 2 years further study, usually of 3 subjects, Clever kids who don't want a social life may take 4 or 5. The minimum for entry to a subsequent degree course is 2 A Level passes. In reality, Universities may set much higher requirement. Oxford/Cambridge, for example may often require 4 grade A, A Levels. The English guy was pretty accurate and he is at Durham which is rated as a very top class University, quite difficult to get in to. For what it is worth, I did Zoology, Physics and Chemistry at A Level, then studied psychology at University and worked as a psychologist in education and forensic psychology for the rest of my career
i seem to remember doing 11 GCSEs, and have 11 grades, granted, 2 for science, so maybe that's the difference, its also always good to say, other exams at college exist, its not just A-levels, GNVQs, Btec and others, i personally did a GNVQ, mainly cause i didn't do so well in high school, but that's my own fault, proudest grade i got was the D in English, being diagnosed with ADHD at 16, i really had to earn that grade, whereas in maths and science(both numbers and fact based subjects) i was pretty much guaranteed a C, my brain just works that way,
22 years later and i still remember my English teacher, Robert Que, Earls High School, Halesowen, Birmingham, UK. Best teacher in the world as far as I'm concerned
@@cabbageplays6710 Glad you have such positive memories of school. ADHD certainly makes traditional learning difficult. The value of a good teacher is inestimable
I just mentioned this in my own comment, but I was in year 6 in 1994 and SATs weren't around then, I'm pretty sure they were introduced the year after or at least hadn't been fully rolled out yet.
Love Evan Edinger (the 'American guy'..lol)....watched him for years he has loads of content you'd enjoy. As for exams, I was at school in the UK in the 60's and 70's (Yes, I'm old!) and took O'Levels, which were changed to GCSE's, in 9 subjects, then 3 A'levels in Fine Art, English Lit and English Lang...Didn't go to Uni as married young and had two kids by the time I was 21...i did, however, go on to study Humanities later in life and those exam results from school still counted. Mind boggled about the multiple choice America has, depending on the subject, we write full compositions, needing to be able to remember direct quotations, draw diagrams and maps!
glad you here, when more than one in video I with they put text of what one they are
So did I. Every child took the 11+. Those who passed went onto Grammar schools, those who didn’t went to Secondary schools, however, we had to take exams to see whether we were put into the top class with the brightest pupils studying towards GCE’s, ‘O’ levels, which was what Grammar school kids all studied, or the other classes who were studying towards CSE’s. It wasn’t altogether the best idea as you might be great at English and poor at Math’s. Exams were taken a couple of times each year to see how well you were performing. If you were in the top few of the class, you were put up into the class above. If you were in the bottom few you went down and there were 4 groups of classes at my school.
just for info, we have had a school shooting at Dunblain in Scotland. The Tennis player Andy Murray was in the school at the time.
In summary. Until reaching study of a Major at University. The US teaches students to be generalists. US students study in-breadth across a vast choice of core and elective courses. Each course mostly just covers a partial aspect of the wider subject.
The UK teaches students to be specialists. For their GCSEs (Ages 14-15 - 16-17). UK students study Maths, English and a Science. And choose 4-7 additional subjects to study. They study all the fundamentals of the entire subject in depth. For their A-Levels (Ages 17-18 -18-19). UK students go even deeper into specialisation. By choosing just 2-4 subjects. They study more advanced concepts of the enitre subject. For University they immediately choose 1 subject to major in. They study just that subject in massive depth for the entirety of their 3-5 year degree.
This means many UK students have to seriously consider their future career from age 14. Because what subjects they choose to specialise in. Can determine what career options are available to them. E.G. If they wish to become a Doctor. They must choose to study Biology, Chemistry and Physics at both GCSE and A-Level. They must score very highly in each of them. To have any chance of UK Universities accepting them into a 5-year Medical Degree.
I’m from England and I took 24 exams for my GCSE’s back in 2018. The longest one I did was a 3 hour practical for my food preparation and nutrition exam.
A couple of occasions we had 3 exams in one day, I swear I had maths, science and history all in one day 😩😩😩
I did my A levels in Biology, Chemistry, Religious Studies and English Literature - I struggled to choose the subjects though as I was someone that loved school and subjects and learning in general - 4 subjects seemed a real limit compared to Secondary School (up to 16) where I was doing GCSEs in English Language, English Literature, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, Statistics, German, PE, History, Religious Studies and Philosophy! And I’m now in my third if five years at dental school and currently in the midst of my exams and seeing as I have an exam tomorrow I should probably stop procrastinating here and go revise! 🦷
Ps - maybe you should give a GCSE/A level exam paper a whirl and see how you do, that’s always entertaining and you can see what it’s like not to have multiple choice questions!!!😉 You can find past papers and the mark schemes online!
Similar list back in the 70's, A levels in Maths, English and Geography, GCE's in Maths, Statistics, English Lang, English Lit, Geography, Geology, Chemistry, Physics, History, PE, French, Art, Metalworking and Religious Studies. Exams were both morning and afternoon and took place all within 2 weeks. Revision was hell. Multiple choice would have been a godsend.
The uk has had school shootings in the past eg dunblane in Scotland there’s plenty about it on RUclips. It’s the most heartbreaking documentary I’ve ever watched
I've watched Evan's videos and was shocked how few exams Americans take. But I do like their way of continuous grading, I've always struggled in exams even when I know the subject inside out.
One thing a lot of people forget is that in the UK it was quite common to have a 3 hour exam on one subject in the morning, and another on a completely different topic in the afternoon. You had to work for it in the 60's and 70's. Don't know if it's still the same now.
However, have you ever seen any of the videos of American "students" being asked simple questions
Shocking how little they know !
I was at secondary school in the 1960s, and I was a secondary school teacher in the 1980-90s. Also in the 1980-90s, I was a GCSE Chief Examiner and a Principal Examiner at A level, too. In the “good old days” these exams (or their predecessors) were set by Boards set up, and ultimately under the control of, the Universities. However, to their detriment, they were amalgamated under Government influence to become competing companies offering public examinations as a sort of “product” to their customers: educational establishments. Each has its own syllabuses and sets its own examinations, in whatever form of assessment they choose. However, the Government of the day frequently interferes in this, and has, for example, banned all-coursework GCSEs (where initial assessment was done by teachers). The Government thought they were “too easy”. I was Chief Examiner for one such, and can assure you that that one at least, was not.
