Lower tier students are not told they need grade Cs or above to pass exams

[HawkI]

I am a 27 year old who last year decided to re take my exams because I noticed some jobs I want to apply for require both a C grade in Maths and English. I have applied for many similar job positions that do not require these grades.

When I was at school, I was in something called lower tier, where you can go from lower tier U to lower tier C grade in total. The other half of the school were in something called higher tier, where you can go from Higher Tier U to Higher Tier A* grade in total.

I was never explicitly told you need a lower tier C or above to pass exams until this year when I received a letter from the college I am retaking my exams from.

I have applied for many jobs not knowing why I have repeatedly kept being turned down for many of them and not retook my exams many times as I was under the impression that anything above a lower tier U is a pass grade, and me thinking I don't need to improve on my lower tier Ds.

I understand that schools wouldn't want to tell the lower tier students that passing exams requires them getting lower tier Cs or above, because they don't want to demoralize those students.

The government just cross their fingers and hope that lower tier students go on to work with their hands.

Do you believe me?
If so, what should we do?

 

[RainbowSingularity]

explicitly

...

Do you believe me?

we

you want to explicitly wee on a belief ?

how non explicitly were you not told ?

did someoe have an explicit opinion when they mentioned it no explicitly ?

The government just cross their fingers and hope

did you vote in the last election ?
who for ?
the education job creator democrats ?
or the education slash n burn republicans ?

do you feel victimized ?

I understand that schools wouldn't want to tell the lower tier students that passing exams requires them getting lower tier Cs or above, because they don't want to demoralize those students.

Thank goodness the school gets a free pass from being sued because you have assigned a non human entity a human value emotional excuse for "feeling" as a human.
im sure that is really helpful.

what should we do?

we

me

... who is "we" ?

can you sue your parents for not making you study more ?

I am a 27

... well that settles it then !
you are just a number !

better to be a victim than accountable ?
...

I have applied for many jobs not knowing why I have repeatedly kept being turned down for many of them and not retook my exams many times as I was under the impression that anything above a lower tier U is a pass grade, and me thinking I don't need to improve on my lower tier Ds.

you have the mind of a 16 year old child
you wish to blame others for your lack of research and study.
while others are looking for the best, you wish to argue for the worst being given a chance.

your ignorance may well be your comfort blanket, but when you wish to dissect the statistical market of humans and intellectual achievement
you define yourself as being the center of that which must be critiqued, because you wish to be standing next to those top achievers.

what are you currently doing about it ?
more study ?
or looking for a work around to force others to change how they choose the best for what they want ?
you want to force others to change what they want ?
while you do not change yourself...

i suggest therapy to address your teenage developmental issues.
self victimization is very common in the usa.
you don't achieve against the odds of the human masses by being a victim.

you want change .. that's a start
but currently you want everyone else to change to suit you.
that wont happen !

are you ready to step outside your comfort zone and start challenging yourself to achieve ?
that's what you need to discuss with your therapist.
ways
methods
tools
what needs fixing
what needs addressing
what needs changing
what change you can handle
what change you want

do you want to remain the 16 year old child all your life ?(many do)

 

[RainbowSingularity]

https://www.icslearn.co.uk/blog/pos...gcse-maths-online-gcses-for-adults-teenagers/

https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/learning-free

https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2485690

https://www.reddit.com/r/CasualUK/comments/9gm37y/resitting_gcses_as_an_adult/

The Real conspiracy is culture & age discrimination

read the back storys on Lady GaGa, The Rock, Katy Perry etc..
they didn't sit around feeling sorry for themselves waiting for a fairy to drop a dump truck of cash in their lap and hand them golden keys to the city.
they busted their ass for years on end being not number 1

 

[James R]

I am a 27 year old who last year decided to re take my exams because I noticed some jobs I want to apply for require both a C grade in Maths and English. I have applied for many similar job positions that do not require these grades.

When I was at school, I was in something called lower tier, where you can go from lower tier U to lower tier C grade in total. The other half of the school were in something called higher tier, where you can go from Higher Tier U to Higher Tier A* grade in total.

I was never explicitly told you need a lower tier C or above to pass exams until this year when I received a letter from the college I am retaking my exams from.

I don't understand the grade system. What country are you in? US? Which state? Why are their two tiers?

