Unai Emery

[algy]

My A-levels were maths, further maths, physics, and general knowledge studies.  Further maths was a massive, massive mistake and I should've done something I was actually interested in, like history or chemistry.  Ended up dropping it after the 1st year.

Then mostly dossed my way through a BSc in Computer Science, and here I am now.

[Richard E]

I did English Language and Literature, German and Law. I also sat the General Studies exam without any prior study or information about what the exam format was.

[Rory]

You sat the exam? Conformist 😉

[Richard E]

I sat the Oxford Entrance Exam as well, but then didn’t get through the interview.

[PeterWithesShin]

Last exam I took I went in, wrote "I am a fish" 400 times and then did a little dance.

[Rory]

I sat the Oxford Entrance Exam as well, but then didn’t get through the interview.

The Oxbridge applications were handled terribly at my school. Frankly, none of us were up to it (I never bothered applying) but they were putting lads up applying for Law at Oxford with AS grades of Cs and below.

My former sister-in-law worked in the admissions office at Cambridge and said that, after a year or two of applicants like that, they'd basically not even look at that school's applications in future, because they clearly weren't taking it seriously.

[Rory]

Last exam I took I went in, wrote "I am a fish" 400 times and then did a little dance.

I was kicked out of a GCSE Graphics exam (my score marked as 0) because we'd had a morning exam that finished at 10.30, then a gap to the Graphics one at 2.30pm, so me and a few mates went to the pub.

During the exam, I went for a piss four times, and when I asked the fifth time they said no because they suspected I was cheating. I went anyway, and when I came back they'd cleared my desk.

Edit: nice Red Dwarf reference, by the way.

[brontebilly]

Irish History and Media Studies, loved the Irish History in particular and remember well a week long field trip to the homeland in 93, a bunch of us 17/18 years old staying in a youth hostel in Mountjoy Sq in Dublin, with the teachers staying who knows where, would never be allowed now but brilliant fun. Included trips to Tara Hill and Belfast, before the Good Friday agreement, so still armoured cars about etc and a few pints in the Crown. Great times.

Belfast in 1993...the modern day equivalent of a trip to Beirut? Mountjoy Sq is rough as guts these days, epicenter of recent riots, can only imagine what it was like back then too.

[edgysatsuma89]

What the hell is 'General Studies' anyway? It sounds so vague. I don't remember that being an option but I guess it probably was available.

[Malandro]

What the hell is 'General Studies' anyway? It sounds so vague. I don't remember that being an option but I guess it probably was available.

We were expected to take it as a fourth (or was it classed as a half?) A-Level.

I remember one of the exam questions was to explain the coin mechanism in a vending machine. Nuts.

[Rory]

What the hell is 'General Studies' anyway? It sounds so vague. I don't remember that being an option but I guess it probably was available.

We were expected to take it as a fourth (or was it classed as a half?) A-Level.

I remember one of the exam questions was to explain the coin mechanism in a vending machine. Nuts.

Yeah it was compulsory for us as a fifth AS and fourth A-level.

I understand it acted as a bit of a safety net and helped quite a few lads get into their preferred universities/courses - if they needed BBB, say, and got BBC in their actual subjects, their B in General Studies substituted for that C and got them in.

I went to a couple of lessons and there wasn't really any attempt to teach, it was revisiting GCSE-standard Maths, year 9 French/German etc.

No real educational value because you either knew it or you didn't, but if you did apply to a university/course where they accepted it, and it was the difference between getting in or not, it might've been a blessing. Fair play to anyone who did that.

I took it moderately seriously and got a B at AS level but once I had my university offers, saw they didn't accept General Studies, I never went to lessons, skipped one of the two exams and never even worked out what my final grade was or picked up the certificate.

It was either a D for year 13 (which may have averaged out to a C overall) or a D overall (meaning after my B in year 12 I probably got an E or F in year 13).

Either way it was immaterial.

[Risso]

I got a 'B' in General Studies, despite only being entered for the exam right on the deadline. It's basically like Trivial Pursuit, so for someone who loved quizzes it was ideal. And it helped get me on to my degree of choice at Brum Uni, as I was one grade down from the requirement on one of my other A Levels, but they said the extra A Level in General Studies made up for it, so that was nice.

[algy]

I understand it acted as a bit of a safety net and helped quite a few lads get into their preferred universities/courses - if they needed BBB, say, and got BBC in their actual subjects, their B in General Studies substituted for that C and got them in.

I did this - dropped out of one of my a levels, ended up just doing maths + physics + general studies and used that to get in to uni.

[Exeter 77]

I remember writing an essay about Nagorno-Karabakh in an A-Level General Studies exam. I got a B.

[edgysatsuma89]

I got a 'B' in General Studies, despite only being entered for the exam right on the deadline. It's basically like Trivial Pursuit, so for someone who loved quizzes it was ideal. And it helped get me on to my degree of choice at Brum Uni, as I was one grade down from the requirement on one of my other A Levels, but they said the extra A Level in General Studies made up for it, so that was nice.

I was also one grade down to get in to Brum Uni but got in on their scheme to let more working class riff-raff in. I could have done with that General Studies and saved a bit of hassle.