I happen to have been quite clever, and took O levels (predecessor of GCSE) when I was 14, and A levels when I was 16. I have a total of 10 O levels and 4 A levels. I then went to University and was awarded a degree. All assessment in all of these was by terminal examination in the subjects themselves. No “credits” were given for anything else, or could be “carried over” from one phase to another. The University assessment was in the final term of the course (3 years, 3 terms per year) and consisted of eight three-hour written papers in eight subjects within the syllabus. Now, in my course, the teaching of these subjects was in the six terms of year two, and the first term of year three, two subjects per term. What had been done in year 1 was of no direct relevance, and in term 2 of year 3, it was just a case of revision. After your exams were complete, you just had to hang around until they were graded; they were not marked as such - you did not get a score. The two examiners graded each script independently. If all your lower grades in each paper, taken together, gave you the same class of degree as all the higher grades, that is the class of degree you got, and your lower set of grades became definitive. On the other hand, if they did not, you got a live oral examination by those examiners who would determine whether the higher or lower grade was accurate, and this would continue in each of those papers until the class of your degree was clear. At the end of this process, the Class Lists were published, just giving the names and colleges, grouped by class of degree, First, Second, Third (all Honours degrees), Pass (no Honours), or Fail. The grades in each paper were not published. Class Two was not then divided into divisions 1 and 2. After all that waiting you had a short celebration and buggered off home.
That isn’t what SATS are in the U.K, SATS are simply a proficiency test to monitor progress. To determine which secondary school you go to, there is the 11+. This is only for kids who want to go to a Grammar school or another school type that uses an academic selection process for entry. It is not compulsory and there are plenty of secondary schools available which do not require a student to have taken the 11+.
Currently at an English high school, starting GCSEs in September. You choose a handful of subjects at 13/14, do the exams at 15/16. Everyone at my school has to do maths, English language, English literature and either triple or combined science (triple is harder, combined is just one grade rather than 3). I'm probably doing triple science, and I chose history, German, drama and textiles. I'm also doing further maths because I'm in the top maths class!
In the UK it used to be that academic students were channelled into courses tested mainly by final exams. Less academic students were channelled into courses with continual assessment, with more marks for course work. So I bumbled through 3 years of a degree course, and then passed an BA Honours Degree by doing a couple of months of cramming at the end. My friend dropped out of a 2 year Higher National Diploma course because it was constant work and tests.
I was surprised that so many US tests were multiple choice. However the only reason I passed my O level ( the exam that was used before the GCSE system) Chemistry was by looking at past multiple choice papers. It worked as the exam boards repeated the same questions every few years. Pretty sure I failed the essay paper.
Multiple choice is just a no-no in the UK, it would be regarded as cheating lol. It's true that our exams are mostly essay-based, as well. The structure to it was drilled into my head by my teacher when I first started secondary school using two formulas:
T.A.R.T: "Text, Author, Refer To [question]", and
S.Q.A: "Statement, Quotation, Analysis"
TART was the essay introduction and SQA would be the body paragraphs, because not only would you be marked on your answers but also how it was structured and presented.
Some exams aren't too bad, but there are certain subjects which are incredibly pressurising because of time-constraints. For example in English there would be a number of exams, one would be for creative writing where you would typically have around 90 minutes to write an entire essay and also show your plot roadmap. Another would be writing an essay on a question based on any of the books within the curriculum, and you would be expected to know that entire book back to front and inside out.
The worst exam I personally had was History; not because it was difficult but because time was really strained and the hand cramp was not pleasant lol. 2 hours and 45 minutes to write up a 38 page essay was something I will never forget. At the start of the essay the handwriting is really neat, but by page 15 it starts to get a bit messy and toward the end of the exam I have no idea how people could even read it lol. The problem with that exam is because the essay is worth so many marks, you have to cover so much to get your points and you can't be half-assed or mediocre about it if you're genuinely chasing a top grade.
So, when you are 14, you have to take options then that’s what you study for your GCSE’s. Probably stuffs changed now because I left school in 1997 when I was 16. I am a mature student now, just finishing my 3rd in a computing degree.
Scottish ones are different, you do 6 National 5’s 6 higher’s and 6 Advanced higher’s and advanced higher is equal to A levels
When I did it in the 90s it was standard grades (8), highers (I did 5 in fifth year which was the maximum and one in sixth year) then sixth year studies (I did two).
@@perspectivesonlife7263 yeah, probs would have been before the Scottish parliament was formed
@@teddyroosevelt2838 - Advanced Higher is higher than A levels.
A level difficulty is somewhere in between Scottish Highers and Scottish Advanced Highers.
@@jamescopeland8050ahh ok
No it's 7 NAT 5s, 5 highers and 4 or 5 advanced highers.
It’s worth noting that all 4 countries within the U.K. can set their own curriculum and exam format (though I believe that Wales currently use the same system as England) so there is no U.K. education system. That being said they are all based on exams being the predominant gauge of your knowledge. It should also be stated that you essentially sit your exams twice. You do a practice set of exams (known as Prelims in Scotland and Mocks in England) about 6 months or so before your actual exams. This is done to both help you become more comfortable with what is going to happen and also these results can also be used along with some of your coursework, if an appeal is made in regards to your results (this can only be done in extenuating circumstances), it is a completely different set of questions, so they will not help you formulate your answers but it will help take a little bit of an edge off of your nerves.
My school used to call them Estimates not Prelims when I was at school.
GCSE at 14/15 lead on at 16 to 19 and then it is A levels , Advanced certificate of Education, which is necessary
for admittance to University. This is age 18, and you need 4 to get into University !
Seems the British system is more challenging ! Explains a lot !
The more exams you take, the more you keep in your memory. If you had an exam once a week for what you learned the previous week. You retain it, so when the big exam comes you remember it. It's a great teacher who gives lots of tests.
