An Alphabet Of My Life: E

~ beetleypete

E=Examinations

When I was young, the big examination that everyone talked about was called the ’11-Plus’. At primary school, we didn’t have exams beteen the ages of 5-10, but we did have ‘Tests’ as we got older. They took the form of essays, handwriting, or simple times tables and sums. But pass or fail, those tests didn’t really mean that much to us schoolkids.

The 11-Plus however, that was a big deal.

Here is some information from Wikipedia, so you know what I’m writing about.

The eleven-plus (11+) is a standardized examination administered to some students in England and Northern Ireland in their last year of primary education, which governs admission to grammar schools and other secondary schools which use academic selection. The name derives from the age group for secondary entry: 11–12 years. The examination tests a student’s ability to solve problems using a test of verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning, with most tests also offering papers in mathematics and English. The intention was that the eleven-plus should be a general test for intelligence (cognitive ability) similar to an IQ test, but by also testing for taught curriculum skills it is evaluating academic ability developed over previous years, which implicitly indicates how supportive home and school environments have been.

As you can see, if you wanted to get into a ‘better school’ you had to pass it. My parents wanted me to get into a Grammar School. Working-class people always believed that Grammar Schools gave you a better start in life. There was a lot of pressure for me to pass it, and I remember being obsessed with doing so. I was also ‘bribed’ with the promise of a new bicycle if I passed.

When it came, it was nowhere near as hard as I had feared, and I passed it in the top segment of the class, with flying colours. I got the bike, and had such good results I was offered a scholarship to a ‘posh’ school in Dulwich. That made my parents very proud. However, I didn’t want to go to school with posh boys in Dulwich, or with clever-clogs kids to a Grammar School. I wanted to go to a modern mixed-sex school, a progressive school known as a Comprehensive. Despite arguments with my parents, I got my way, and I am so glad I did. Because it was a great school.

A good education

Once I was fifteen years old, we were preparing to take the next round of examinations, known then as ‘O’-Levels. We had been learning the syllabus in those subjects for some time, and depending on ability, we would be entered for up to ten examinations in different subjects. It was well-known at the time that you had to have at least two ‘O’-Levels in English and Maths to hope to get any decent job later. Four were better, six were very good. Having abandoned the science subjects early on, I took eight ‘O’-Levels when I was 16 years old. Maths, Art, French, History, English language, English Literature, Geography, and Religious Education.

When the results were announced that summer, I had achieved pass rates in seven of those, including the desired Grade One in both English subjects and in French and History. Only Geography had escaped me, so I applied for a resit and passed that a few weeks later. My parents were pleased.

I returned to school after the holidays and moved into the Sixth Form. I was set to study four subjects for the higher ‘A’-Level exams that were a requirement for application to a University. I knew I had to have two good-grade passes to get into a university, but four would guaranteee my choice. I picked English Language, English Literature, French, and History. My teachers in those subjects were all very encouraging, but four was a big ask. It was a huge amount of work for a teenage boy that wanted to go out with his mates, had a regular girlfriend, a Saturday job, and had even passed his driving test later, whilst still at school.

Very soon, I started to lose interest in three years more study at University, and despite doing well at school, I resolved to leave not that long after my seventeenth birthday, without sitting those exams. I upset my teachers, and greatly disappointed my parents. At least my eight ‘O’-Levels stood me in good stead, as I was never turned down for any job I applied for.

But exams were not behind me. When I joined the Ambulance Service I had to take regular exams, written and practical, to pass through the Training School. Even once I left aged almost fifty, I had to take some very difficult exams at the Police Training College when I went to work for the Metropolitan Police in London. And they had a sting in the tail. They were pass or fail weekly, so fail the Friday exam any week, and you were potentially out of work, looking for a job. Perhaps the worst pressure I had ever been under.

Thankfully, exams are now definitely behind me for good. Though struggling to learn WordPress blogging in 2012 felt like one, and wrangling with the operating system on my computer continues to feel like one almost daily.

58 thoughts on “An Alphabet Of My Life: E”

  1. Pingback: Life’s Alphabet – E | Stevie Turner

    1. At the time (1967) English Literature was optional. You could leave school at 15 without taking examinations then if you wanted to, but if you stayed on for the exams, it made sense to take Literature as well as Language.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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    1. I didn’t mind the school exams that much back then, but some of my classmates used to get incredibly stressed out by them. One girl went off sick and didn’t sit any of them, as she had an overwhelming fear of failing them.
      Best wishes, Pete. x

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  6. I think the system is very different now, and it was very different here in Spain, in any case. I’ve taken so many exams or tests of all sorts, I can’t even remember them, and then came university, and I am not sure they are behind me yet, although my brain is not as fast as it once was. (I am still trying to learn some languages using an App, with mixed results, but at least it keeps the grey cells going…). Having to take an exam every week to keep your job sounds terribly stressful. Not something I would have managed, I don’t think. Plenty of online training includes some questions and tests, but they are usually designed to check you have understood the content, and I don’t mind those that much.
    Stay well and enjoy your exam-less activities.

