I did it at the beginning of this year. Basically all i had to do was rig the boat with no help, sail around tack, gybe, capsize recovery, have a good idea on sail trim and that was basically it. My teacher came down to film me stayed for about 20 - 30 mins and went off. He didnt have the first idea about sailing and on the day we were all assesed in our other sports the examiner was shown the video (he also didnt have any idea either) and that was it. I got full marks for that and it was all very basic stuff. Also the emaminer wanted my RYA level 1 and 2 certificates.

Plus i have a mate who did it and his mum filmed it for him and edited out all the bits that didnt look good just incase. As long as the footage is good and know show good boat control you should easily get good marks for it.

Yeah I'm doing it this year.

If you want i will send you the critera sheet and info about it?!

Mark.

you could edit it like have a word pop ut that says:

Tack
(manouver to go upwind) or something simular and do as many moves as you can

Im not sure the RYA levels are a requirement, i think the reason i needed them was because it was the only thing my teacher could understand. Although i still havent got them back yet

Bloody hell - you can get GCSE's for doing hobbies?  Are they trying to give them away now?

Feeling very old and grumpy,

Chewie.

Not as such. I stand corrected but from what I understand you have to do a bit of coursework in a sport and be assessed on it.

The last one I did was shot by the mum of the kid. Been at the RYA Centre, the instructors got a bit camera happy and started making clapperboards etc. Funiest thing being the student tied up the Pico to the pontoon, tried to get in and missed and fell in the water (all on camera!)

I think the "GCSE" qualification is known as "RYA Dinghy Instructor" (now ducking for cover!!)

I know comments like this probably annoy people studying for these and I sympathise with them; they can only sit the exams (or do the course work) they are presented with ... but clearly the benchmarking of school performance through tracking exam results has just lead to the dropping of standards.

Hmmm try that again.

Or you could take the view that the benchmarking of schools' performance has lead to children being tested more often than they used to be. As a result of this those doing exams are now a lot better at doing and passing said exams.

I am not saying being good at tests makes you a brighter person just that kids are better at understanding how to pass an exam now. There is no evidence of a standard drop in testing at GCSE or A Level. There is lots of evidence of children being tested more often and results going up.

"Standards – if by this term we mean traditional academic rigour, the exploration of ideas, and original thinking – have dropped. And everyone in the education industry knows it."

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/of-course-standards-in-schools-are-falling-and-thank-heavens-for-that-665757.html - http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/of-course- standards-in-schools-are-falling-and-thank-heavens-for-that- 665757.html

This is not the fault of people sitting the exams; it's politics.

Ironically it's our fault as we have put those people in place that have ruined a world leading education system ... we got what we voted for (as a nation anyway)

I left school because I hated it. I'm not going to uni because I'm not going to like that either and now I'm in the sh*t, no job and no hope of getting a good one anytime soon. So many of my friends are going to uni and going to come out 20K in debt with some worthless degree to show for it. If you don't go to school you’re in trouble and now if you stay in school you're not in a much better position (and a world of debt).

The worst thing about it all is that at 16 you do you GCSE's, these get you into A levels, at 18 you do you A levels and go to uni then you leave uni at 21ish and your dropped strait in the deep end. Penniless and in debt, nowhere to live, and somehow you have to find a job with no work experiance. You've just been writing learning for 18 years solid and havn't got a clue what to do. You'll start paying the debt off when you start earning 15K a year, and that’s going to take a while (paying off the debt). Then you have to buy/rent a house/flat and that’s more money gushing out of your bank account. Mission, and I don't want deal with any of it.

Now for all you people saying that they're giving away A's, you're wrong. Anyone who gets an A works bloody hard for it, fact. I passed all my exams but didn't get A's because I just didn't enjoy any of it so I didn't work hard enough. I don't care, I never enjoyed academic things and probably never will. So I will find something that isn't academic to pursue as a career.