Also questions asked to prove you understand the theory are excellent.
Multiple choices are easier, but you will never retain the information for any future use.
I could never imagine teachers marking final exams. Teachers are extremely biased in the UK towards certain pupils. Glad we don't have that in the UK.
When it comes to exams in Scotland, they are actually done a little differently...
In the end of our fourth year of High School (our last mandatory year), we sit what are called "National 5's", which are like basically standard qualifications for leaving school. Now if you decide to stay for a fifth year, you do "Highers", which are better qualifications, and if you get an A or a B in your Highers, you have enough qualifications to get into University. You would usually do 4 or 5 highers in the year, so if you got As or Bs for all of them, you would be able to go University the following year. If you fail some of your National 5s in 4th year, or you decided to do National 4s instead, you can now redo National 5s in 5th year also. In addition, Sixth year is also a thing, and if you failed some of your Highers, you can resit them in Sixth year. In addtion, there are also "Advanced Highers", which are, as you guessed it, higher qualifications than normal Highers. But the thing is, mostly Advanced Highers are completely useless, and I don't know anywhere that asks for Advanced Highers in place of regular Highers. However, if you fail your Highers again, you can do what is called HNCs and HNDs in College, to make up for that, before going onto University, since you now have the qualifications needed.
Exams are pretty much the same format however, but may be split up into several parts. For example, the English exam could be split into two sections, those being the Close Reading section (meaning answer questions based on a small text given to you, that could be about 60 lines or so long), and the Critical Essay section (in which you have to write a Critical Essay on a poem/short text, as well as answering questions on a book/novel you would have studied in class. You would have to memorise quotes for this section, as the essay will involve you quoting directly from the text you studied, and the last part of the book/novel section also requires you to have memorised some quotes). Exams on average can range from about an hour and a half to three hours, depending on what you are doing. Maths is also split, such as a Non Calculator paper and a Calculator paper, and subjects like Geography could be split into Physical Environments, Human Environments, and Global Issues and Map Skills, all of which are seperate papers. Also on average, exam results are usually- 70% and up is an A, 60% to 69% is a B, 50% to 59% is a C, 40% to 49% is a D, and anything under 40% is an F.
We have invigilators also, but they just stand at the end of the hall most of the time, and occasionally wander around.
We also get study leave, maybe a month before the first exam we get time off to study, and during the exam period, once you finish an exam, you can just leave and go back home! There are no classes on for pupils during this time.
Plus, it's all worth it, as at the end of Sixth Year, they hold a Prom for all the Sixth Year students, just before they graduate and leave for wherever it is they are going...
Alternatively, you could not go to University or College and just go straight into employment, if you wanted, but it would depend on the job you are wanting.
In terms of WHO marks our exam papers, they are sent to the SQA (Scottish Qualifications Authority), who mark them. Sometimes however they are sent to teachers in other schools, and THEY mark them instead.
So yeah that's pretty much the basics on how exams are handled and marked in Scotland...
When I was in high school in Australian in the '60's/'70's in our state, we did a series of interductory tests to see which of the 5 levels of high school education you would get. Level 5 you finished the last 2
Level 5 you finished the last 2 years of your primary school education and then did 2 years of high school education. Then you left and got a menial job. Level 4 was your last year of primary school education and then you do 3 years of high school education. Then you would leave for a less menial job. Level 3 you did 4 years of high school education, then you would leave for a trade apprenticeship or factory work. Levels 1 & 2 got you five years of high school education and possible entry into university or teachers college, didn't have a choice of subjects, each level had a fixed set of subjects you had pass to move on to the next year. Your grade was made up of about 70% of the end of year test, the remaining 30% was made up of class tests during the year and homework. .
So our main exams are GCSE’s and A levels. We take GCSE’s at the end of school at 16 and are graded from A* to E, there are 10-16ish subjects but it depends what options you choose a couple years before. A levels are taken at the end of sixth form which is optional extra schooling for people who want to go to university and are also graded A* to E but you only take 3 subjects. We do multiple exams per subject at the end of the year after study leave, which is a period where we dont have to attend school but can study at home, over a month or so.
Edit: you guys have multiple choice and cheat sheets? Jesus christ id be going to cambridge if we had that here 😂
I took my O levels (the forerunners of GCSE exams) in 1977. 11 subjects but there were 20+ exams as some subjects had 2 or more. The first was sat in mid May and the last towards the end of June so about a 6 week timescale. I passed them all, although I did need to re-sit my English Language exams the following October. My English teacher, Seamus O'Friel (I kid you not), was very sympathetic as he said the exams that I failed were 'the poorest papers' he had seen in his over 30 years of teaching.
I then took 3 A levels in Physics, Mathematics and History and passed all 3 but with rather poor grades (I was captain of the school cricket team and spent too much time doing that!). Whilst I got to university (UWIST in Cardiff) I dropped out as I realised that I had chosen the wrong course. There was the option of returning the following year but I obtained a job in a bank and so did not take this up.
I never liked exams but realised that they prepare you well for the pressures and deadlines that some jobs (and life in general) can demand. It was part of my education of dealing with life. Some of the courses did not really teach me anything required for my aims in life (apart for general knowledge which I love) but their main aim was to show you how to learn, retain information, express that information and how to use it
Such an interesting comment! Amazing that you obtained a job in a bank without a degree. How times have changed! Now I couldn’t imagine getting even an entry level job at a bank without 5 years experience, a friend on the inside, and a top class degree. (Plus, maybe some cheeky hedge fund work experience on the side)!
Similar experience in 1971 except that our teacher told us afterwards that our paper had been the hardest he had ever seen in over 20 years.
As a British teacher, SAT'S are used to see how much progress you've made between year 6 (last year at primary/elementary) school and year 11 (GCSE year) to work out how the school has performed and encouraged poorer and more disadvantaged pupils to achieve more.
My daughter, who is paralysed from neck down, uses a stylus in her mouth to type. She has 8 GCSES, 3 A levels & Broadcast Journalism Degree. All exams between 1.5-3 hrs long. All typed, not allowed to use predictive text.
