General Certificate of Secondary Education

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

Structure

GCSE examinations are taken in a variety of subjects, which are usually decided by the students themselves between the ages of 13 and 14 (in Year 9), study of chosen subjects begins between the age of 14 (Year 10) and final examinations are then taken at age 16 (Year 11).

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, Physical Education and Religious 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 discreet 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 technology subject, Religious Education (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 around 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 range from A* (best) to G (worst). Those who fail a course are given a U (unclassified) and that subject is not included on their certificates. Receiving five or more C grades is often a requirement for taking A-levels at a sixth form college or regular 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 recieve a U (though those narrowly missing a D on the Higher tier can be awarded an 'allowed 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 3 GCSEs are awarded, one for each science).

There are now five exam boards offering GCSEs: AQA, OCR, Edexcel, the WJEC and the CCEA; while all boards are under the control of the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) who deal with examination conduct and legislation, the boards are self-sufficient non-profit 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.

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:

GCSE Grade	O Level Grade!CSE Grade
A*/A	A (pass with distinction)	-	B	B (pass)
C	C (pass)		1
D	D (pass)	2
E	E (pass)	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 in 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.

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. 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.

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, as schools see it as an opportunity to cheat.

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.

Effectively compulsory subjects

* English
** Many schools also insist on students taking English Literature
* Mathematics
* Science (students can take three different 'routes'):
** Science as a single subject (which includes elements of Biology, Chemistry, and Physics)
** Science as a single subject with a complementary Applied Science GCSE (before the 2008 examination students instead took a Double Award Science course, also worth two GCSEs)
** Science as three single subjects: Biology, Chemistry, and Physics

Common subjects

* Art and Design
* Astronomy
* Business Studies
* Child Development
* Citizenship
* Design and Technology (in most schools, student must choose one of the following subjects):
**Electronics
**Food Technology
**Graphics (sometimes called Graphic Products)
**Resistant Materials
**Systems and Control
**Product Design
**Textiles
* Drama
* Engineering (Double Award)
* English Literature
* French
* Geography
* German
* History
* Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
* Leisure and Tourism (Double Award)
* Media Studies
* Music
* Philosophy and Ethics
* Physical Education
* Religious Studies
* Social Science
* Spanish
* Statistics

Uncommon subjects

* Additional Mathematics
* Dance
* Economics
* Expressive Arts
* Geology
* Health and Social Care (Double Award)
* Humanities
* Irish
* Italian
* Latin
* Welsh
* Welsh Second Language

Rare subjects

* Applied Art and Design (Double Award)
* Applied Business (Double Award)
* Arabic
* Archaeology
* Biblical Hebrew
* Business and Communication Systems
* Business Studies and Economics
* Chinese (Mandarin or Cantonese)
* Classical Greek
* Classical Civilisation
* Dutch
* Gujarati
* Japanese
* Jewish Studies
* Law
* Manufacturing (Double Award)
* Modern Greek
* Moving Arts
* Persian
* Photography
* Psychology
* Rural Science
* Russian
* Sociology
* Turkish
* Urdu

See also

* A Levels
* IGCSE

External links

*A-level & GCSE Grades Analyser Website
* The Guardian, 25 August 2005, "It really is that bad" - GCSE standards
* The Guardian, 3 September 2005, independent school to ditch GCSE science"

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.
* BBC GCSE Bitesize
* SAM Learning
* S-Cool.co.uk
* Skoool.com

Examination boards

* Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA)
* Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA)
* Edexcel Limited
* Oxford Cambridge and RSA Examinations (OCR)
* Welsh Joint Education Committee (WJEC)

UK government education bodies

* Department for Education and Skills (DfES)
* Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA)
* National Assessment Agency (NAA)