For now my solution is go to New Zealand and forget about it all for a while, work, have fun, go sailing and if I enjoy it never come back!

GCSE P.E, sailing? Go for it! At least you’ll have fun doing it rather than wasting your time in RE or something like that.

Uni is very different to school, and there are plenty of worthwhile degrees that lead into careers. You get what you work for. If you do something easy like media studies, chances are you're not going to get very far. On the other hand if you do something like economics then the world is your oyster.  

Maths and English are completely different to RE, how can you compare them?

Example.

'I have an A in English and an A in Maths, but I flopped RE' - no problem (unless you want to be an RE teacher!).

'I have an A in RE, but failed English and Maths' - errr, retakes!

what else can we do??? the education system is actively gearing towards putting students into A'Levels, into uni etc.

i have just started uni and its a huge step from school but i love it. and at the end of it i have companies actively head hunting me (apparently). however my A'Levels mean nothing now. all education is simply a stepping stone to the next level up which ultimately end up in a job.

as regards to exams getting easier, the majority of them are not. the change is that there is a more structured system of learning which provides us a better environment (to pass the exams, not nescessarily be particularly good at a subject)

most of the core subjects are of a similar standard to what they were say 10years ago. its the introduction of other subjects such as hairdressing etc that have had a negative impact on the public view of A'Levels. at the end of the day, even those kind of qualifications are nescessary in this world obsessed with bits of paper, qualifications and all that other rubbish.....

dont know what subject this applies for but in all the A'Levels/ GCSE's i have dont the A was 80%, B is 70%, C is 60% etc

One interesting point is about the level of debt it's assumed you leave with ...

These days no-one bats an eyelid at young people racking up 20k of student debt, then the cycle of living off other peoples money is learnt sub-20 years old and then it goes on ... perhaps this is why we are in the mess we are in now.

When I was at Uni no-one had debt, of if they did it was just a maxed out overdraft of say £500.

That said when we were at uni everyone lived within their means, very few people hard cars or boats, there were no mobile phones or iPods and we drank homebrew and cheap vodka before going out as a money saving exercise.

Debt is pretty much unavoidable if you go to uni now.  Yes, we do live in a culture of debt, buy now pay later, loans etc, but about £8000 pa before you even think about beer money, its pretty hard not to run into debt.  Then you have to add in; course materials, transport and basic food.  Course materials vary depending on your course, but mine were £300 pa - [2 yrs ago.  Only brought the core books, all of which were second hand.]  My flatmate's are alot more.  Probably in the £1000+ range.

Anyway, if I could've done sailing as part of my GCSEs, I would've done it in a heartbeat.  At least one of them would be enjoyable.  If you go onto further and higher education, and as long as you pass Maths and English, no one cares what you did at GCSE.  I vaguely remember what I did, but on my CV I just list - GCSEs, including Maths and English passes.  Or something to that affect.

Good luck and enjoy yourself.

While I was under 18, I did 2 years at College, got a Btec ND. (It'll do me fine for now, Signing up for a Cisco CCNA / MCDST in the next few weeks when I have the money)

I'm very glad I didnt do Uni etc ... I think I could have handled the work side of it, but its the culture that comes with it that I couldnt. Debt, A liver that hates you for the next 8 years, and even more debt.

So I came out of my course at the end of the 2 years, went into a job with a local company that I have now been with for 2 years, have started racking up good references for future employment, as well as office experience!

Blimey tt, where did you go to uni....4pm!

I was lucky enough to have gone when there were still grants, even so it wasn't much, many ended up in debt but that was largely the 2 foreign holidays a year and running a car etc.

I lived in London for 6 years with no money from parents and not a penny of overdraft. Lived in damp flats in Hackney, drove cheap motoerbikes, worked in the holidays, bought clothes in Oxfam shops and ate cheap crap...but eeee by gum it did me good....

Joking aside, its not hard to keep the debt down with a bit of common sense. Just work hard and live within your means. It's not forever after all.