I can remember when the GCSE exams started. I was one of the first along with thousands of students in England.
It was 1988. Showing my age now.
I'm a big fan of Evan, love his channel, the differences are defo there, still love your channel too bud
I never did a single piece of homework for biology, missed half the lessons, and still got an A+ in the UK
I just finished my A Levels - I did Economics, Politics and History and honestly I honestly don’t believe anyone outside of the UK will understand the struggle of A Levels
I can’t believe that you do multiple choice tests. Literally can’t believe it. We have to write like 8 pages in an exam
Portugal, Exams, tests, papers well almost everything is made by pen.
When we have some parts is tests or exams with multi choice, the wrong choices discount.
In national exams the tests have a number or key to identify the one that makes the test, this way the person that check the exam will not know the person that made the test.
The education is similar to UK.
So for A Levels I did media production and double music (I was the only student doing a double course and I had to get approval from the exam board and my sixth form). I got a C in media and 2 A’s in music. I’m now at university, about to start my 2nd year after taking a year out. My course is different to most degrees as it does not have any exams (teacher training). Instead, we have placements in schools where we put our training into practice and get assessed on that. However, we do have a lot of essays instead, I usually get 60-85% on those, so a 2.1-1.2 roughly.
A long time ago I took 4 'A' levels. General Studies (What a waste - but did well), Physics, Chemistry and Biology. Each 'A' level was 3 exams, two written and one practical). Although Physics and Chemistry just required a minimum of and overall 'pass' to gain the qualification, Biology required a pass on each exam. I went to university in Bath (near Bristol) and studied Biochemistry. This encompassed many subjects. My degree thesis was called 'The effects of 3-methyl-glycol on the growth of Aerobacter Aerogenes)'.
PS I was paid to go - my local education authority gave me living expenses and the courses were free.
I imagine that a lot has altered in 50 years.
I did A-level Biology (A), Chemistry (B), Physics (C), and Music (A), and at uni I got a 1st class honours in Biology
Exams (and qualifications) are different depending on where you live in the UK. Each country has it's own education system and they seem to change a lot depending on where and when you went to school.
I went to school in the late 90's and early 00's in Scotland.
I got 8 GCSE's (aged 16) in English, Maths, History, Physics, French, Art and Design, Craft and design and PE. Then at 17/18 I got 5 Highers (the Scottish equivalent of A levels) in English, Maths, History, Art and design, and Philosophical and religious studies.
We always used pens for exams ('examinations'). In fact we were not allowed to use ball-point pens, we had to use fountain pens with real ink. We did not have multiple choice questions in exams; you had to write essay answers, or show notes and methods on maths etc.
We don't say tests in the context of official exams: A test would just be a little 'quiz' of ten questions on what you had done in the last few days and had no bearing on exam results at all; they were just for the teachers benefit.
In the uk the choice to do A level is completely optional, after you do your gcse they determine your grades where you can then go and get a job or do a college course (if you fail maths and english you re-do at college) or you can do A levels at sixth form and after that you can go to university (A levels help you get into university)
When I was younger, the system in England was that we start school at age 4 (in what we call infants or juniors) then we're in Primary School until age 11.
At 11 some Local Authorities offer the 11+ exam, if you pass that you can go to a Grammar School (which is a better style of state school). Although most L/As only provide the SATs (which tests you knowledge of maths, science and English to determine which set you'll be in ... top set or bottom set).
Then we go to secondary school and study every subject the school offers in the first 3 years, in your 3rd year you'll have to sit another SAT exam in science, maths and English to decide which set you'll be in for GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education) English, maths and science (science is a double award, and there's 2 parts to English; Literature and Language). At this point you'll have to pick a set of subjects: -
English, maths and science are compulsory.
Then you have to take 1 foreign language and 1 technology, and Religious Studies. But then you have 2 electives where you can pick any topics you want from the school's list of subjects.
So I studied: -
* GCSE Science (double award)
* GCSE Maths
* GCSE English Literature
* GCSE English Language
* GCSE Food Hygiene
* GCSE RE
* GCSE French
* GCSE History
* GCSE Geography
I took these exams at age 16, but spent 2 years actually studying it.
I had coursework which was about 40% of my overall grade, the exams counted as 60% of my grade.
Technically, it's possible to leave secondary school at 14 and attend an alternate educational program (normally an Apprenticeship).
Once you have done your GCSEs, you can technically quit school but only if you get a job!
But if you stay in education then you will either do A-Levels or a Vocational Course called a B-Tech. These are either done at the secondary school, in what's called 6th Form or at what we call college (which is a Further Educational College).
We technically have to be in education, training or employment until age 19.
3 A-Levels equals 120 UCAS admission credits (to get into university) or a Level 3 B-Tech is worth 2 A-Levels.
Once you've done 6th Form, you can go to University. You will select the university you want to go to and the subject you want to study (so I selected a Bachelor's in Science focusing on Web Design). It takes about 3 years to do a degree, after which you can do either a Post Graduate Certificate in a subject or a Master's degree, then a PHD.
All coursework has to be computerised to make it easy to read, all exams are handwritten in black ink (unless you have a statement of special educational needs) - this is to prevent tampering with exams!
I failed my Maths and English GCSEs the first time around, did resits (all of which was free for the first 3 attempts at resits) - I took 2 resits to nail Maths and 12 on English (each resit after the free ones cost me £10 in Exam Entrance Fees) ... and I also did a Level 2 General National Vocational Qualification with the 1st 2 attempts at resits in 6th Form.
Then I went to an F/E College, had another 10 attempts at my GCSE English, whilst studying a Vocational A- Level in ICT and an A/S Level (first year of an A-Level, worth half the UCAS points) in Psychology.
After which, I went to University and studied a Higher National Diploma in Internet Computing for 2 years (worth half a Bachelor's Degree) ... then did a 2 year top up to a Bachelor's with Honours of Science in Internet Computing.
Then I entered the workforce as an IT Tech, decided I hated it whilst doing many B-Tech Diplomas to boost my skillset and employability.
