[HPforGrownups] Re: O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s

[John Walton]

No: HPFGUIDX 30035

hp_lexicon at yahoo.com wrote:

> I have had this whole business explained to me at least once and I
> still don't get it. How can you "get" a certain number of levels of
> these things? Here in the States we get a score on tests like the
> SAT, but that's apparently not the same thing. Or is it? If someone
> would like to write a nice, concise explanation of what O levels and
> A levels are and by extension what NEWTs and OWLs are, I would be
> eternally grateful.

Let me try.

Remember, by the age of 16, British children are taking exams in *different
subjects*, rather than the SAT, which only examines two. Therefore,

When they say "he got five OWLs", they mean "he passed five subjects at OWL
level with grade C or higher (which is the pass mark in Muggle GCSEs)".  He
may have studied other subjects; this is irrelevant in this case as he did
not pass them and thus does not "have" them.

"Getting" 12 OWLs means simply that one has studied for and passed them --
even if at C grade. I have ten GCSEs: two A*s, five As and three Bs.

In Muggle Britain, we say of people like Princess Diana and Richard Branson,
"Oh, they don't have any O levels," as if that makes them inherently stupid.
I would say "I have A-levels in French, English and Politics."

However, of prodigious offspring, "Yah, dahling, he got 8 As in his GCSEs",
or "three As at A-level" much as "Yeah, honey, he got a 1550 on his SAT!"

Perhaps the difference is in the numbers of the things -- 8-12 GCSEs vs. 1
SAT exam. Think "I have three APs, in World History, English and
Basket-Weaving".

Hope this helps -- feel free to use it for the Lexicon if it does. I'm happy
to answer further questions.

____________________________________________

"Oh my god! You killed...er...God!"
                -one of John's friends, after reading Philip Pullman's
                "His Dark Materials" trilogy

John Walton -- john at walton.vu
____________________________________________