My ripe old age of 27 is AGAINST ME!

[Doomed]

Darkwood, I think you mean 'O' levels,, these were replaced by the GSE and GCSE. I seem to remember seeing that a 'c' in the GCSE is roughly equivalent to the 'e' at 'O' level.
Also the old system of only allowing the top percentage of the year (nationally) to have the best grades was replaced with the 'get over a certain score to get a result' system, therefore allowing the educational system to have a higher pass rate.
Then back in your day it was probably only 1 in 20 was bright enough for university rather then the 1 in 3 of today.

 

[Darkwood]

Yes O level was the norm' for most but the top classes could do the easier O level or do the A level which scored highly with further Education and good apprenticeships out there over many career paths.