So I went back to Uni and did a Post Graduate Certificate in Education (Further Education and Training), which means I'm certified to teach anyone over the age of 14!
As to grades, at GCSE you can get a (N.B. all grades are relative to when I studied, and being autistic I wasn'tgiven much opportunity to engage in academia - so some stats might be off): -
* U for Upgradeable, as in you scored less than 5% (to score 5% you have to write your name, student id and the date of the front cover of the exam paper).
* G for ... idk, tbh but you scored between 5 and 30%.
* F which is 30 to 40%
* E which is 40 to 50%
* D which is 50 to 60%
* C which is 60 to 75%
* B which is 75 to 90%
* A which is 90 to 95%
* A star (written as A*) which is 95% and above
At A-Levels, the grades were F - A* with wider margins for F - B grades.
At university my degree had the following scores, from worst to best: -
3rd Class, colloquially called a Richard the 3rd (for the Shakespearean character, although the word Third is sometimes swapped for the word Turd)
2:2 (a lower 2nd grade, ofter called a Desmond... as in "I got a Desmand Tutu at uni, Bruv"
2:1 or an upper 2nd
And a 1st Class
If only we had multiple choice in 1974, I'd have passed more exams. Statistically I could have got pass grades just by random box ticking then having a snooze tor the next two hours
my niece is a vet now and she took physics, chemistry , biology and maths
We have S.A.T's in the UK
Also in the UK a few parts of homework do add to your results
I'm 33 don't know the modern word we called it course work which added to your end score
I'm older and we did GCEs (general certificate of education). At 16 you took GCE 'O' levels (O= ordinary). You did not take every subject but you chose or were recommended for particular subjects. I took 9 'O' levels and passed them all at various grades. If you chose to do so you could stay on to do GCE 'A' levels (A=advanced). These were studied over 2 years with mock exams after one year and then the final exams after two. I took three 'A' levels (all passed) which was fairly regular number; some took only two, some 'brainiacs' took four.
It was these results which were vital for people to get onto University or 'Polytechnic courses.
For a long time now the exams have been GCSEs (General certificate of secondary education).
I took BTEC in Electronics and computing everything counts as well as some exams it's more vocational as well and is worth about 3 A-levels and instead of being graded A,B,C etc or 1-5 its graded pass, merit, Distinction and you'll get 3 grades like PASS PASS PASS but you could also get a mixture like PASS PASS MERIT or something.
With A level physics papers 1 and 2 where 100 marks per paper and 15 of each paper was multiple choice but the others and all of paper 3 with 70 marks, you had to find the answer only using the equation book (some equations where provided), your knowledge and your calculator
So I'm not at the point of doing A-Levels yet but I'm around the point of GCSEs and basically (at least for my school) in year 10 which is the year before the actual exams (this can begin in year 9) we learn most of the content for our exams and complete smaller versions of the GCSEs to prepare us for the real thing. In year 11 (the last year of secondary school) we learn the rest of the content, do loads of mock exams and spend ages going over what we learned the year prior and then finally apply that to the exams. A down point of this is you can do great in the lessons and the mock exams but if you do really badly in the actual thing that's your grade and nothing can change that unless you re-sit them which is only, to my knowledge, applied for maths, English and the sciences which is why we do so many mocks - they get us as comfortable as possible in the testing environment and allow to to practice revision and retaining information for the purpose of an exam. A major rule in the exam is the no phone rule. If you're caught with a phone on you, your paper can be ripped up then and there, if your phone goes off but is on the completely opposite side of the room, you can be graded a 0 and potentially so can everyone else in that exam. A new rule regarding this (which might just be my school) is that no phones are allowed in the room at all (they used to be left in our bags in a big pile at the back) primarily to prevent cheating and disruption, the same rules apply in terms of your paper being graded a 0 or ripped up and for my recent exams we all had to lock our belongings and phones-apart from water bottles as long as the label was removed- in a garden shed outside! So many other factors can lead to your paper to be dismissed including talking, wrong colour pen, doodling on the paper etc.
Also, the invigilators suck, they always seem to have a cold or blocked nose and have the most obnoxiously clicky and squeaky shoes as they walk up and down the rows of desks lmao
Gosh, I remember during my GCSE Geography exam in 2016 my phone went off in a pile of bags and coats! Thankfully it stopped before the invigilator fished it out, and nobody told on me. I put it on silent as soon as I got out of the exam and in my locker for good measure. So terrified I was going to be paraded out of the exam hall in tears!
I did history, business studies, English literature, English language and then I did an Advanced extension award in English too. I remember sitting so many exams. I’m not surprised if it’s now cut down to only being allowed to do three!
I do not understand why I had to write soooo many essays 😂
I did 5 AS level (which is first year of A levels) and then dropped to 4 in the final year. I dropped English which means I have 40% of an A level in that subject, the other subjects I have are Religious Education (but really it was Philosophy and Ethics), History and Welsh as I live in Wales. Also in Wales it's compulsory to do a subject at GCSE's and A levels called Welsh Baccalaureate (known as Welsh Bacc) which is 4 long pieces of course work where they "prepare" you for work and living after schools, one course work was to help your local community for 70 hours within like 8 weeks but you had to do it in a group of like 6 people and you all had to do it at the same time, as well as create a product to sell at the Christmas fair, and some products you had to do at the same time not even counting your other subjects 😅. Any Welsh person whose had to do Welsh Bacc will tell you how pointless it was and how annoying it was to do.
Except Welsh bacc all my other A levels were done by exams and course work. So in my first year (AS) I has 2 exams for English, 3 exams for Welsh, 2 written and 1 speaking (but the speaking was divided into group and single, so guess you could say 2 speaking but they were done on the same day with the same examiner), 2 history exams and 2 exams for Religious education (RE). You do the exact same amount of exams in your 2nd year but you also have to do coursework for some of those subjects, like I had course work in Welsh and History which typically would be like an essay, or some sort of written piece, or multiple written pieces for one subject, for example I had to write 3 separate pieces for Welsh where they weren't allowed to be similar and they had to be a specific amount of words long.
