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| CATEGORIES ABOUT 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 Student s at age of 14-16 in England , Wales , and Northern Ireland (in Scotland , the equivalent is the Standard Grade ). It is usually taken between these ages although some students may have the opportunity to take one or more GCSEs early. The education systems of other British territories, such as Gibraltar and ex-British (influenced) territory South Africa , also use the qualifications as supplied by the same examination boards. The International "version" of GCSE is IGCSE, which can be applied to the whole world and which includes some more options, such as coursework options, language options, etc. When GCSEs are taken in high school, they can often be combined with other certifications such as a GNVQ . STRUCTURE GCSE courses are taken in a variety of subjects, which are usually decided by the students themselves in Year 9 (age 13-14). Study of chosen subjects begins at the start of Year 10 (age 14-15), and final examinations are then taken at the end of Year 11 (age 15-16). 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, (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) or other qualifications, such as BTEC s, 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:
In most subjects, one or more Coursework assignments may also be completed. Coursework can contribute to anything from 20-75% 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.
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 - also known as Triple Award, or separate, Science). There are now five , 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 to 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. 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-tier nature of the system. Grade C of the GCSE was set at equivalent to O Level Grade C and CSE Grade 1. Thus the final students to sit the former O'Level/CSE examinations were those of May-June 1987 and the subsequent retakes in September 1987. 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): The format of the GCSE has been basically the same since its inception, though many minor changes have been made. Initially, there were three tiers for examinations: Higher (grades A-C), Intermediate (grades B-E) and Basic (grades D-G). Basic was renamed to Foundation fairly quickly. 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).
Introduced in 2000 was the Vocational GCSE, which encouraged students to take the work-related route and included courses such as Engineering and Manufacture , 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 now study the single Science GCSE (known as Core Science)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. SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS For students with learning difficulties, an injury/RSI (repetitive strain injury), or a disability there is help offered in these forms:
There are other forms of help available, but these are the most commonly used. CRITICISM Some commentators feel that the GCSE system is a and Maths ), they might be said to in fact, be difficult. In recent years, concern about standards has led some Public Schools to go as far as to remove GCSEs from their curricula and to take their pupils straight to A-level or the International Baccalaureate . Other private schools are replacing the GCSEs with IGCSE s in which 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. Proponents of the GCSE system contend that the exam is just as hard as the old GCE O-level system it replaced and that the recently rising numbers of top grades is due to better teaching and pupils working ever harder. The GCSE's adherents further assert that it enables the ability of the student to be assessed over the duration of the course, through coursework. Opponents of the GCSE argue that coursework offers too much scope for plagiarism and undue help from parents, especially since the advent of the Internet . The coursework system is in the process of being re-structured to stop plagiarism by making all coursework be completed under strict environments inside school Times online "Most coursework for GCSE's to be scrapped" . Opponents cite the view that the former GCE O-levels were designed for students to fail, and hence only the very brightest students passed with A-C grades. They argue that GCSEs have been deliberately structured for students to pass at grade C or above unless students represent the lowest possible denominator of overall applied intelligence outside of the special needs range. However, many would say that in reality a pass grade today is a C rather than the pass grade previously being an E, and that this confuses many outside the education system. LIST OF GCSE SUBJECTS Note: Many of the subjects in this list are not offered by every school. 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. Core subjects
Languages
Technology
Humanities
People and society-related subjects
Expressive arts
Others
SEE ALSO REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS
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.
Examination boards
UK government education bodies
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