Also, you say you're retaking your exams. What happened last time? You say you got lower tier Ds. What did they tell you when you got those results? Were you informed it was a fail? More to the point, why weren't you told how the grade system worked right from the start? What kind of system lets kids go through school without knowing where they stand on assessments?

I have applied for many jobs not knowing why I have repeatedly kept being turned down for many...

Didn't you ever ask the potential employer why you didn't get the job, and what you could have done to have a better chance of getting it? If not, why not?

I was under the impression that anything above a lower tier U is a pass grade, and me thinking I don't need to improve on my lower tier Ds.

What gave you that impression? Was it just a guess? It sounds like you were operating in an information vacuum, the way you tell it.

I understand that schools wouldn't want to tell the lower tier students that passing exams requires them getting lower tier Cs or above, because they don't want to demoralize those students.

The students will be demoralised anyway if they go out into the world with a false understanding. This just seems cruel from where I'm standing. Students need to understand the reality of what they are up against, not to be mollycoddled.

The government just cross their fingers and hope that lower tier students go on to work with their hands.

Which government are you talking about?

Do you believe me?

Is there a reason we shouldn't?

If so, what should we do?

Who's "we"?

 

[HawkI]

how non explicitly were you not told ?

Non verbally and non pictorially

did you vote in the last election ?

I am from England and yes I did

who for ?

Boris Johnson, I literally don't care about politics, shadowy organisations run the show anyway, I just like Boris Johnson, he is a charismatic person

do you feel victimized ?

Yes

... who is "we" ?

Anyone who also believes that Schools don't tell lower tier students that they need grades C or above to pass exams

can you sue your parents for not making you study more ?

This one sounds like a hypothetical question, but I don't know if you actually can or not

better to be a victim than accountable ?
...

The ellipses implies this is a hypothetical question

you have the mind of a 16 year old child

That's actually really interesting you should mention I have the mind of a sixteen year old, considering I only found out earlier this year I never actually passed any of my exams when I was sixteen.

you wish to blame others for your lack of research and study.

Yes

while others are looking for the best, you wish to argue for the worst being given a chance.

Yes, if what I have discovered is truly correct, then this is absolutely scandalous and answers so many questions about how western society is falling apart

what are you currently doing about it ?
more study ?

Retaking my Exams and asking what I should do about this potential monumental discovery, also I learnt from retaking my course this time that I should start the course with a revision book and to read it how ever I like. It really should be called a study book, revision book implies you can only read it when you are told to revise for your exams near the end of the year

or looking for a work around to force others to change how they choose the best for what they want ?

In England you have to consistently get good grades to go from lower tier to higher tier. I have come up with an idea of introducing a 'middle tier'. Middle tier would allow people to get grades from higher tier U to higher Tier A* but the difference is, lower tier students can opt in to be in middle tier with out having to academically raising their status.

you want to force others to change what they want ?

I want people in lower tier to change from aiming to anything above a lower tier U to aiming for a C

while you do not change yourself...

I have changed and wish to change others

are you ready to step outside your comfort zone and start challenging yourself to achieve ?

If this is in fact a scandal, and it gets out, I will be ready to tell people the disastrous affects it has had on my chances of employment.

do you want to remain the 16 year old child all your life ?(many do)

I don't see my self as a sixteen year old, this might help those who do, and possibly be excellent evidence of the far reaching possible scandal

 

[HawkI]

The Real conspiracy is culture & age discrimination

The people I was on the course with were treated horribly, examples include my Maths teacher saying if you miss three lessons over the year you are not allowed to take the exam. These are fully grown adults with busy lives he was talking to.

read the back storys on Lady GaGa, The Rock, Katy Perry etc..
they didn't sit around feeling sorry for themselves waiting for a fairy to drop a dump truck of cash in their lap and hand them golden keys to the city.
they busted their ass for years on end being not number 1

I was under the impression I had passed my exams so I had no reason to retake them until recently

 

[HawkI]

I don't understand the grade system.

Lower Tier students are not taught as much about each core subject as higher tier students on a daily basis. Lower tier goes up to C. Higher tier goes up to A*

What country are you in? US? Which state? Why are their two tiers?

England

Why are their two tiers?

Offstead, people who rate schools, can only rate schools based on grades C and above. Putting half the students in lower tier means Offstead are essentially only judging the school based on its higher tier students. Higher tier students tend to be more well behaved.

