General Certificate of Education

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The General Certificate of Education or GCE is a secondary-level academic qualification, which was used in Britain and continues to be used in some former British colonies. It is often divided into two levels: Ordinary level (O-level) (replaced in 1986 by GCSE) and Advanced level (A-Level), although other categories exist. Since 1999 when it was introduced, the Advanced Subsidiary level (AS-level) has also come into wider use.

1 History
2 O-level
3 Worldwide use
4 See also

[edit] History

The GCE was originally introduced in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in 1951, replacing the older School Certificate (SC) and Higher School Certificate (HSC). It was intended to cater for the increased range of subjects available to pupils since the raising of the school leaving age from 14 to 15 in 1947. The examinations were graded into ordinary level for 16-year-olds, and advanced level for 18-year-olds. There was also an intermediate level alternative ordinary level (AO-level) and a higher special paper (S-level).

O level passes were at Grades A, C and E, F was a fail. A levels were graded A-E with 'U', (ungraded) being a fail.

[edit] O-level

In 1988, O-level qualifications were replaced by a new system, the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE). However GCE is still used in many former British colonies, such as Bangladesh, Pakistan, Singapore, Malta, Trinidad and Tobago and some parts of Britain continued to use O levels for some time after 1986.

The Cambridge International Examinations board still offers O-level examinations. International GCE O levels are offered across many countries in the world through the University of Cambridge International Examinations (CIE), and Edexcel Examination board. GCE O Levels are offered across around 100+ countries in the world, and in June 2005, 12 million candidates registered for CIE examinations across the world [1].

[edit] Worldwide use

Increasingly in Singapore, students who perform well in school are given the option to bypass the O-levels, and take the A-levels instead at the age of 18, in a scheme dubbed the integrated programme (also known as the through-train programme).

In Malta, the British examinations are still very popular, though their popularity has been in decline since the introduction of a similar examination scheme by the University of Malta.

In Hong Kong, students wishing to attend university in the United Kingdom usually take the British examinations in addition to Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination (HKCEE) and Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination (HKALE), despite the equivalent agreement between the two sets of examinations, for grades attained in the British examination tend to be better. The English Schools Foundation in Hong Kong runs schools that follow the British patterned education, and students take GCSE in Years 10–11 and AS/A Level exams in Years 12–13, although the schools are transitioning to the IB Diploma.

In many Asian countries like India and Nepal A-Levels are becoming more and more popular as oppsed to the traditional 10 plus 2s which worked instead of the A-Levels. The main reason for the increasing popularity of A-Levels in economic poor countries is the emmigrating youth to Western European and North American countries.