GCSE

"GCSE" redirects here. For other uses, see GCSE (disambiguation).

The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) (Welsh: Tystysgrif Gyffredin Addysg Uwchradd (TGAU)) is the name of a set of British qualifications, taken by secondary school students at age 14–16 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Some independent schools in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are now moving away from the GCSE system, instead opting for the coursework-free IGCSE system.

In Scotland GCSEs do not form part of the Scottish National Qualifications, with schools offering opting Standard Grade, Access 3, Intermediate 1 and Intermediate 2 qualifications from the Scottish Qualifications Authority under the separate education system that has always existed there.

Structure

GCSE examinations are taken in a variety of subjects, which are usually decided by the student themselves between the ages of 13 and 14 (in Year 9), study of chosen subjects begins between the ages of 14 and 15 (year 10) and exams are then taken between 15 and 16 (year 11).

There is a requirement that all students study English language, Mathematics and Science during Key Stage 4 (the GCSE years of school).PE must be taught, but no exam is sat. In England, sometimes a form of ICT and Citizenship must also be studied; in Wales, Welsh must also be studied.

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).

At the end of the two-year GCSE course, each student receives a grade for each subject. These grades ranged from A (best) to G (worst) in the early years of the GCSEs, although the spectrum is now A* to G, with A* being introduced in 1994 to identify the very top-end of attainment. 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.

There were initially three tiers for most examinations: "Basic" (renamed "Foundation"), "Intermediate" and "Higher" tier. Most subjects moved to two or one tier during the 1990s. Mathematics remained an exception, retaining the Intermediate tier, but as of summer 2006 (first exam in 2008), Mathematics will only have two tiers: Foundation and Higher. Students are entered for a certain tier based on their ability. The tier a student is entered for affects the range of grades that student could attain. In most subjects (but, until 2008, not Mathematics), Higher candidates can achieve grades A*-D (with an allowed E if the candidate narrowly misses the D grade boundary), and Foundation can achieve C-G. In Mathematics, the three-tier system means that Higher candiates can attain A*-C, Intermediate B-E and Foundation D-G. Failing to reach a grade within your tier will result in a U (for example a Higher student of Mathematics who fails to reach a C will receive a U, and cannot access D-G).

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 Science), or with Biology, Chemistry, and Physics separately (where 3 GCSEs are awarded, and typically known as Triple Science).

There are now five exam boards offering GCSEs, AQA, Edexcel, OCR 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 smaller 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. Some examining boards offer a "modular" structure for some subjects, alongside the more traditional "linear" structure. In a modular structure, one or more modular examinations which focus on a sub-set of the syllabus are taken at intermediate stages of the course. Modular examinations may be re-taken to attempt to improve results. In addition to modular examinations, a modular structure may also include final or terminal examinations which examine the whole syllabus.

In most subjects, one or more coursework assignments may also be completed. Coursework typically contributes to 20-40% of the final GCSE grade in most subjects, but this varies. In subjects such as Design and Technology, Information and Communication Technology, Art, Music Studies, and Architecture, the proportion of the total mark relying on coursework is 60%. GCSE Music coursework accounts for 60% of the final grade, but in Mathematics or Science, it only accounts for 20%. In ICT, for example, coursework is known to take over 200 hours per student during the two year course, although the media scarcely comments on this. This is due to the more practical nature of the qualification.

This year results are given out on the 24th of August.

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)

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.

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.

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.

Mandatory 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 2007 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
• Certificate in digital application (CEDA)
• 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 (AQA offers it only)
  • Textiles
• Drama
• Engineering (Double Award)
• French
• Geography
• German
• History
• Information and Communication Technology (ICT) (often taken early)
• Leisure and Tourism (Double Award)
• Media Studies
• Music
• Philosophy and Ethics
• Physical Education
• Religious Studies
• Social Science
• Spanish
• Statistics (often taken a year early)

Uncommon subjects

• Additional Mathematics - offered by CCEA in Northern Ireland and is pitched between GCSE and AS-level
• Dance
• Economics
• Expressive Arts
• Geology
• Health and Social Care (Double Award)
• Humanities
• Irish - almost exclusively offered by Catholic schools in Northern Ireland
• 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
• Urdu

See also

• A Levels
• IGCSE

GCSE Examination boards

• AQA
• CCEA
• Edexcel
• OCR
• WJEC

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, "Top 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
• Hotcourses schoolsnet

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)