Also, you say you're retaking your exams. What happened last time? You say you got lower tier Ds. What did they tell you when you got those results? Were you informed it was a fail? More to the point, why weren't you told how the grade system worked right from the start?

I was never informed it was a fail. I was told the grade system goes up from U to C in lower, and U to A* in higher. They never mentioned anything about actually needing a C or above in order to pass exams

What kind of system lets kids go through school without knowing where they stand on assessments?

One that presumably only tells higher tier students, and then those students just assume the lower tier students are told as well

Didn't you ever ask the potential employer why you didn't get the job, and what you could have done to have a better chance of getting it? If not, why not?

I did, and most of the time they would say, there's just a lot of people applying for this position

What gave you that impression? Was it just a guess? It sounds like you were operating in an information vacuum, the way you tell it.

I got the impression that anything above a U is a pass because pass grades are graded and a U means ungraded

The students will be demoralised anyway if they go out into the world with a false understanding. This just seems cruel from where I'm standing. Students need to understand the reality of what they are up against, not to be mollycoddled.

This is why I felt need to speak out against this

Which government are you talking about?

English Government, and any government who do the same thing

Is there a reason we shouldn't?

It might start a riot, the working class, middle class, and upper class are so ingrained in English society. This revelation may make the working class very angry.

Who's "we"?

Anyone who believes that lower tier students are not being told that they need grades C or above to pass exams

 

[HawkI]

Even if intelligence is genetic, lower tier students should at least be told what they need to achieve in order to pass exams

 

[Beer w/Straw]

Even if intelligence is genetic, lower tier students should at least be told what they need to achieve in order to pass exams

Is this a conspiracy theory?

...

OK, my dumb, but why haven't I heard more about this in the media?

 

[HawkI]

Conspiracy:- a secret plan by a group to do something unlawful or harmful. This is an ongoing conspiracy that is harmful, millions of people going about their daily lives not knowing they have not actually passed any of their exams. You haven't heard about this in the media because everyone in lower tier are super duper brain washed into believing that intelligence is genetic and that higher tier students are more entitled due to such genetic advantages.

Edit:- Even in the bible there is a passage where God says "Who do you think makes people smart?" or something like that.

 

[RainbowSingularity]

I was under the impression I had passed my exams so I had no reason to retake them until recently

Even if intelligence is genetic, lower tier students should at least be told what they need to achieve in order to pass exams

the system sounds kinda whacky
the torys like this type of system because it gives the majority of all the good grades for the private schools to hand out to their own students who may have achieved an equal level you when you should have got the better grade.
it is an archaic system designed around classicism
from my very poor understanding, it has been long since abandoned by most modern western education systems run by governments.

i think the system is a total disgrace and teachers should be striking over such a thing.
but ... the torys have the government so a majority agree with classicist education systems that prioritize the top grades only for the rich private schools.

the bag they rolled it in on was a "lets get everyone a party bag to take home even if they didn't do so well"
it was metered between the torys and the right wing labour to try and appease those seeking change in a slash n burn economy trying hard to force down labour skills and maintain a low paid worker class.

i suggest you do your own study and take individual papers.
the maths thing you will need to sit independently as an adult student.
hammer at it till you get it.

part of the problem with your motivation is that you have defined it as a hopeles situation where you have been injured critically in your education.
you need to shift that mind set if you want to move on with your life.

that mind set is what i was talking about above with folks like lady ga ga the rock tailor swift katy perry etc
they are a little different in that they are exceptionally gifted and talented to boot.
but, you obliviously have a bit of a smart head on you so you need to find some mental tools to start arming yourself intellectually to become your biggest supporter.
instead of your biggest sob story that is going to bring you down when you want to be moving forward.

in no way shape or form is it easy
your 27 not 87
don't let age-ist crap get in your way.
don't consign yourself to the scrap heap. that's called depression. you may want to find a therapist to chat to about personal development so you turn that into a tool that you can create.

start expressing your creativity in any artistic form.
this is critical to creative intellectual thinking and achievement.

while it may not seem like it, and some appear very condescending and troll like, there are some fantastically smart minds that frequent this web site.
some of which would willingly help you if your genuine and not one to throw crap back at them.

 

[James R]

Do you only get a letter grade? No percentage or other indicator of your result?

