GCSEs:General Certificate of Secondary Education

GCSEs stand for: General Certificate of Secondary Education:
The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification awarded in a specified subject, generally taken in a number of subjects by students aged 14–16 in secondary education in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and is equivalent to a Level 2 (A*- C) and Level 1 (D- G) in Key Skills. (In Scotland, the equivalent is the Standard Grade.) Some students may decide to take one or more GCSEs before or afterwards; people may apply for GCSEs at any point either internally through an institution or externally. The education systems of other British territories, such as Gibraltar,[1] and the former British dominion of South Africa, also use the qualifications, as supplied by the same examination boards. The International version of the GCSE is the IGCSE, which can be taken anywhere in the world, and which includes additional options, for example relating to coursework and the language used. When GCSEs are taken by students in secondary education, they can often be combined with other qualifications, such as the Business And Technology Education Council (BTEC), the Diploma in Digital Applications (DiDA), or diplomas.
Education to GCSE level is often required of students who study for the International Baccalaureate or to GCE Advanced Level (A-level). GCSE exams were introduced as the compulsory school-leavers' examinations in the late 1980s (the first exams being taken in the summer of 1988) by the Conservative Party government, replacing the Certificate of Secondary Education (CSE) and GCE Ordinary Level (O-Level) examinations.
History and format:
GCSE Grade     O Level Grade     CSE Grade
    Pre-1975 (numeric)     Pre-1975 (alphabetic)     1975 onwards    
A*/A     1     A     A     1
2     B
B     3     C     B
4
C     5     D     C
6     E
D     7     F     D     2
E     8     G     E     3
F     U (ungraded)     4
G     9     H     5
U (unclassified)     U (ungraded)
Special educational needs:
For students with learning difficulties, an injury/repetitive strain injury (RSI) or a disability, there is help offered in these forms:
* Extra time (the amount depends on the severity of the learning difficulty, such as dyslexia, disability or injury)
* Amanuensis (somebody types or handwrites as the student dictates; this is normally used when the student cannot write due to an injury or disability)
* A word processor (without any spell checking tools) can be used by students who have trouble writing legibly or who are unable to write quickly enough to complete the exam
* A different format exam paper (large print, Braille, printed on coloured paper, etc.)
* A 'reader' (a teacher/exam invigilator can read out the words written on the exam, but they cannot explain their meaning)
* A different room (sometimes due to a disability a student can be placed in a room by themselves; this also happens when an amanuensis is used, so as not to disturb the other candidates).
Subjects:
Core/Compulsory subjects.
* English (students can take one of two 'routes'):
  o Two GCSEs: English Language and English Literature
  o One GCSE: English
* Mathematics
* Welsh or Welsh Second Language (in all schools in Wales)
  o Many Welsh schools offer Welsh Literature along with the language course* Irish in Irish-medium schools in Northern Ireland
Science:
* Science (students can take a number of different 'routes'):
  o One GCSE: Science (which includes elements of biology, chemistry, and physics)
  o Two GCSEs: Science and Additional Science (a more academic course)
  o Two GCSEs: Science and Additional Applied Science (a more vocational course)
  o Two GCSEs: Double Award Applied Science (a very vocational course)
  o Up to three GCSEs: Biology, Chemistry and Physics as separate GCSEs (known as a Triple Award)
Languages:
Modern foreign languages
* Afrikaans
* Arabic
* Bangla
* Chinese (Cantonese or Mandarin)
* Dutch
* French
o Applied French, also known as Business French, a vocational course that aims towards an NVQ
* German
o Applied German, also known as Business German, a vocational course that aims towards an NVQ
* Modern Greek
* Gujarati
* Modern Hebrew
* Hindi
* Irish
* Italian
* Japanese
* Maltese
* Manx
* Panjabi
* Persian
* Polish
* Portuguese
* Russian
* Somali
* Spanish
* Turkish
* Urdu
* Welsh
Classical languages
* Classical Arabic
* Classical Greek
* Biblical Hebrew
* Latin
* Classical Sanskrit
Technology:
* Design and Technology
o Parametric CAD
o Electronic Products
o Electronics with Resistant Materials
o Food Technology
o Graphic Design/Products
o Product Design
o Resistant Materials
o Textiles
o Systems and Control
* Catering
* Electronics
* Engineering
* Engineering and Manufacturing (double award)
* Home Economics
o Food and Nutrition
o Child Development
o Textiles
* Manufacturing
* ICT
* Computing (ICT Functional Skills) (Pilot offered by OCR for first teaching September 2010)
Humanities
* Citizenship
* Classical Civilisation
* Economics
* Geography
* History
  o Modern World
  o Economic and Social
  o Schools History Project
* Humanities
* Religious Studies
  o Buddhism
  o Christianity
  o Hinduism
  o Islam
  o Judaism
  o Philosophy and Ethics
  o Sikhism
 People and society-related subjects
* Business Studies
* Applied Business (double award)
* Business and Economics
* Financial Services (to be withdrawn; last session summer 2010)
* Health and Social Care (double award)
* Hospitality
* Law
* Leisure and Tourism
* Psychology
* Sociology
* Travel and Tourism
 Expressive art
* Animation
* Applied Art and Design (double award)
* Art and Design
* Art and Design: Fine Art
* Art and Design: Graphics
* Art and Design: Photography
* Art and Design: Textiles
* Art and Design: Three-dimensional Design/Studies
* Dance
* Drama
* Digital Photography
* Expressive Arts
* Film Studies
* Media Studies
* Moving Image Arts
* Music
* Performing Arts
 Others
* Accounting
* Archaeology (no longer current)
* Astronomy
* Construction / Construction and the Built Environment
* Environmental Science
* Geology
* General Studies
* Human Physiology and Health
* IFS Personal Finance...
* Journalism
* Learning for Life and Work
* Motor Vehicle and Road User Studies
* Personal and Social Education
* Physical Education (PE)
* Physical Education: Games
* Preparation for Working Life
* Rural and Agricultural Science
* Statistics
GCSEs:
GCSEs are the main qualification taken by 14 to 16 year olds, but are available to anyone who would like to study a subject that interests them. You can take GCSEs in a wide range of academic and 'applied' (work-related) subjects.
GCSEs: what they are:
GCSE stands for General Certificate of Secondary Education. It's highly valued by schools, colleges and employers, so will be useful whatever you are planning to do afterwards.The qualification mainly involves studying the theory of a subject, combined with some investigative work. Some subjects also involve practical work. GCSEs are usually studied full-time at school or college, taking five terms to complete.GCSEs are at levels 1 and 2 on the National Qualifications Framework, depending on the grade you get. The framework shows how different types of qualifications compare, in terms of the demands they place on learners.
Types of GCSEs:
GCSEs are available in more than 40 academic and nine 'applied' subjects. The applied subjects are related to a broad area of work, such as engineering or tourism, and many are double the size of traditional GCSEs.You can also take many GCSEs as short courses. These are equivalent to half a full GCSE, so can be taken in half the time. However, if you learn more slowly than others, you can spread a short course out over the same length as a traditional GCSE.Short courses also allow more able students to take extra subjects, like a second foreign language.