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    1. Thanks, Olga. At school, I didn’t find exams remotely stressful, and used to annoy other pupils by finishing them in half the time, then sitting there with nothing left to do, or being allowed to leave the room. Once I had to take them as an adult to keep jobs, I finally understood that stress.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  7. All those exams – we took them yearly for placement in the next grade. The deal is they are supposed to prepare us for the daily exams that get thrown in our paths. Lawn mower carburetors, Amazon remotes, wireless printers, where the hell are the batteries hiding in my wife’s scale, air fryer techniques for frozen things with no instructions… Carry on. Good luck with that operating system.

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  8. Pingback: Memories about Examinations | DearTedandJody

  9. (1) American boys wear stupid tennis shoes. Dutch boys wear clever clogs.
    (2a) I’ve taken many exams, including the finals I was required to pass in order to acquire an M.A. in French Literature. However, the toughest exam I ever took was at the university in Nice during my undergraduate junior year abroad. I’d just returned from a trip to Zermatt, Switzerland. Up at the base of the Matterhorn, despite seeing my own breath, it felt warm due to the sun’s rays bouncing off the snow. So I just wore a short sleeve shirt and enjoyed the spectacular views. Back in Nice, my face paid the price. It was so severely blistered from sunburn that it was secreting streams of pus. But I had to take that three-hour literature exam (format: commentaire composé) regardless of how I felt (miserable).
    (2b) Once I’d acquired my M.A. degree, I thought my testing days were over. Not so. Although I quit just shy of a B.S. in Mathematics due to marital problems, I took many math exams (algebra, trigonometry, analytical geometry, differential calculus, linear algebra).
    (2c) Devastated that I’d been deprived of acquiring a B.S. in Math, I thought my exam days were finally over. Not so. After moving to Las Vegas, I enrolled in a program for degree holders to acquire teacher certification. I bailed out before the M.A., but had passed enough courses to get my license, allowing me to teach elementary school for a few years, during which time I administered many tests!
    (3) I think all those essays you wrote back in the day contributed towards your excellent writing skills, as evidenced by your many essays and serials here at beetleypete.

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    1. Thanks, David. I was hopeless at Maths, so I admire your achievement in that subject. I have never been sunburnt on a mountain, fortunately. I tend not to burn anyway, just go brown.
      Writing essays, literature reviews, and stories was my favourite thing at school, so I am happy to be able to do that again all these years later.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  10. I tend to underperform when under the pressure of testing, but can do wonderfully (or at least okay) in most areas when not being officially tested. as a teacher, I’m constantly taking classes and retesting. looking forward to retiring and volunteering one day with no testing. )

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    1. It was incredibly stressful, and taken very seriously by both the instructors and the students. We went into Training School every week, well-aware that we might not have a job on Friday afternoon at 4pm. Once we had passed the training and were operational, we also had to do ‘Online update training’ on the Police computer systems and pass those too, about three times a year.
      Cheers, Pete.

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  13. Always new you were a bright boy Pete, it was obvious that you had worked hard Worse exam process I went through was a revalidation course (2 weeks) started with pre-learning, day one 100 multi choice questions pass mark 80: scored by question correct 1 point, not answered zero point, incorrect minus 1 point. this was followed by short answer essay questions (3). these were all marked by mid afternoon if failed return to station. then repeat this process for all the following days (each morning) focusing upon what had been covered the previous day along with the pre-learning, also practical exams through the week, again fail and return to stn.
    Surprise I did actually manage to get through the 2 weeks would love to say thats the end of all the exams I’ve had to take but to list those that would take far too long.