For me university hasn't been too bad, due to my course I've only had 1 exam out of all the modules I've picked and I'm going onto my 3rd year next year, so dissertation here we go 😅
That's why the brits are higher up the science table than the americans.
They were talking about geometry, algebra what happened to trigonometry. That was the arithmetic exam.
I take A level Biology, A level Chemistry, and A level Psychology. We have 6 exams per month and we have December mock finals and mock exams at the end of the year. In high school I had 20 final exams for GCSE over a period of 2 weeks….
From the point of view of a UK primary teacher, children are tested in Year 1, (aged 5/6) at phonics. That’s in simple terms a reading test. If they don’t reach the standard, they get another chance in Year 2, but 7 year-olds get tested in SATS in year 2 as well. Mainly these are Maths and English based, but we also have to assess their science. Basically every single pencil stroke these poor kids did, is assessed, and marked off on lists kept in huge files. At the end of the year, children are tested in reading (reading to the teacher out loud and also 2 reading comprehension), writing, spelling and grammar, and two written maths papers and mental arithmetic. We then choose 3 children per subject, collect up any of their written work that supports our judgement, and take these to a teacher conference called a moderation meeting, to ensure that everyone is grading to the same standard. I taught infant children in year 1 and 2 for most of my working life, and SATS in year 2 were really hard on kids and teachers. The national curriculum changed in 2012 and became much harder, for example in maths pre 2012, if a child didn’t do so well in paper 1, they didn’t have to sit paper 2. Same with reading comprehension, only the very brightest kids took the 2nd paper. The first post 2012 tests happened in 2015/16 and every child had to sit everything and have all their work assessed. This is repeated in Year 6 at aged 11. It’s a huge process, and not entirely humane on the kids, given the very young ages. Joel, you should look up Finnish schools and Scandinavian education in general, where kids go home earlier, they get no homework, they’re encouraged to play, AND the education standard reached is the highest in the world!
The only multiple choice test I’ve ever had was music and that was in year 8 😂😅
A Leves and O Levels were not invented when I was at school in the early 1970s, in place we had CSE or Comprehensive School Education Grades 1 through 5, 1being the Highest.
When I was at school in Scotland we took O Grades then Highers the equivalent to O levels and A levels in England so I have 7 O Grades in English, Maths, French, Art, Food and Nutrtion, History and Biology. 4 Highers in English, History, Biology and Maths
We have a different way of labelling pencils. I did do a few multiple choice tests (UK) and they needed a HD pencil. You could get different types, H stands for hard and D for dark and I think you could get say 2D which would be darker, but softer
I took Psychology, Biology and Chemistry and a levels are HARD (I do psychology at uni rn). Also you only have to pay for exams if you're doing a levels of GCSE's independently outside of school. And I've only ever taken one multiple choice exam, Business GCSE paper 2
I did Highers in Scotland. I did English, Maths, Biology, Chemistry, History and German.
Also have a maths degree and a Masters in Statistics.
When the English man talks about his SATs tests these are compulsory in the UK (except Wales now). At 11, the average standard was level 4. Getting a level 5 was the equivalent of an average 14 year old. Level 6, which very few 11 year olds got, was classed as an equivalent GCSE grade C. SATs grades now are graded greater depth, age related and below age related. In English you're tested on reading comprehension, spelling and grammar. The grammar paper is difficult even for adults. The writing is teacher assessed. In Maths there is an arithmetic paper and two other papers that are maths problem related. You are not allowed to use calculators in the SATs tests, but you're provided with rulers, protractors, mirrors (for reflective symmetry) and tracing paper (for rotational symmetry).
You can download previous SATs papers to have a look if you wish to do so.
Primary School SATS are used for league tables. They are to measure the school's performance, not individual students. You're 'supposed' to reach level 4.
I took English Literature, Business Studies, Sports Science, and Design Technology.
Also, at GCSE and at A-level, there were no multiple choice questions. The whole papers are scanned in (centrally) for marking by an external examiner.
I’m in the gcse stage, and I’m taking English lit (2 papers), english lang (2 papers), maths (3 papers), further maths (3 papers), triple award science (6 papers), french (4 papers), music (1 paper, 2 categories of coursework), religious studies (3 papers), comp sci (2 papers), and history (3 papers). That’s 31 exams in total ❤.
Well, in Spain the states makes official exams for each course, which we all take, and its corrected by university teachers mostly, and thats like 70% of our marks, then the other 30% comes from our performance during school... It all comes back to only one final exam. You have to prove that you know everything.
For people like me, that we dont need much time to learn something, this system is awesome, cause it gives us so much free time during the year..., but I understand that for an average person might get a bit overwhelming, cause you have to learn to do everything by yourself. or at least thats how it was 15 years ago when I finished the equivalent of High School here...
And the UNI only need to go for the exams, I dont need to go there the rest of the year... we've all the resources and teachers available online at any moment, we dont even use books anymore.
Multiple choice? that's like the teacher helping you. if you don't know you can simply guess.
We only have multiple choice questions on our SATs that we do in Year 6 which is at like 11 years old everything in High school is essay and long question based
I went to uni in Scotland for a chemistry degree id say 25% multiple choice 25% calculations and 50% knowledge and understanding, you wouldnt be expected to write an essay but probably a decent sized paragraph on the topic.
In Scotland u start primary school at5.til 11 then 4 years of secondary school or til ur 16 then u can start work or go to college then university everyone gets 2 week's paid vacations no matter what job u have and bank holidays plus Xmas and easter
S.A.T.'s are taken in Primary/Elementary School. I haven't been to school since I left at age 16 in 1982, so I am taking my knowledge from what my kids did.
I left school in May of 1983 I was 15 as my 16th birthday was in July. I did all my exams and passed every one of them. It didnt make too much of a difference as I had to get a job to help support the family. I did get accepted into 2 colleges but couldn't take them up on the offer. Sucked. My youngest child has gone through the USA school system. It was a learning experience for me as it is SO different.
Ok - my personal definitive list!
