General Certificate of Secondary Education

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The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is the name of a set of British qualifications, taken by secondary school students, at age of 14-16 in England, Wales, Northern Ireland (in Scotland, the equivalent is the Standard Grade). Some British colonies, such as Gibraltar also use the qualifications.

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[edit] Structure

GCSE courses are taken in a variety of subjects, which are usually decided by the students themselves between the ages of 13 and 14 (called Year 9 in England and Wales and Year 10 in Northern Ireland). Study of chosen subjects begins at age 14 (Year 10/Year 11), and final examinations are then taken at age 16 (Year 11/Year 12). However, some schools have made the Key Stage 3 only two years (Year 7/Year 8) so that the GCSE students have 3 years to complete their courses. This means the students have to pick their options in Year 8. This has been met with mixed emotions. However, the SATs (End of Key Stage 3 examinations) are still taken in Year 9.

Contrary to popular belief, GCSEs are not compulsory, but they are by far the most common qualification taken by 14-16-year-old students. The only legal requirement is that English, Mathematics, Science, Religious Education and Physical Education are studied during Key Stage 4 (the GCSE years of school); in England, some form of ICT and Citizenship must also be studied and, in Wales, Welsh must also be studied. These subjects do not have to be taught for any examination (or even be discrete lessons), though it is normal for at least English, Mathematics and Science to be studied to GCSE level.

For the reasons above, virtually all candidates take GCSEs in English, Mathematics and Science. In addition, many schools also require that students take English Literature, at least one Modern Foreign Language, at least one Design and Technology subject, Religious Education although these once compulsory subjects are now no longer compulsory in england, (often a short, or 'half', course) and ICT (though increasingly this is the DiDA, rather than the GCSE). Students can then fill the remainder of their timetable (normally totalling nine different subjects) with their own choice of subjects (see list below). Short Course GCSEs (worth half a regular GCSE) can also be taken.

At the end of the two-year GCSE course, each student receives a grade for each subject. These grades, from best to worst, are:

  • A* (pronounced 'A-star')
  • A
  • B
  • C
  • D
  • E
  • F
  • G

Those who fail a course are given a U (unclassified) and that subject is not included on their certificates. Receiving five or more A*-C grades is often a requirement for taking A-levels in the school sixth form, at a sixth form college or at a further education college after leaving secondary school. Most universities typically require a C or better in English and Mathematics, regardless of a student's performance in their A-level or Foundation Degree course after leaving school. Many students who fail to get a C in English and Mathematics (and, increasingly, ICT) will retake their GCSEs in those subjects at a later date.

In most subjects, one or more coursework assignments may also be completed. Coursework can contribute to anything from 20-60% of a student's final grade, with more practical subjects, such as Design and Technology and Music, often having a heavier coursework element. The rest of a student's grade (normally the majority) is determined by their performance in examinations. These exams may either be terminal exams at the end of Year 11, a series of modular examinations taken throughout the course, or a combination of the two. Students can sometimes resit modular examinations later in the course and attempt to improve their grade.

In many subjects, there are two different 'tiers' of examination offered: Higher, where students can achieve grades A*-D, and Foundation, where they can achieve grades C-G. If a candidate fails to obtain a G on the Foundation tier or a D on the Higher tier they will fail the course and receive a U (though there is a safety net allowing those who narrowly miss a D on the Higher tier to receive an E). Candidates are entered for the tier felt best suited for them by themselves and their teachers. In non-tiered subjects, the examination paper allows candidates to achieve any grade. Coursework also always allows candidates to achieve any grade.

Some subjects, such as Science, can be split up into several different subjects: it is possible to be examined on Science as a whole, with one, or more often two, GCSEs (typically known as Double Award Science), or with Biology, Chemistry, and Physics separately (where three GCSEs are awarded, one for each science).

There are now five examination boards offering GCSEs: AQA, OCR, Edexcel, the WJEC and the CCEA; while all boards are regulated by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) - a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) - the boards are self-sufficient organisations. Traditionally, there were a larger number of regional exam boards, but changes in legislation allowed schools to use any board before a series of mergers reduced the number to five. The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) acts as a single voice for the Awarding Bodies, and assists them create common standards, regulations and guidance.

Students receive the results of their GCSEs in the fourth week of August (the week after A Level results). The CCEA publish their results on the Tuesday and the other examination boards publish theirs on the Thursday. Normally, students have to go to their school to collect their results.

