Real life, with a dash of Doctor Who

I would say that she would at least have O-levels (which were still around when she would have been in secondary school). You could go either way on whether she stayed for A-levels, as she would not have needed them when she was of school-leaving age (in England, you can leave school the April after your 16th birthday). She probably took a secretarial course, which could have been in a technical or further education (FE) college, or even a private secretarial college - or, if she was unemployed when she was 17 or 18, she might even have taken part in the youth employment programmes of the early 1980s, which involved college and work experience placements (the university where I worked took trainees from these programmes).

I don't believe it was ever specified, so you can choose whatever you want, really, but those are the options I think are most likely.

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gement.livejournal.com

Oooh, I'm soaking up all that vocabulary.

While she could have gotten A-levels, I must say my impression of her is that she really didn't strive at anything until she got that wake-up call. All that work, when she knows she'll just get a desk job? Why would anyone want to do that?

Poor Donna. Now I'm all sad again.

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Thank you very much!

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caz963.livejournal.com

I'm a little bit older than Donna (and Catherine), so yes, if she'd taken any exams at school it would definitely have been either 'O' Levels or CSEs. CSEs were the easier ones - a top grade 1 at CSE is the equivalent of a grade C at 'O' level (A-C= pass, D and below is a fail).

('O' levels are GCEs - General Certificate of Education - Ordinary level. CSE = Certificate of Secondary Education - in case you were wondering!
'A' level is GCE Advanved level.)

I admit, much as I adore her, I do think that Donna may have been the type who messed around at school (and regretted it later) and if she did do any exams, wouldn't have done well at them. CSEs were typically held in April/May and O levels a bit later (May/June) so it would have been possible for her to have left school without sitting any exams.

It would have been possible for her to have studied shorthand and typing at school though - I remember having friends who took O levels in typing!

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This is excellent! Thank you!

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You know I always wondered what A/O levels were. I have learned something new as well. Thanks for asking the question.

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It's even more confused by the fact that O-Levels and CSEs were replaced 20 or so years ago by GCSEs - General Certificate of Secondary Education. Rose would have done GCSEs.

Oh, and people talk about how many A-Levels or GCSEs they have; that just refers to how many subjects they took in the exam. So someone might have four A-Levels, which means they studied and took exams for four subjects.

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Thank you again! I was just about to post that question!

This is quite a lot to learn for a single sentence in a short story. :)

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So true the things we put ourselves through for our craft

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Man that is confusing, how do they keep it all straight Do they keep a card in their pocket that tells their employers what they are certified in.

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It's as straightforward to them (I don't say 'us', as I'm actually Irish and my secondary-school qualifications are different again) as the US/Canadian grade 12 diploma is to those who hold it. And I assure you that we find your GPA system every bit as baffling as you find the British second- and third-level qualifications and grades :)

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Yeah I never thought of that, I bet the GPA system could be confusing it has taken me a while to understand it myself. Especially when I went back to college, thank goodness I figuired it out.

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Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig oraibh!

Even I haven't figured out the GPA system.

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What gets me (once I finally more or less understood it) about it is how hard it is to get a 4.0. I did a college postgrad certificate in my field. Got A+ (and effectively 4.0) in 11 out of 12 courses in the program, and an A (3.75, I think) in the 12th. My overall GPA was 3.98 or something like that.

In a European university or college, the arithmetical mean would determine the score, and it would be rounded to the nearest whole number. So in a British university someone getting 11 As and 1 B (we don't do A+) would get a grade of A overall, or in undergraduate degree language first class honours.

Having said that, I did also feel that marking standards were not as rigorous as I'm used to in the UK and Ireland - both as a student and a professor. I saw students on my programme getting full marks just for submitting work, with no consideration given to the content. That would never happen in the UK. Also, as a professor in the UK, I had American exchange students in a couple of my courses and found time and time again that they were astonished at the amount of reading that was expected of them. Most of them were third-year students, and many of them were taking my first-year course, and tended to hand in essays based on one chapter of one textbook - whereas my minimum expectation was four separate sources, and the best students would have up to ten.

Beannacht Lá Fhéile Pádraig duit freisin!

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I have so many stories about the students I go to school with. I am shocked on a nearly daily basis at the laziness and ignorance they display. I only post the stories here if I find them particularly funny, but usually it isn't funny at all. I worry if I post them all that I'll come off as a sour old fuddy duddy, and I try to hide my fuddy duddiness as much as possible.

I once watched two students try to convince a teacher that they shouldn't have to write a three page, double-spaced, paper because it was too hard to find a book. Not a particular book, mind. Just a book with a thesis. Any book with a thesis. And they had been given a list of acceptable books at the beginning of the semester.

There's an attitude in the US, I think, that just getting by is good enough. The saying is, "D is for diploma." In the end, those students will have the same degree that I have. I might have a few more things to say in the education section of my resume, but only employers who request transcripts will see any difference between me and them.

I work really hard in school and I do fairly well. I currently have a 4.0, and I'm doing everything in my power to keep it even though I know that graduating with a 4.0 is an unrealistic goal. Because I work so hard, I get really angry at teachers who grade on completion instead of quality.

I should point

elgordo42 towards this thread. He was my high school math teacher and is awesome. I'd love to get his take on education in the US.

Oh, I see he's already commented below!

Edited Date: 2011-03-18 01:41 am (UTC)

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elgordo42.livejournal.com

just thinks it is fun to yell "A/O!"

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develish1

I see I got here rather late, again, but it seems Wendy's given a pretty thorough answer :)

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