Age 7:
SATS exams
Age 10-11:
SATS exams
Entrance exam to secondary school
Age 11:
Various tests throughout the year
End of year exams (in 20 or so subjects)
Age 12:
Various tests throughout the year
End of year exams (again, every subject)
Age 13 and 14 - same as previous 2 years
Age 15:
Various tests throughout the year
The "mock"mock GCSEs (in 12 or so subjects, but with most subjects requiring more than 1 exam)
The actual mock GCSEs (basically, sitting our GCSEs, but they don't count. Numerous tests in each of your 12 or so subjects)
Age 16:
Various tests throughout the year
The GCSEs. Numerous tests in numerous subjects. (Example: I sat 4 papers for my French GCSE, the shortest of which was 90 minutes)
Age 17:
Various tests throughout the year
Mock AS-Levels in 3-5 subjects
Actual AS-Levels
Age 18:
Various tests throughout the year
Mock A-Levels
Actual A-Levels.
I don't think I've EVER sat an exam with a multiple-choice question (over here, they want to make sure that NONE of your answers could possibly be a "lucky guess") - most exams were essay questions, or questions requiring a 1/4-1/2 page of explanation as response to the question. From age 16 onwards, it would be a rarity to sit an exam that was less than 3 hours long, and you bet your arse you'd be writing your essays frantically right up until the end!
I was really into music and acting too, so I took my ABRSM exams in piano, singing and music theory throughout my school years (that's grades 1-8, then diploma), and took drama exams every year to obtain 2 LAMDA gold medals.
NEVER EVER COULD YOU TAKE IN NOTES!!! If you were caught with notes, ALL of that exam set would be an immediate fail. So, if you were caught out in a GCSE exam, ALL of your GCSEs in EVERY subject under that same exam board would be failed.
We'd be in school from 8a.m. to 4-6p.m. doing our actual LEARNING, then home for 2-4 hours of homework each night (for me, followed by piano practice for as long as I could before bed), and then if we couldn't manage to squeeze in time to study for our exams, all of this work would have been pointless!
I think things have changed since I was in school. I remember the newspaper reports that said us UK kids were the most examined kids in the world... and that was BEFORE they brought in AS-Levels!
Most of our parents hated that schooling was so stressful for us all, but there was nothing they could do - they wanted their kids to do well in life, and being examined constantly was the only chance to get the qualifications you needed for more freedom as an adult.
I truly feel like I missed out on so much of my childhood. Summer holidays were GREAT - up until the age of 15, it was a break between the year completed, and the year to come, so there would be NO schoolwork or studying to do! I remember so clearly the insane sense of freedom at just being able to be a kid!!! The stress became too much for me as a teen, and I developed depression, anxiety, and CFS - almost everyone I knew was on anti-depressants or in therapy, or was going down the route of drink and drugs.
I'm so glad that things have started to change for today's youngsters, but the pressure and workload is still FAR too high. There are adults who complain about working 9-5, while there are 8-year-olds arriving at school at 8, leaving at 4, then going home to do 2 hours of homework. With larger projects to do at the weekend. It's impossible, and it makes me so sad.
Uni was a breeze after all that....
EDIT: I did actually go to a private school where we were all expected to go onto the best universities, so I think our experiences of education were more brutal than others!
The first day I started infant school at five they moved me up a class said I was to clever so I was the youngest in the class. Then when I got to junior school they moved me back down. So all my class mates went to secondary school and I stayed on junior. Lost all my friends. Then I had to take what is called the eleven plus exam to determine which level of school you go to next. I failed it because I was never taught any of the type of questions on there. Eg 24 5 89 _ what comes next. I had no bloody idea. Also one one question that drove me mad. A farmer has a fox a dog some chickens. He has to get them across a river in a boat but he can't leave certain animals together. What the hell. I ended up leaving school with 5 gcses and hated it from day one till the end. I still had good jobs and never needed anything I was taught at school. I am now retired and think what a waste of those years If I knew then what I know now I would sue the education board.
I remember (vaguely) sitting the eleven plus. I remember my parents buying a book of sample questions for me to work through. Maybe that's why I passed.
Gosh I would have loved more multiple choice. How much easier! I did 10 O-levels (predecessor to GCSE - stands for Ordinary level) and 3 A- levels (Advanced level). My A-levels were in Maths, Physics and Computer Science. Exams were awful. Each subject (whichever level) likely has at least two exams of, say, 1.5 to 2 hours long. Some subjects had more exams. Some exams were 3 hours long. Practical subjects, like Physics, had a practical exam in the lab where you had to run an experiment, document if and write a report and conclusion derived. Languages had written exams in the language as well as oral exams 1- on-1 with an examiner. Most exams were questions that required detailed written answers to demonstrate your comprehension of the specific point of each question. Essay style answers written in cursive (joined up) writing in black ink. We used fountain pens. Tens to hundreds of students in the same hall at individual desks all spaced out and lined up. Same exam at same time all over the country. Exams go on for weeks and are massively important and stressful. It carries on through university culminating with "finals" the last set of exams to get a degree. I sat exams every year from age 11 to 21.
In my day, there were O levels and A levels
A school shooting did happen in Dunblane, which is when we banned guns for everyone. Now, everyone needs a licence to own a gun. It’s not true that all Brit’s don’t own guns. Convicts, those with a criminal record, the mentally ill, etc can’t be licenced to own or buy a gun. However, that doesn’t stop them being imported on the black market in parts, via smuggling from Eastern Europe, then reassembled for the criminals in the UK.
Back in the late 90s I went to college (a place of further education, not a uni) and took a BTEC national diploma in Music Technology, before that I just took normal school-leaving exams; GCSE.
Some British universities have started using multiple choice questions for earlier year groups, but it's usually for stuff that doesn't count towards the final degree class as they're not considered 'proper' exams (academics refer to them disparagingly as 'multiple guess questions'). On A-levels, I was one of those people who did more than usual - Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Maths, English Language, and General Studies if you count it but nobody does. They've changed the A-levels at least twice since I did mine (and that was less than 20 years ago) and I think nowadays it's very hard to do more than 3 A-levels, which is a shame as I enjoyed getting a broader education and it wasn't as much extra work as it sounds.