[edit] History

GCSEs were introduced for teaching in September 1986, and replaced both the O-level GCE (Ordinary level General Certificate of Education) and the CSE (Certificate of Secondary Education) qualifications, which suffered problems due to the two-tieredness of the system. Grade C of the GCSE was set at equivalent to O Level Grade C and CSE Grade 1. The table below shows what each GCSE grade is equivalent to (note that the O Level grades are the ones used at the end of the system):

GCSE Grade O Level Grade CSE Grade
A* A 1
A
B B
C C
D D 2
E E 3
F U (ungraded) 4
G 5
U (unclassified) U (ungraded)

The basic format of the GCSE has been same since its inception, though many minor changes have been made. Initally, there were three tiers for examinations: Higher (grades A*-C), Intermediate (grades B-E) and Basic (grades D-G). Basic was soon renamed Foundation. During the 1990s, all subjects except Mathematics moved to the current two tier system (see above) and Mathematics eventually followed suit in 2006 (for the first examination in 2008).

In 1994, the A* grade was introduced to distinguish the very top end of achievement.

Introduced in 2000 was the Vocational GCSE, which encouraged students to take the work-related route and included courses such as engineering, applied business, ICT and leisure and tourism. From September 2004, the word 'Vocational' was dropped and a Vocational GCSE is now known simply as a GCSE. This is to show that the vocational side is 'on par' with the traditional academic side.

Science GCSEs were overhauled in 2006 (for first examination in 2008). The most popular course, Double Science (where students received two identical grades for a course with twice the content as the normal Science GCSE) was scrapped. Students studying for two Science GCSEs (still the vast majority), now study the single Science GCSE and then one of two complementary GCSEs: Additional Science (which has a more academic focus) or Applied Science (which has a more vocational focus). Students now receive separate grades for their Science GCSEs.

[edit] Criticism

Some commentators feel that the GCSE system is a dumbing down from the old GCE / O-level system (as it took the focus away from the theoretical side of many subjects and taught students about real-world implications and issues relating to ICT and Citizenship), joking that it stands for General Certificate for Sitting an Exam.

It is illuminating to look back at some examinations from the past to see how standards of questions have altered (although such comparisons are selective, and thus subject to potential bias).

In recent years, concern about standards has led some public schools (private schools), have even gone as far as removing GCSEs from their curricula and instead encourage their pupils to progress straight to A-level or the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme studies. However, the other side of the argument is that the GCSE system is just as hard as the old GCE/O-level system it replaced and that the recently rising numbers of top grades are due to better student preparations from school.

On the other hand, it could be said to be better because it takes into account the ability of the student in the duration of the course, through coursework. However, some private schools are replacing the GCSEs with IGCSEs whereby there is an option to do no coursework.

The new Science syllabus has led to many independent schools switching to the IGCSE Double Award syllabus.

[edit] List of GCSE subjects

Note: Not all schools offer many of the subjects in this list. Also note that subjects that are extremely rare, such as minor languages or subjects taught by only one or two schools, are not listed below.

[edit] Effectively compulsory subjects

  • English
    • Many schools also insist on students taking English Literature
  • Mathematics
  • Science (students can take a number of different 'routes'):
    • Science as a single subject (which includes elements of Biology, Chemistry, and Physics)
    • Science as a single subject and Additional Science (a more academic course)
    • Science as a single subject and Applied Science (a more vocational course)
    • Science as separate subjects (studying one or more of Biology, Chemistry and Physics)
  • Welsh or Welsh Second Language (in schools in Wales)

[edit] Common subjects

[edit] Uncommon subjects

  • Applied Art and Design (Double Award)
  • Applied Business (Double Award)
  • Arabic
  • Archaeology
  • Astronomy
  • Biblical Hebrew
  • Business and Communication Systems
  • Business Studies and Economics
  • Ceramics
  • Chinese (Mandarin or Cantonese)
  • Classical Greek
  • Classical Civilisation
  • Dance
  • Dutch
  • Economics
  • Expressive Arts
  • Fashion Design
  • Geology
  • Gujarati
  • Graphics
  • Health and Social Care (Double Award)
  • Humanities
  • Irish
  • Islamiat Studies
  • Japanese
  • Jewish Studies
  • Latin
  • Law
  • Leisure and tourism
  • Manufacturing (Double Award)
  • Modern Greek
  • Modern Hebrew
  • Moving Arts
  • Nautical Studies
  • Outdoor Pursuits
  • Pakistan Studies (a combination of the history and geography of Pakistan)
  • Persian
  • Photography
  • Psychology
  • Resistant materials
  • Rural Science
  • Russian
  • Sculpture
  • Sociology
  • Turkish
  • Urdu
  • Welsh Literature

[edit] See also

Wikibooks
Wikibooks has a book on the topic of

[edit] External links

[edit] Revision

Although there are many different revision websites covering different exam board syllabuses and subjects at various skill levels, below are some of the more popular websites used by schools for student revision and coursework preparation.

[edit] Examination boards

[edit] UK government education bodies

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