The Bell Tolls
On the 27 August 2009 I will receive my GCSE examination results. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous – I am. It’s been an uphill struggle for the last two years, learning not only all the material for the ten or so subjects I was taking, but also practicing the examination technique. On top of that, several subjects have required coursework (not something I enjoy or am particularly good at. Unlike some people) which has varied between dissecting Romeo and Juliet and studying the CBD of Gloucester.
My overwhelming fear is that after so much effort, some of the subjects that I struggled with (I’m looking at you Maths and French) won’t receive the results that I feel I deserve. The whole idea of an exam is strange really, how is a two hours really meant to gleam what you learnt from two years of work – I wish there was a better way.
It’s a very strange feeling, looking back at a single exam. It seems that the inevitable question that I didn’t understand, or in reflection know I got wrong, shines through. Rather than all those areas that I feel I nailed.
I wait with eager anticipation for August 27. For better or for worst. I’ll know where I stand.
I wouldn’t worry about your GCSE results too much, Jonathan. I know it seems incredibly stressful waiting, even though there’s nothing you can do about them now.
The thing that’s in your favour is that to get to college, you usually only need 5 GCSEs A* – C, which I’m sure you’ll have easily got; passing only half of them would still get you to college, unless you’re aiming for a particularly high-standard college which might want more.
You seem like an intelligent guy, I’m sure you’ll of done fine. There’s no doubt there’ll be surprises, but hopefully nothing to drastic. Good luck for next Thursday, I’m collecting my AS results tomorrow (yay for retakes!)!
I felt the same when I was waiting for mine. I was working that day, which was just some miserbale office work that made me hate them for life. I sat in front of the computer refreshing my hotmail inbox every now and then after 4:00 in the afternoon (GMT 8).
My results were…satisfactory. Some suprised grades and some disappointed ones, but, in the end, I got through (thanks to DDE).
Ed is right. There shouldn’t be too much drama as you are an intelligent guy. So good luck next Thursday. Tell me what you are going to take and stuff like that as well afterwards.
Hope all goes well. I think I was away at the Edinbugh festival with the Arts in Education thing when my GCSE results came out. This was (ahem) some time ago, so there was no delivery by email – I had to wait out an additional week of torture to get back and collect my envelope.
I sympathise about whether you get the results you deserve, but I agree with the other posters, I think you’ll do well.
The idea of the 2 hour make or break exam is a bit over the top I think for GCSE, with so many subjects. But as you progress and the subjects get fewer and more interesting (one hopes at least) it feels more appropriate that you should be fully in command of your subject for that day of reckoning.
Refreshingly, when it comes to carving out a carrier (or ‘some sort’ of carrier in my case) people are really interested in you & your personality rather than what it says on your certificates – so don’t sweat it too much and enjoy the rest of the summer break!
AJ.
You should also not just blindly accept spell check results in case you become a “carrier” of linguistic misdeeds
Sooooooo……. time has passed…..the results are in….. ?????? watcha get?????
COME ON…….they cant be that bad……… or can they?????