The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of particular subjects, 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 Victorian Certificate of Education is one credential available to secondary school students who successfully complete year 11 and 12 in the Australian state of Victoria as well as in some international schools in China, Malaysia, Philippines, Timor-Leste and Vietnam. The VCE is the predominant choice for students wishing to pursue tertiary education. An alternative to VCE is the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL), a vocational based senior secondary school qualification. About 67% of all 19-year-olds in Victoria had completed the VCE in 2020, compared to about 11% of students completing the VCAL. A small number of government secondary schools, and a somewhat larger number of private schools, offer the IB Diploma Programme as an alternative.
Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Southeastern Asian countries with European colonial history, such as Indonesia and the Philippines, although sometimes translations of these phrases are used instead of the Latin originals. The honors distinction should not be confused with the honors degrees offered in some countries, or with honorary degrees.
The International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO) is an annual academic competition for high school students. It is one of the International Science Olympiads. The first IChO was held in Prague, Czechoslovakia, in 1968. The event has been held every year since then, with the exception of 1971. The delegations that attended the first events were mostly countries of the former Eastern bloc and it was not until 1980, the 12th annual International Chemistry Olympiad, that the event was held outside of the bloc in Austria. Up to 4 students for each national team compete around July in both a theoretical and an experimental sections, with about half of the participants being awarded medals.
The United Kingdom Mathematics Trust (UKMT) is a charity founded in 1996 to help with the education of children in mathematics within the UK.
The Advanced Extension Awards are a type of school-leaving qualification in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, usually taken in the final year of schooling, and designed to allow students to "demonstrate their knowledge, understanding and skills to the full". Currently, it is only available for Mathematics and offered by the exam board Edexcel.
The American Mathematics Competitions (AMC) are the first of a series of competitions in secondary school mathematics that determine the United States of America's team for the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO). The selection process takes place over the course of roughly five stages. At the last stage, the US selects six members to form the IMO team. The 1994 US IMO Team is the first of the only two teams ever to achieve a perfect score (all six members earned perfect marks), and is colloquially known as the "dream team".
The South Australian Certificate of Education (SACE) is awarded to students who have successfully completed their senior secondary schooling in the state of South Australia.
The National Merit Scholarship Program is a United States academic scholarship competition for recognition and university scholarships administered by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), a privately funded, not-for-profit organization based in Evanston, Illinois. The program began in 1955.
The International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) is an English language based secondary qualification similar to the GCSE and is recognised in the United Kingdom as being equivalent to the GCSE for the purposes of recognising prior attainment. It was developed by Cambridge Assessment International Education. The examination boards Edexcel, Learning Resource Network (LRN), and Oxford AQA also offer their own versions of International GCSEs. Students normally begin studying the syllabus at the beginning of Year 10 and take the test at the end of Year 11. However, in some international schools, students can begin studying the syllabus at the beginning of Year 9 and take the test at the end of Year 10.
A selective school is a school that admits students on the basis of some sort of selection criteria, usually academic. The term may have different connotations in different systems and is the opposite of a comprehensive school, which accepts all students, regardless of aptitude.
The Australian Mathematics Competition is a mathematics competition run by the Australian Maths Trust for students from year 3 up to year 12 in Australia, and their equivalent grades in other countries. Since its inception in 1976 in the Australian Capital Territory, the participation numbers have increased to around 600,000, with around 100,000 being from outside Australia, making it the world's largest mathematics competition.
The Canadian Open Mathematics Challenge (COMC) is an annual mathematics competition held in Canada during the month of October. This competition is run by the Canadian Mathematical Society. Students who score exceptionally well on this competition are selected to participate in the Canadian Mathematical Olympiad.
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 Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) is the primary criterion for domestic student entry into undergraduate courses in Australian public universities. It was gradually introduced to most states and territories in 2009–10 and has since replaced the Universities Admission Index, Equivalent National Tertiary Entrance Rank, Tertiary Entrance Rank and the Overall Position. It is a percentile ranking between 0.00 and 99.95 which shows the student’s relative position compared to all other students completing their secondary school certificate exams in that year. Though ATARs are calculated independently by each state, their equivalence is checked nationally through the Australasian Conference of Tertiary Admission Centres (ACTAC). Since some students quit studying early or do not qualify for an ATAR, the average ATAR amongst students who achieve one is 70.00. Admission to universities is granted based on the "selection rank" calculated by each university based on its own unique criteria. Selection ranks are a combination of ATAR, additional points based on universities' own criteria used for selecting students such as a "personal statement, a questionnaire, a portfolio of work, an audition, an interview or a test", as well as special considerations. Some universities also provide additional points on the basis of disadvantage such as for rural, Indigenous Australian or financially suffering applicants.
The San Francisco World Spirits Competition was founded in 2001 by Anthony Dias Blue as an off-shoot of the San Francisco International Wine Competition. It assesses hundreds of entrants annually with tastings involving panels of expert judges selected each year from the spirits industry including mixologists, spirits buyers, and media from across the United States. Producers must submit their product for the competition and pay a fee for its evaluation. Not all entries are given awards but most receive a bronze, silver, or gold award from the tasting panel. The fact that most entrants receive an award likely involves some degree of self-selection, as the spirits producers choose whether to enter each of their brands in the competition and pay to receive a rating. Those entrants that are given a unanimous gold medal by the panel are given the distinction of a "double-gold" medal. Additionally, a "best in show" designation is awarded in each main category of spirits.
The World Education Games is a global online event for all schools and students around the world and is held semi annually during the month of October. It is the expanded format of what was once known as World Maths Day but it now includes World Literacy Day and World Science Day too. It is organized by the 3PLearning and sponsored by Microsoft, UNICEF, 3P Learning and MACQUARIE. The World Maths Day holds the 'Guinness World Record' for the Largest Online Maths Competition in 2010. Its Global Ambassador is 'Scott Flansburg' aka the Human Calculator.
The United Kingdom Linguistics Olympiad (UKLO) is a linguistics competition for primary and secondary school students in the United Kingdom. The competition is divided into four levels: Breakthrough, Foundation, Intermediate and Advanced, collectively known as 'Round 1', with the top-scoring 5% of entrants at Advanced level eligible for a follow-on round, called 'Round 2' and selection for participation in the International Linguistics Olympiad, one of the international science olympiads. In 2009, teams from two schools competed in a pilot competition, with the winners taking part in the international contest as guests of the All-Ireland Linguistics Olympiad. In 2010, an independent olympiad was created and has taken place every year since.
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.
The Australian Economics and Business Studies Competition is an annual event aimed to assess students on their knowledge and understanding of economic and business theories. The Competition involves the participation of over 15,000 secondary students from more than 900 schools. The coordination of the Competition is performed by a non-profit organisation, the Organising Committee from the Australian School of Business at the University of New South Wales. The Organisation and its activities are undertaken entirely by students on a voluntary basis with generous support from the University.
