O LEVELS !!

[***SEMPSY*** <sre017%cck.cov.ac.uk@mitvma.mit.edu>]

I think I will settle this once and for all:
O-Levels are taken at 16 in State and Public Schools in England.
8 are the usual maximum at state schools, and 10 at public schools(ie Kate).
Therefore if your family has money your more likely to get more.
O-Levels are graded A to E,grades D and E are regarded as failures.
Generally E(30-40%),D(40-50%),C(50-65%),B(65-75%),A(75%-->)
CSE's are the alternate exams ,they are graded 1 to 6,where 1 equates to a
grade C at O-Level,2 to grade D,3 to grade E, 4,5,6 as ungraded O-Level.
For interest CSE grade 4 is the national average grade obtained,so Kate is
well above your Mr/Miss average.
Unfortunately the O-Level was phased out after 1987,my year were the last to
do O-Levels( I managed 9 O-Levels myself).
It has now been replaced by the GCSE exam which is a combination of the O-Level
and the CSE, it is generally regarded as inferior to the former exams.
At 18 usually A-Levels are taken,you need these to get into Polytechnic and
University.It is 2 for Poly and 3 for Uni.They usually will ask that you have
at least 5 subjects covered by both O-Level and A-Level.For example 3 O-Levels
in French,English,Physics and 2 A-levels in Maths and Chemistry( they usually
expect that you passed these at O-Level as well) could get you onto a Maths
Degree at a Polytechnic,an extra A-Level could get you into Uni.Obviously the
quality of your grades are important,you would need 3 grade A's at A-Level
in the right subjects to be even considered for Medical school.
I hope this settles any queries about the education system in the UK,by the way
Scott was right that Scotland does a different exam to the O-Level.O-Levels
were only done in England and Wales.
       Andy Semple     sre017@uk.ac.cov.cck