P.R.C.U.: An Institute For The Extraordinarily Gifted [CLOSED SIGNUPS]

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I know nothing of the English or the Irish system XD but 'an exam at age 15 that is kinda pointless due to not being able to get into college' was fairly clear XD

I understood some of them. Not all. It's been a while, and had a far more innocent mind them XD
 
GCSE's are a set of exams taken at the end of Secondary School at age 16/17. Most Schools have students take the core subjects of Maths, English, and the three Sciences (Chemistry, Biology, and Physics), and then 3-4 extra classes that students choose from at 14/15. However, some have students taking extra core classes - for example, my school made Maths, English, and the Sciences mandatory, as well as one language class (Spanish, French, or German, that you chose when you first began at the school) and one technology class (Woodshop, Food Tech, Textiles, or Electrical). You were then allowed to choose three extra classes on top of this - I chose Art&Design, IT, and Physical Education (although I now wish I'd taken IT, Drama, and Religious Studies).

In order to get into college - something I think is similar to the last two years of high school - you were required to get at least 5 passing grades (A* to C), and (for the college I went to at least) at least a C in Maths, English, and one of any of the Sciences.

So GCSE's are not pointless, although not passing them does screw you a little in terms of education - or did, as our system is changing now. College used to be optioned, mandatory education ending at 16 with your GCSE's, and they acted as the lowest form of educational qualifications you could possess (A-Levels from College coming after, and then degrees and such from University beyond that). Now, college is mandatory as well, with required education ending with A-Levels at 18/19, and GCSE's are being phased out as they aren't required for entry due to college not being optional.
 
Yeah, but here in Ireland, the junior cert is pretty much pointless.

We do eleven subjects: Irish, English, maths, religion, science, history, geography and CSPE, which is like political education, and three optional subjects from a wide range. I took French, art and business studies. There's a minimum of five years of secondary education, with an optional fourth year after the junior cert. However, if your school does offer this, you are told if you're accepted before you even do your exams. So no matter how you get in your exams, you still have another two years at least.

The process for getting into college/university here is a bit complicated as well.
You do seven subjects- Irish, English and maths, and four optional subjects. So I'm doing French, biology, chemistry and physics. However, only your best six results are counted. We have two levels of papers- honours and pass. Pass is easier than honours. An A1 (90-100%) in an honours paper is therefore worth 100 "points", while it's only worth 60 points in pass.

So, you put in your top 10 choices into the application system. And when your results come out, they are also automatically sent to the application system, which forwards them onto the college/university. Say there's seventy places on a course. The top seventy people who had the course as their first option get their place. The target points for the course are set at the lowest entry- so if the seventieth person got 300 points, the target points would be 300 for the following year. If you don't get your first option, you are offered whatever option you have enough points for, in order of preference.

That's pretty much a simplified explanation- if you really care enough to want to read it better explained, here you go.
 
England and Ireland, forever at war...
 
That's not even an exaggeration. The Queen visited a few years ago and it was such a huge event, because a British monarch hasn't been here since... several hundred years ago.
 
PlayingMonster said:
That's not even an exaggeration. The Queen visited a few years ago and it was such a huge event, because a British monarch hasn't been here since... several hundred years ago.
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lol I did a course on Irish History, it was interesting. Plus we got to watch the Michael Collins movie starring Liam Neeson.
 
Irish history isn't so interesting when you've been learning about it your whole life. My favourite period to study was the two world wars and the Cold War. It was just much more interesting.
 
PlayingMonster said:
Irish history isn't so interesting when you've been learning about it your whole life. My favourite period to study was the two world wars and the Cold War. It was just much more interesting.
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Completely understandable, I despise Canadian History, it's just so boring lol.
 
I think I'll stick with the Dutch system XD I prefer it far, far more over what I'm hearing there XD

Ages 2-3 Preschool. (optional)
Ages 4-12 Primary school

From here everyone gets divided into levels. Smart, theory based thinkers go to a different level than practical, less book orientated people.
VMBO - Ages 13-16, within this group its split between the lowest: 40-60 theory/practical, and the highest: 60-40 theory/practical
HAVO - Ages 13-17, Split roughly 70 theory, 30 practical
VWO/Atheneum - Ages 13-18, 85% theory, 15% practical
Gymnasium - Ages 13-18, 95% theory, 5% practical work. Includes Latin and Greek

After this depending on which level you went through you go to a next stage, or go up one level. At this stage people choose what careers they want to follow or possibly pursue.
VMBO -> MBO - Ages 17-20 Main worker class, anything from artists to teacher assistant, hairdresser, etc.
HAVO -> HBO - Ages 18-21 Manager level working class, teachers, nurses, etc
VWO -> University - Ages 19-22 CEOs, bankers, lawyers, etc
Gymnasium -> University - Ages 19-22 Doctors, professors, etc

Of course you don't have to follow and quit right when it tells you to, you can go from the lower levels and work yourself all the way to the top if you have the determination. And overall you then have far more practical skills to use in any field. For example start at VMBO, go to MBO, then continue with HBO, and end with University. You'll be 28 by the time you graduate, but did just about every level available. XD It's just very handy to be in a class with similar minds than have 2 brainy people, 5 only practical orientated, and a bunch in between spread out all over the map, you know?
 
That makes a lot more sense. Here, sure, you can take on practical classes, but no college will accept you if you fail your maths paper. So, yeah.
 
I'm not sure how the higher levels work, but going from VMBO to MBO, as long as you pass your exam according to what the law prescribes (No more than 2 failed subjects) and you pass whatever intake exam the study of your choice dictates, you're in.
So like for the MediaDesign, if you passed the middleschool part, and had a passing grade on the required art/design project and leave a proper impression during the intake, you're in.
 
The universities have minimum requirements, and then courses may also have an individual requirement. So for the courses I want to do, I need a pass in six subjects. I have to pass English and Maths at either level, and I also must have at least one science subject. In one course, I have to have a pass in Chemistry. Most science courses don't require a third language, but most other courses do if you're going to a university.

But on top of that, you also have to meet the points. One course is 565 points, which means I have to get either six A2's (85-90%) or an A1(90-100%) for every B1 (80-85%) I get.
 
sounds... complicated. Sorta. Though the HBO level and higher do have something similar. Need to obtain a certain number of points to pass a level and.. I'm not entirely familiar with those as I only went to the MBO level and not higher XD
 
Yeah, it is. Especially as for medicine and such, you also have an aptitude test which ties in with your results. And there's also courses that require auditions or portfolios or whatever.

And what's worse is that the level of points doesn't always reflect the difficulty of the course. There are very few courses, such as medicine and pharmacy, that actually reflect the amount of work in a course as opposed to the demand.
 
@-@ yeah I'm glad I wasn't raised there XD
 
*puts them both on her list to read*
 
Post up. Apologies for the delay, I have no excuses, I'm just a jerk. ;p
That said, again, sorry for the crappiness of the post. It's short and bland; I typed it up in only a few minutes because I have to get to bed - have to get up in four and a half hours - but I didn't want to keep you guys waiting any longer. The next one will be of better quality.
 
Uh oh, with Hunter sitting in a corner instead of on alert I fear the team's chances of protecting that flag are dwindling XD
I'll wait and see if Wraith wants to post for Hunter or not, otherwise we'll have to figure out something for the little band of merry folk to do :P

*also a bit distracted at the moment, sorry, trying to work out the history for a new RP XD*
 
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