Ah yes...

Student bars with sticky floors.....one working lightbulb.....a battered space invaders machine...and some ne'er do well sleeping quietly in the corner.....

Brings a tear to my eye.

What??

 If your so sure of that TELL THE EXAMINERS......

.....last year the grade boundries for Drama were;

A* 98%

A 92%

B 85%

C 76%

Do you want the grade boundries for other subjects aswell or is that ok?

hahaha, couldn't be arsed to read 5 pages i'm afraid mate!

FIRST - A* is 80% across the board, apart from subjects with different tiers, like maths where A* on higher tier is about 60/70% yes).

However, I did sailing as part of GCSE PE which i got an A* :]. I don't know if you've got it, but I can send you the list of things you have to demo if you want it? its p*ss easy if you can sail a b14 :]. I had to ask someone to film me though, because teach wouldn't come down.

BTW. I got filmed at the time where i could've been filmed in a int14/ cherub BUT, I'd be very careful about getting filmed entirely in it becuase they often like being shown basic manoevers performed perfectly, which is FAR easier in an easy boat, like a topper or something.

And those who said GCSE PE's easy .. it's not, even though you can get marked on four sports, they make a tiny percentage of your coursework mark, therefore an even smaller percentage of your overall GCSE. Its not academically uber hard, but you need to be sh*t hot on the physiology in PE and the coursework takes bloody ages.... :].

Uh yeah, good luck mate & PM me if you want the list of things to demonstrate?

Sounds like you go to a school like mine, where nobody does sailing... they'll give you a good mark :P. 

Thats right but also wrong, I can send you whatever you want to prove those grade boundaries, they were taken straight off the document i got sent containing my results.

And yeah, if you go to a school like mine its easy, I got a level 10 in windsurfing and all i had to show was skills that most beginners could cover.

Dont think he is............

Taken from last years results slip......

A* 90%

A 80%

B 70% etcetc....

Something in the regoin of 70% of all students who leave uni with a degree work in jobs that have NOTHING to do with the subjects the degree was in.

All the degree show`s an employer is that you have the determination to complete a task,

Will that`s what it show`s me anyway & that is worth alot in today`s work place.

Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a high school about the 11 things they will not learn in school. He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world.

1 – Life is not fair – get used to it.

2 – The world does not care about your self esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

3 – You will not make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You wont be vice president with a car phone until you earn both.

4 – If you think your teacher is tough wait till you get a boss.

5 – Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grand parents had a different word for burger flipping – they called it opportunity.

6 – If you mess up its not your parents fault, so do not whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

7 – Your parents were not this boring before you were born. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you think you are. So before you save the rainforest from the parasites of your parents generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

8 – Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life has not. In some schools they have abolished failing grades and they will give you as many chances as you want to get the right answer. This doesn’t bare the slightest resemblance to anything in real life.

9 – Life is not divided into semesters. You don’t get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself. Do that in your own time.

10 – Television is not real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

11 – Be nice to nerds. Chances are you will be working for one.

Having money means you can say what you want when you want. Am I right or what!?

Just caught up with this any couldn't let this one go by!

The loan system isn't the fairest system at all.  The system was introduced as as I started uni and I am still paying off the debt!  I think generally the loans take between 5-10 years to pay off if you make payments via your employer.

My issue with the loans system is that I have gone to uni, hopefully landed a higher paid job than I would have done without my degree.  I therefore pay a higher rate of tax, which would have easily paid off any grants.  Its not easy having to carry this through a period in your life when people are trying to buy houses, get married, start families etc.

In my opinion, uni degrees are being handed out like confetti and it dums down true academics.  GCSE PE sounds great, but what will it get you at the end?  Not that its a problem - GCSE's are just a stepping stone to AS and A levels, which are arguably more important.

Good luck to you - if you can blag sailing into your schooling then fair play.  Wish I could have!