At the time there was a show on Channel 4 called "That'll Teach 'Em". The idea was to put (then) current GCSE students through the old O-levels in a 1950s boarding school environment. It was of course (like any "reality" show) done up for TV but there were some interesting tidbits, which were news to me (as an expat):
- Grade inflation is rampant, so much so that they had to invent a grade above an A (the A<asterisk>) because too many people were getting As.
In the US I believe this to also be a problem but it's hidden behind scaling of results. At least I see so many people who have 3.8+ college GPAs (which, as I understand it, basically means 80% As and 20% Bs) that I have to wonder where all the C students are.
In Australia--at least when I went through the education system some 15+ years ago--it was nothing like that.
- Students who were getting 11 GCSE As couldn't pass 4 O-levels. Granted the curriculum structure is different (eg it once relied on more memorization) but still...
- Current education philosophy in the UK seems to emphasize creative expression, which to me sounds like the educational equivalent of moral relativism in that there is no wrong or right. The idea is to simply make students express themselves. Nevermind actually knowing anything or being able to critically formulate or deconstruct an argument.
- Students who were getting As in GCSE French couldn't even conjugate the verb "avoir" (to have). If you've never studied a language this means coming up with the French equivalent of I have / we have / you have / he/she/it has / they have (j'ai / nous avons / tu as / vous avez / il/elle a / ils/elles ont). This is as basic as it gets.
In case you were wondering why there was 6 for French and 5 for English, the second person singular in English (thou hast) has fallen into disuse.
From what I remember the exams were largely take-home translations, which in the Internet age typically meant getting someone French to do them.
- Maths was incredibly weak.
But the UK seems to have a similar problem to what Australia does now: a government who has treated the number of students in university as some kind of target. The uncomfortable truth is that not everybody belongs in university or will get anything out of it.