 

[HawkI]

I have heard in some instances that teachers tell their students they were only so much marks away from achieving a better grade but I have only heard this from students in higher tier.

I have a copy of my exam grades I got after retaking my English and Maths in college back in 2009
It goes as follows

This is to certify that in the examinations held in November 2009
Name, Date of birth
Achieved following results at
College name

Full Course (Two(2)Subjects)
English Grade E(e)
Mathematics Grade E(e)

On the back of the paper it says this

Definition of grades

The result of the GCSE examinations are reported on an 8 point scale of grades: A*(a*), A(a), B(b), C(c), D(d), E(e), F(f), and G(g)
Candidates who fail to reach the minimum standard for G receive no grade and a subject receiving no grade is not recorded on the certificate

Then it goes on about non specific things

See, the really important thing to notice here is that, at no point, did they actually bother telling me that I failed.

... How do we expose this conspiracy?

Edit:- Reading this reminds me why I got the impression that getting anything higher than a U is to be thought of as passing any exam

 

[Beer w/Straw]

I took a course and and only scored 98% when I should have gotten 100%. I learned from inquiry that the correspondence wasn't allowed to give 100%.

 

[HawkI]

I have heard that examination boards are only allowed to give out so many A*s because there are only so many top college places available. Perhaps your situation is similar?

 

[Michael 345]

Who's "we"?

The other is Tonto

 

[Sarkus]

See, the really important thing to notice here is that, at no point, did they actually bother telling me that I failed.

Hi HawkI, I understand your frustration, but technically you didn’t fail, as anything G or above was technically a pass, and you get to say you have a GCSE in those subjects. What you were probably not told is that a C was considered a “good pass” and that employers ideally want employees with a grade C or higher in those two core subjects. Many jobs don’t require it, though, and it depends what you want to do. It is generally a good rule of thumb that the higher the qualifications and grades you get the more likely your CV will be looked at by a prospective employer.

... How do we expose this conspiracy?

Edit:- Reading this reminds me why I got the impression that getting anything higher than a U is to be thought of as passing any exam

No conspiracy, I’m afraid, and technically you did “pass”, just not as well as people who got a D or higher.
The English grading system has been revised recently, though, grading from 9 to 1, with 9 the highest, 5 now being considered a “good pass” (equivalent of a good C grade). But technically even if you get a 1 (equivalent of G) it is still a technical pass, I.e. you can claim to have a GCSE in that subject.

The requirement for C-grades might be one imposed by many employers, but there are employers who don’t care about GCSEs at all but what you subsequently do after that... higher qualifications, vocational qualifications etc, or even just practical experience.
It all depends on what you want to do.

But if you want to do a type of job that seems to require certain minimum qualifications (such as a C-grade in maths) then recognising your current position, and being motivated to achieve those minimums, as you have said you are doing, would/should be a good positive point about your personality that employers would hopefully admire.

 

[Beer w/Straw]

I have heard that examination boards are only allowed to give out so many A*s because there are only so many top college places available. Perhaps your situation is similar?

It was run through the provincial government and they were only giving out grades in multiples of 5. Being a math course enabled me to get everything right. So, 98% is a lie but, so close to 100% anyway...

Conspiracy I say.

 

[HawkI]

What you were probably not told is that a C was considered a “good pass” and that employers ideally want employees with a grade C or higher in those two core subjects.

They never tell lower tier this, that is the conspiracy. A "good pass" is a politically correct way of saying a pass, that is the conspiracy. I may have GCSEs but I don't have any passes, that is the conspiracy.

Just today I discovered something shocking, from 18 to 20 I have constantly been applying for apprenticeships, I just found this 'A guide to apprenticeships' sheet which explains why I was doomed to never get one

Apprenticeship schemes
Intermediate - 5 A* to C passes
Advanced - 2 A levels
Higher - Foundation Degree and above
Degree - Bachelor's or master's degree

These specifications were never mentioned on the application forms and I have been told today that you can do a functional skills test if you don't have the grades but they have to choose you first for an interview. It is unlikely to get an interview if they are dealing with applicants with better grades.

I am surrounded by people who have sensitive feelings, so the government try not to hurt anyone's feelings, which puts me in jeopardy as a result

 

[origin]

They never tell lower tier this, that is the conspiracy.

The conspiracy: nobody told you that people with the higher grades get better jobs.

That is one weak-ass conspiracy, if you ask me!