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  14. Experiences are very personal…I passed my 11plus, enjoyed grammar school, then we moved…and the area wasn’t selective, so comprehensive it was, and I hated it C’est la vie

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  15. Exams were more of a constant factor in our system. Yes, there are some milestone exams, but they largely test the schools more than they test the students. Exams are less of a barrier to higher education than in your system. Some of our college and graduate exams are proforma–how can one fail an exam over a thesis or dissertation that one wrote? Warmest regards, Ed

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    1. We had a great emphasis on being able to remember small details, especially exact dates. Spelling was also crucial. You could get an answer correct, but woe betide you included too many spelling errors. From what I now know of the schools here in 2022, spelling is not considered to be important at all, and some exam passess can be gained by achieving an ‘annual average’.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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      1. I do remember getting nicked for spelling errors. Then when I gave tests, I told my students, if I notice a spelling error, you have a real problem with spelling. But, I found that essay exams tended to do the best job of preparing students for using the material both in real life and other courses. Warmest regards, Ed
        Warmest regards

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  16. My brother passed the 11+ and a big fuss was made. That was the year my parents went to Asia. Mum said I was too young to be left at boarding school, particularly as I was severely asthmatic. My brother went to what was believed to be a very good school in Ipswich. When next we saw him, he had picked up a cockney accent to my parents horror! I, on the other hand, had been in An American school so my accent wasn’t approved either. My brother left school at 18 and went into banking. I never did the 11+ but was sent back at age 14 and got 6 O levels then was sent to the USA. I eventually got a degree in Anthropology. Big deal. At BA I took many courses but exams always stressed me out. I can imagine your Friday tests causing awful anxiety. How long did that last?

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    1. It was a 12-week non-residential course, Carolyn. There was some UK Law, Police Procedure, Police National Computer, Radio Despatch, and Crime and Offence Codes. Most of the course consisted of being tested on how to recall information from the PNC, with questions set on test papers. Other tests involved having to type up a car chase or critical incident ‘live’ (from a tape recording) and allocate units to it. The exams were timed, and assessed immediately. Everyone who failed was called into another room. Some were offered less inportant Admin jobs that paid around half of what we expected to earn because there was no shift premium, others were told they had failed and were no longer employed. I managed to remain in the top third of my class all the way through, and I was almost twice as old as all the others on my course. When I eventually passed, I was so relieved!
      Best wishes, Pete.

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      1. You should be proud! We used to get tested for our loadsheet certificate, a separate test for each aircraft type, both manual and computer. I was good at the job because I enjoyed it but I made the mistake of annoying one of the instructors and he made it impossible for me to pass. But then I left JFK and in Seattle we didn’t do our own loadsheet.

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  19. I was always fascinated in the English school system and when I asked guys I worked with about their schooling, I noticed a trend of them brushing my interest aside. I was soon told that the class system had more of a bearing and whether you had been in the military. What did amuse me was that a”public” school was actually not public but private. In NZ a “grammar” school is often private or a name used in snobbery and not used much. Some high schools use the word “College”. So its bit confusing when people overseas ask. I went to an all boys school and the cane reigned!.

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    1. Yes the way our schools are named does cause confusion for some people. And during the 1960s, it was all about Class. That was the main reason I didn’t want to go to the posh school on a scholarship and be looked down upon by the rich kids.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  20. For some reason I thought you was a Grammar school boy. I didn’t have to sit the 11+ exam, but my mother wanted me to go to the all girls High school, which was outside our catchment area so I had to sit exams for a scholarship. They were very difficult and I’m glad to say I failed. I would have hated an all girls school. I also achieved 8 O levels, but left school then as I’d had enough.

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        2. I also passed a CSE, in Sociology. (Which was an ‘optional’ subject at the time) But I never really count that, as employers seemed to have no interest in them in 1969. Because I was in ‘Top Stream’, I was put in for ‘O’ Levels in everything else. Some of my friends took CSEs in practical subjects, like woodwork and metalwork. Most wanted to get onto a trade apprenticeship. Not many pupils at my school stayed on past 16 years old. There were only 4 of us in my ‘A’ Level French group, and 9 in English. 🙂

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            1. I only ever had to show my GCE passes at the Met Police interview. Every other job took my word for them. I was 49 at the time, and it took me a whole weekend to find them! No idea where they are now of course. 🙂 x

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  21. I don’t remember taking the 11+ exam, but I must have done as I then went to a Grammar School in Poplar in 1969. I remember having an initial interview there with the headmaster, who asked me what I was reading. I remember replying that I was reading an autobiography of Judy Garland. However, when I was in the second year there we then moved across the river to Kidbrooke in 1971 and I subsequently attended the local Comprehensive school, which actually suited me better as I veered towards the arts instead of academia. Like you I also gained 8 ‘O’ levels.

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        1. I had lessons in the Double Bass, (classical, but I was hopeless) and helped out in the Drama Group as stage manager’s assistant. I was also a Prefect later, and then Deputy Head Boy in the Sixth Form. I loved my years at the comprehensive.

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  22. Exams & tests always tend to be a very divisive subject [not least with the ‘victims’!] but, like you, Pete, I’m glad they’re behind me, in a formal way anyway. I enjoy testing myself mentally, but it’s good not to have the pressure of a formal test as part of it—I’ve never been tempted by the Open University. Cheers, Jon.

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