The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of subjects taken in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, having been introduced in September 1986 and its first exams taken in 1988. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. However, private schools in Scotland often choose to follow the English GCSE system.
The Leaving Certificate Examination, commonly referred to as the Leaving Cert or (informally) the Leaving, is the final exam of the Irish secondary school system and the university matriculation examination in Ireland. It takes a minimum of two years' preparation, but an optional Transition Year means that for those students it takes place three years after the Junior Cycle examination. These years are referred to collectively as "The Senior Cycle". Most students taking the examination are aged 16–19; in excess of eighty percent of this group undertake the exam. The Examination is overseen by the State Examinations Commission. The Leaving Certificate Examinations are taken annually by approximately 60,000 students.
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 eleven-plus (11+) is a standardised examination administered to some students in England and Northern Ireland in their last year of primary education, which governs admission to grammar schools and other secondary schools which use academic selection. The name derives from the age group for secondary entry: 11–12 years.
In the Scottish secondary education system, the Higher is one of the national school-leaving certificate exams and university entrance qualifications of the Scottish Qualifications Certificate (SQC) offered by the Scottish Qualifications Authority. It superseded the old Higher Grade on the Scottish Certificate of Education (SCE). Both are normally referred to simply as "Highers".
The Sixth Term Examination Papers in Mathematics, often referred to as STEP, is currently a university admissions test for undergraduate courses with significant mathematical content - most notably for Mathematics at the University of Cambridge. Starting from 2024, STEP will be administered by OCR, replacing CAAT who was responsible for administering STEP in previous years.
The Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination was a standardised examination between 1974 and 2011 after most local students' five-year secondary education, conducted by the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (HKEAA), awarding the Hong Kong Certificate of Education secondary school leaving qualification. The examination has been discontinued in 2012 and its roles are now replaced by the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education as part of educational reforms in Hong Kong. It was considered equivalent to the United Kingdom's GCSE.
The Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination, or more commonly known as the A-level, conducted by the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (HKEAA), was taken by senior students at the end of their matriculation in Hong Kong between 1979 and 2012. It was originally the entrance examination in University of Hong Kong until the introduction of the Joint University Programmes Admissions System (JUPAS) in 1992, which made it the major university entrance examination until academic year 2011/2012.
The Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM), or the Malaysian Certificate of Education, is a national examination sat for by all fifth-form secondary school students in Malaysia. It is the equivalent of the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) of England, Wales and Northern Ireland; the Nationals 4/5 of Scotland; and the GCE Ordinary Level of the Commonwealth of Nations. It is the leaving examination of the eleventh grade of schooling.
The Singapore-Cambridge General Certificate of Education Ordinary Level is a GCE Ordinary Level examination held annually in Singapore and is jointly conducted by the Ministry of Education (MOE), Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board (SEAB) and the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES). Students are graded in the bands ranging from A to F and each band has a respective grade point, a lower grade point indicates poor performance. The number at the end of each grade corresponds to the grade point that they receive. To pass an individual O-Level subject, a student must score at least C6 or above. The highest grade a student can attain is A1.
Kingsdale Foundation School (KFS) is a British mixed secondary school with academy status in West Dulwich, London, with an age range of 11–19 (Year 7 to sixth form). Admissions to the school are coordinated by the Southwark London Borough Council as part of the Pan London Admissions Arrangements. However, many students live in surrounding boroughs, such as Lambeth, Lewisham and Croydon.
In India, board examinations refer to the public examinations that are conducted at the completion of secondary and senior secondary education.
Primary School Achievement Test, also known as Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah, was a national examination taken by all students in Malaysia at the end of their sixth year in primary school before they leave for secondary school. It is prepared and examined by the Malaysian Examinations Syndicate, an agency that constitutes the Ministry of Education.
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 A-level permits students to have potential access to a chosen university they applied to with UCAS points. They could be accepted into it should they meet the requirements of the university.
The Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination (HKDSE) is an examination organised by the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (HKEAA). The HKDSE examination is Hong Kong's university entrance examination, administered at the completion of a three-year senior secondary education, allowing students to gain admissions to undergraduate courses at local universities through JUPAS. Since the implementation of the New Senior Secondary academic structure in 2012, HKDSE replaced the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination and Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination.
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.
The A-level is a main school leaving qualification of the General Certificate of Education in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. It is available as an alternative qualification in other countries, where it is similarly known as an A-Level.
Additional Mathematics is a qualification in mathematics, commonly taken by students in high-school. It features a range of problems set out in a different format and wider content to the standard Mathematics at the same level.
Junior colleges (JC) are pre-university institutions in Singapore that offer two-year pre-university courses that leads to either the Singapore-Cambridge GCE Advanced Level or the International Baccalaureate Diploma. Admission to Junior college is based on the aggregate raw score of 20 points or less in O-Level "L1R5" in the examination. Lower aggregate is considered better, i e. 7 aggregate score is better than aggregate score 10. Bonus points are also deducted from this proscore to come up with the final score for the admission.
The Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) is the main examination to qualify students for admission into secondary and vocational schools in Ghana, and Nigeria. It is written after three years of junior secondary education. It is administered by the Ghana Education Service under the Ministry of Education. In Nigeria, it is administered by the state ministry of education in each state under the supervision of the National Examinations Council (NECO). NECO directly organizes examinations for Unity Schools, Armed Forces Secondary Schools, and other Federal Government schools. Candidates in the third year of junior high schools approved by the Ghana Education Service are eligible for the examination. It is conducted annually in June (Ghana and, May/June.
