How to prove I have GSCEs (I finished high school in 1973)

Well, that was strange. I was sitting in the waiting area and the woman on my left had a PhD, and the guy on my right looked like an investment banker in a relatively expensive suit.... both were there for interviews as well. The woman was a little caustic and snooty, the guy seemed quite nice but nervous.  We must have been quite a line-up.

So the interview went well, I ...think? Oddly, they asked me a lot of the same questions that I'd been asked in the online screening test. Unfortunately, I had no questions for them, as they'd been extremely thorough in explaining how everything worked. That's usually the kiss of death in an interview in the USA, but... we'll see.  They kept talking about how it was advertised as part-time, but if an opportunity came up would I work full time, days? (Easy answer on that.)  I gave them a copy of my HS transcript, 3 community college transcripts, BA University transcript, Grad School University Transcript, copy of my ACT, SAT, and GRE scores (I test well, I'd forgotten I did that well on them) and told them that if it was going to stand in the way of me being hired I could send off to Naric to get an equivalency determination. They didn't seem to think it necessary that I do so.

It'll be a couple of weeks before I hear anything.

On the good side, getting there fell into place remarkably well. I was running a little late leaving the house, but I walked to the bus stop and the bus came in less than a minute (literally). Rode it to the underground station, got in there with my discounted/old lady card, bought my ticket, and went down to the platform. Again, literally within 30 seconds the train pulled in.  Got to my station, walked to where I needed to be, took me 5 minutes. I was 20 minutes early, but they took me in to interview pretty much right away, once all my paperwork was photocopied.

Had been fretting about not being professionally-enough dressed. No problem there, the place was in serious "Business Casual" mode. And I found shoes that matched my suit, packed in another box so I was able to stop fretting about interviewers being obsessed with looking under the table to see what I was wearing on my feet.     

So I wonder if they decide they want to hire me, if my not being in the UK for very long is going to screw up my security clearance? Apparently I have to get one. I can't imagine they'd think me a security risk - the high point of my week is walking to the post office, I can't drink, I have no terrorist/criminal acquaintances, and I fall asleep by 9:00pm. I didn't have time to acquire a "colorful" past because I was always working several jobs and raising the Daughter....

dude I wish you the best of luck. I feel like the post-interview wait is sometimes worse than the interview.

Thanks. Pre-interview they said to just "bring what I had" in the way of educational credentials. What I had was all scans of original docs, with the exception of my Master's diploma, which is like triple-size. So I left them with printouts of all. NOW they say they need to see the originals. Fortunately, while rummaging through a packing box last night I came up with the community college diploma (so that makes two) and an official hardcopy of the transcript for the BA that shows the degree on it. Plus the original scores on my GRE test.  Later this week I will pop on a bus and take the originals down so they can photocopy them and give them back to me. 

I guess this is a good sign?  I really thought I no longer had the community college diploma - it's from like 40 years ago. Turned up in some of the Daughter's stuff, with the transcript.  Huh. Well, hopefully that'll prove I've got GSCE in Math/English....

I guess this is a good sign?  I really thought I no longer had the community college diploma - it's from like 40 years ago. Turned up in some of the Daughter's stuff, with the transcript.  Huh. Well, hopefully that'll prove I've got GSCE in Math/English....

Sounds promising - fingers crossed .

Not quite the same thing, but your situation reminds me of when I moved to the US for a PhD in Earth Sciences (geophysics) - the school insisted that I take Freshman Chemistry because I didn't have any chemistry classes on my university transcripts. The thing was that I had taken Chemistry up to GCSE level, which was about the level of the freshman chemistry classes, and I had also covered certain elements of chemistry in my physics degree (atomic structure, electron shells etc.), though due to the structure of UK degrees, there was no option for me to study chemistry at university.

So, there I was, with two masters degrees in physics and geophysics, sitting in a class filled with freshman, and a professor saying: "Okay, today we are going to define a solid, a liquid and a gas"... I'd learned those definitions about 10 years previously, had spent several years calculating complex equations for them, and my undergrad thesis was on solid state physics .

ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!

That sounds like most of my undergraduate degree. I went to Uni when I was 30, and I'd always been a voracious reader.... most of what I heard in class was either old news or so out-of-date as to be laughable.

Yeah, well, story of my life. "We don't know what to do with you, and no, you can't test out of your entire degree program."   

When I came to the US the first time and got my 10 GCSEs evaluated, the company that did it said I had achieved a GED, which I'm led to believe is less than impressive HS diploma, sigh.   

GCSEs were awhile ago, do UK employers still care?

Good thing I still have my GCSE certificates....

When I came to the US the first time and got my 10 GCSEs evaluated, the company that did it said I had achieved a GED, which I'm led to believe is less than impressive HS diploma, sigh.   

GCSEs were awhile ago, do UK employers still care?

Good thing I still have my GCSE certificates....

GEDs get a bad rap because they suggest the person "couldn't" graduate from high school for some reason. But from everything I've heard about the GED, it is actually much harder to obtain than doing the minimum required to get a high school diploma.

A high school diploma can mean any level in a broad range of difficulty, depending on whether you choose to pursue honors or advanced placement courses, or just do "enough".  The GED is definitely more challenging than "just enough".  Whether is as challenging as AP classes and stuff, I couldn't say.  But I have heard it's no picnic.

GEDs get a bad rap because they suggest the person "couldn't" graduate from high school for some reason. But from everything I've heard about the GED, it is actually much harder to obtain than doing the minimum required to get a high school diploma.