I'm currently doing GCSEs. If there is EVER a SINGLE multiple choice question that I have seen, it would be in chemistry, and it would be matching up state transitions (solid to liquid, liquid to gas) with the words like melting, freezing, etc. That's it though. Rest would be "describe in detail the bonding and structure of a H2SO4 ion."
In Scotland the exams are completely different from England, we have national 5, higher and advanced higher
SAT (age 7?)
11plus
SAT (age 14?)
GCSE’s (10 subjects)
AS Level /A levels /AVCE
Degree (all coursework based)
I took chem, bio and health and social in sixth form only 2 subjects carried on to a level as health was a double award
No multiple choice, black pen only (“photocopies better”).. no cheat sheet. But I do remember having the book for the english exams (with lots of hand written notes in margins which was allowed)
I did A-levels in French, Mathematics, Further Mathematics, and Economics. Now I've just finished my first year at uni studying for a degree in French and Linguistics (which is the systematic study of the world's languages and of language as a concept in itself).
In the Uk they send your paper across the country to get marked so we literally don’t know who is marking it. 😂
I’m from Wales, I’ve just finished my first year of AS level, going onto A level. I’m taking fine art, photography, sociology and Welsh Bacc (it’s compulsory for my college😭) I got straight A’s!🏴 and for gcse we had 200 people in one room for the exam and fun fact I’ve never seen a multiple choice question😂
When I sat my CSE (Cerificate for Secondary Education) exams in 1980, I had to sit for eight written exams in the space of two weeks and each exam was approximately two hours long and you had to write down your answers with full explanations. In my English Literature exam I had to had hand in a folder full of work Done during the year and which consisted of poetry, compositions and various other pieces of work and then I sat the two hours exam as well. For my English Language exam I sat a two to three hour exam plus I had to do an oral exam and a reading out loud exam. In Home Economics (Cookery) I sat a 3 hours practical exam cooking three dishes and then sat 2 hour written exam as well. So the exam system in the UK used to be quite tough going with lots of studying, revising and sitting for tests during the academic year which also counted towards the end exam grade as well. During the actual exam we all sat in the gym around 100 or so students in SILENCE and had to stay silent until the end of the exam the only time we were aloud to speak was if we raised our hand and the envigilatir came to and gave up what we requested it was mainly for more paper to write down your answers. You were also not permitted to leave the exam hall for any reason whatsoever until the exam had ended.
I sat my exams in English Language, English Literature, General Science (Chemistry, Physics and Biology) One exam for each subject, History, Geography Religious Instruction, Home Economics, Business Studies (Typing and Commerce) one exam each, Geology and Maths.
During my last 5 years of secondary education we often had tests for each subject during each term and in December we had exams to sit in which you could pass up a grade to go for example CSE level up to the O Level, or you could go down a grade as well. So in my day you was being constantly tested for your understanding of each subject. That is why it was called Comprehensive School/Education. The only things you were permitted to take with you into the exam was a pencil case of stationery that was required.
Also I am that old that I sat my exams before calculators were that common, and computers were big mainframes systems. But all in all I feel as though I had a good enough education. Although during my adulthood I have sat for various subjects in college in subjects such as information Technology and Business Studies, do you could say life is one long education.
Not one of my exams was multiple choice, all answers written in ink in longhand. Goodness me your exams seem way easier than ours.
I cant remember exactly the number of GCSE exams I had, but it was in the twenties. I ended up with 12 GCSEs (Finance, additional maths and Welsh Baccalaureate bolster the numbers).
I also had 5 A-Levels, and boy were they (not) fun.
I did 2 GCSE exams for nearly all the subjects I did: Maths, English Literature, Science, ICT and Film Studies.
I also did practical exams for Photography and Expressive Arts
Written exams were up to 2 hours long and the practical ones were 10 hours for Photography and 15 hours for Expressive Arts
I was also in a separate room from the sports hall with a few other people, the only exam I did in the Assembly Hall was Film Studies Paper 1 because they showed us a clip from a Superhero film
I am old enough that my experience was different to these guys. GCE's (known as O levels) were separate from CSE's back then, and a CSE was considered a lower standard unless you achieved a Grade1 (They were numbered 1 to 5 then a fail, one being the high result).
English exams were divided into Language and Literature, with a separate exam for each part, Literature being specifically about your set books. Written and Oral exams took place for French, German, Spanish etc as well. If you took Art that had a written test for History of Art, followed by having to paint a scene from a set choice of subjects.
Chemistry, Physics and Biology had both practical and written tests. Maths exams, you could ask for spare paper to scribble down various working out, but these had to be handed in with your test paper as all workings had to be shown. If you instantly knew the answer that wasn't good enough, you had to show how you arrived at that result.
Each and every exam lasted for 3 hours, there were no multiple choice questions in any subject, your exam paper would have maybe 20 questions from which you had to choose so many to answer. Papers were posed with a Section A and B, so you might be asked to answer 3 from Section A and 6 from Section B to complete the exam.
Mechanical (slide rules) and Electrical (calculators) aids were strictly forbidden, and the Invigilators were there to ensure you could not cheat by bringing in anything of that nature that could help you. Taking in a cheat sheet was an automatic failure, you might even get thrown out of the exam room.
When you moved up to A level you were expected to have a much wider knowledge of your subjects, and exam questions were posed in such a way that your answers would tell the people marking if you had fully understood, both by how well you explained yourself, and how well you integrated other aspects of the subject into your answers.
No books, no instruments, definitely no cheat sheets, just a pen, pencil, ruler and whatever you could remember.
My best performance came in an Accountancy exam. We had been told there were 14 different types of questions we could get, and we had to answer 5. I crammed intensely on 9 out of the 14, gambling that 5 would appear that I had revised. That turned out to be the case, I chose my 5 to answer and was finished in just 1 hour. Handed my paper in and left. Did I pass? Yes
You can hardly fail if you have multiple choice questions. More like a quiz than an exam.
This is mind boggling! What are we doing to our kids in the UK? Multiple choice exams is just insane….. GCSES being around 20 or so exams, no multiple choice, independently marked all within around 4 weeks. No wonder our kids are so stressed out. And they are getting harder year on year!