The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private schools in Scotland may choose to use GCSEs from England.
The General Certificate of Education (GCE) is a subject-specific family of academic qualifications used in awarding bodies in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Crown dependencies and a few Commonwealth countries. For some time, the Scottish education system has been different from those in the other countries of the United Kingdom.
The Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency (QCDA) was a charity, and an executive non-departmental public body (NDPB) of the Department for Education. In England and Northern Ireland, the QCDA maintained and developed the National Curriculum and associated assessments, tests and examinations, advising the minister formerly known as the Secretary of State for Education on these matters.
Education in the United Kingdom is a devolved matter with each of the countries of the United Kingdom having separate systems under separate governments. The UK Government is responsible for England, whilst the Scottish Government, the Welsh Government and the Northern Ireland Executive are responsible for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, respectively.
The education system in Northern Ireland differs from elsewhere in the United Kingdom, but is similar to the Republic of Ireland in sharing in the development of the national school system and serving a similar society with a relatively rural population. A child's age on 1 July determines the point of entry into the relevant stage of education in the region, whereas the relevant date in England and Wales is 1 September.
An examination board is small board organization that sets examinations, is responsible for marking them, and distributes results. Some are run by governmental entities; some are run as not-for-profit organizations.
WJEC, formally the Welsh Joint Education Committee, is an examination board providing examinations, professional development and educational resources to schools and colleges in Wales, England and Northern Ireland under its own name and the Eduqas brand.
The Certificate of Secondary Education (CSE) was a subject-specific qualification family awarded in both academic and vocational fields in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. CSE examinations were held in the years 1965 to 1987. This qualification should not be confused with the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education which is the school leaving qualification in India. Also, in some African and former British colonial countries there is a qualification named the Certificate of Secondary Education based on the original and former British variant. Also, the CSE should not be confused with the African qualification CSEE.
Curriculum 2000 was a reform of A Level examinations in the United Kingdom. It was introduced in September 2000. An A Level under this reform consists of four or six units studied over two years. Normally, two or three units are assessed at the end of the first year, and make up a stand-alone Advanced Subsidiary qualification. Another two or three modules are assessed at the end of the second year, which make up the A2 Level. A2 units do not form a qualification in their own right; the satisfactory completion of the AS and A2 units in the same subject is required to constitute a complete A Level qualification.
This is an article about the grading used below degree level in most of the United Kingdom. The entire United Kingdom does not use the same grading scheme. For a degree level, see British undergraduate degree classification.
The A-Level is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational authorities of British Crown dependencies to students completing secondary or pre-university education. They were introduced in England and Wales in 1951 to replace the Higher School Certificate.
The Associated Examining Board (AEB) was an examination board serving England, Wales and Northern Ireland from 1953 until 2000 when it merged with NEAB to form AQA.
The O-Level is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education. It began in the United Kingdom and has been adopted, often with modifications, in several other countries.
In the United Kingdom, an awarding body is an examination board which sets examinations and awards qualifications, such as GCSEs and A-levels. Additionally, these Awarding Bodies provide professional awards in the form of tertiary level Certificates, Diplomas, Advanced Diplomas, Graduate Diplomas, and Post Graduate Diplomas. There are eight main examination boards in the United Kingdom:
The Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) is a non-ministerial government department that regulates qualifications, exams and tests in England. Colloquially and publicly, Ofqual is often referred to as the exam "watchdog".
Examination boards in the United Kingdom are the examination boards responsible for setting and awarding secondary education level qualifications, such as GCSEs, Standard Grades, A Levels, Highers and vocational qualifications, to students in the United Kingdom.
The General Certificate of Education (GCE) Advanced Level, or A Level, is a main school leaving qualification in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. It is available as an alternative qualification in other countries.
The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) is a community interest company acting as a single voice for the eight largest qualification providers in the United Kingdom offering GCSE, GCE, Scottish Highers and vocationally related qualifications: AQA, CCEA, City & Guilds, Edexcel, NCFE, OCR, SQA and WJEC. The JCQ closely monitors examination administration, invigilation of exams at individual schools and activities of exams officers.
National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) is a statutory body of Indian government set-up under the National Council for Teacher Education Act, 1993 in 1995 is to formally oversee standards, procedures and processes in the Indian education system. This council functions for the central as well as state governments on all matter with regard to the Teacher Education and its secretariat is located in the Department of Teacher Education and National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT). Despite the successful functioning in terms of educational field, it is facing difficulties in ensuring the maintenance of the standards of teacher education and preventing the increase in the number of substandard teacher education institutions in the country.
The General Certificate of Education (GCE) Ordinary Level, also called the O-level or O level, was a subject-based academic qualification. Introduced in 1951 as a replacement for the 16+ School Certificate (SC), the O-level would act as a pathway to the new, more in-depth and academically rigorous A-level, in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Later, the complementary and more vocational Certificate of Secondary Education (CSE) was added to broaden the subjects available and offer qualifications in non-academic subjects.