A high school diploma can mean any level in a broad range of difficulty, depending on whether you choose to pursue honors or advanced placement courses, or just do "enough".  The GED is definitely more challenging than "just enough".  Whether is as challenging as AP classes and stuff, I couldn't say.  But I have heard it's no picnic.

I have a GED because I skipped my senior year of high school and didn't feel like taking the "equivalent" college courses to get a NYS regents diploma ... silly me, organic chemistry and materials science were more interesting than macroeconomics. But after passing 24 credit hours you also qualify for a GED. I guess I should get an official transcript copy from that college in case I need to prove I have the equivalents!


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I have a GED because I skipped my senior year of high school and didn't feel like taking the "equivalent" college courses to get a NYS regents diploma ... silly me, organic chemistry and materials science were more interesting than macroeconomics. But after passing 24 credit hours you also qualify for a GED. I guess I should get an official transcript copy from that college in case I need to prove I have the equivalents!

My younger brother and sister both left school early to start community college.  My brother has an Associate's degree now (and I think he's working to finish his bachelor's), and my sister has two master's degrees.  Neither one of them got a GED along the way because in most cases employers want to know "highest level of education achieved", and their degrees would make it unnecessary to mention a GED, so they didn't do the work to get it.

My younger brother and sister both left school early to start community college.  My brother has an Associate's degree now (and I think he's working to finish his bachelor's), and my sister has two master's degrees.  Neither one of them got a GED along the way because in most cases employers want to know "highest level of education achieved", and their degrees would make it unnecessary to mention a GED, so they didn't do the work to get it.

It was literally a form your school submits certifying that you passed 24 credit hours, and because of the program I was in (at a private university) they wouldn't let you skip doing it. I've needed it in the past, so I'm glad I have it. Thanks to this thread I have my transcripts on the way in case they are ever needed to prove a-level equivalents or similar I'm sad I didn't finish but I was a confused kid who couldn't make up my mind and couldn't justify the cost while figuring things out (I lost most of my aid when my parent remarried .. not that the step parent had anything to do with my college payments.)


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It was literally a form your school submits certifying that you passed 24 credit hours, and because of the program I was in (at a private university) they wouldn't let you skip doing it. I've needed it in the past, so I'm glad I have it. Thanks to this thread I have my transcripts on the way in case they are ever needed to prove a-level equivalents or similar I'm sad I didn't finish but I was a confused kid who couldn't make up my mind and couldn't justify the cost while figuring things out (I lost most of my aid when my parent remarried .. not that the step parent had anything to do with my college payments.)

Oh, that is a much more sensible approach.  There was no "after xx credits, you get a GED" option for my siblings.  It was a complete program of training and stuff you had to attend before they would allow you to register to take the test.  I was surprised by the roadblocks they put up (in Arkansas). My sister could have taken the time  to attend the classes and stuff when she looked into it, but she just didn't see the point.  But many people who left school and then decided to pick up their GED are just struggling to find time to breathe (which is why they want it!), and if those people feel ready to take the test, or at least a practice test to see if they're ready, they should be allowed to.

Oh, that is a much more sensible approach.  There was no "after xx credits, you get a GED" option for my siblings.  It was a complete program of training and stuff you had to attend before they would allow you to register to take the test.  I was surprised by the roadblocks they put up (in Arkansas). My sister could have taken the time  to attend the classes and stuff when she looked into it, but she just didn't see the point.  But many people who left school and then decided to pick up their GED are just struggling to find time to breathe (which is why they want it!), and if those people feel ready to take the test, or at least a practice test to see if they're ready, they should be allowed to.

That is brutal If it'd required more I don't think I would've gotten it at that point in time.


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That is brutal If it'd required more I don't think I would've gotten it at that point in time.

That's what I thought.  I was certain my sister was mistaken and that it wasn't as rude as all that.  I mean, surely they would want to encourage success?  (I suppose that's what they thought they were doing, by requiring class attendance, so people are sure to be prepared on test day.  But at least do an initial assessment on their own time to see if all the rest is necessary!)

I have a GED because I skipped my senior year of high school and didn't feel like taking the "equivalent" college courses to get a NYS regents diploma ... silly me, organic chemistry and materials science were more interesting than macroeconomics. But after passing 24 credit hours you also qualify for a GED. I guess I should get an official transcript copy from that college in case I need to prove I have the equivalents!


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I think it depends on the particular state, as far as GED equivalencies. But once you have a higher degree, the GED becomes a moot issue, for all intents - at least in the USA it does!  Honestly, this is the first time anyone's ever asked me to prove basic competence in English and Maths in the 45+ years since I left high school. Not sure if that's a "UK thing" or just a "UK Government thing".

As for Texas, back in the day, I asked a counselor about skipping out of my senior year and taking the GED, as I wanted to get out of classes where "teaching" was the instructor having the students read aloud out of the waaay out-of-date textbooks (which I'd finished reading after the first week of the school year). I was told it wasn't possible (which turned out to be untrue). So I did the early admissions thing to the local community college after taking some summer session classes to make sure I had enough units to graduate high school early.

My strongest suspicion remains that I was told I couldn't do it because the school district gets a certain amount of money per head per day - hence their being hyper about  taking attendance first thing in the morning and not really caring much about the rest of the day. They stood to lose several grand per kid for kids who left school early via the GED route.

My daughter left high school in 10th grade and tested out immediately with a GED in North Carolina. She scored high on all of her tests and started community college during the next available semester.

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