Hi all, Im currently doing my GCSE's at school. I haven't done enough revision, and im worried about the results. Game programming is my life and I was thinking about "how important are qualifications?" Is it possible to secure a good job in game programming wth medicore GCSEs - by showing experience, like previous games, and so on? Any advice apreciated.

Some companies will hire you if you have talent and a great portfolio but others won't even give you an interview unless you have a degree and as the industry matures this will become more common. Are you assuming that once you leave school that work (even game dev work) will just be all the nice things with none of the boring stuff? many employers will assume that if you can't be bothered to do the boring stuff necessary to get your qualifications that you won't do the boring stuff necessary at work - not really what they want.

So, is it possible to get a job without qualifications? Yes. Are you more likely to get a job if you have a degree? Yes. When you are ready to apply for jobs you will find that there are hundreds of other people all after the same jobs. If an employer has to pick between someone with talent but no degree and so someone with talent AND a degree many will pick the latter.

So, what your saying is, it is feasable - but its less likely to happen?

Game development isn't just about programming, its about what you are programming. Game development is no longer about moving 2D sprites around and doing level layouts. Game developers are creating simulations/systems to represent worlds. The skills needed for this are 3D visualisation, physics and AI, which you are unlikely to develop with mediocore GCSEs. Put simply, if you can't be bothered to revise your unlikely to be the sort of person a developer wants working on their $10 million project.