Talk:General Certificate of Education

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AS levels introduced 1999, not 1989.

  • I left school in 1998 and we had AS-levels. Epbr123 19:40, 15 April 2007 (UTC)

AS levels existed before then - they were around when I was at school in the 1970s. However, they were something different, essentially an extension to the A level for the brighter pupil, and typically taken by those aspiring to Oxbridge.Cliff 17:57, 20 June 2007 (UTC)


Contents

[edit] Pass Grades

This whole grade discussion needs to be decided and incorporated into the article. I can't, as I'm from US and we never had anything like it (unless you want to include the SATs that some college-bound seniors could take), but I've been intrigued by the system for the last 13 years with no real information. I don't think O (outstanding), E (exceeds expectation), A (acceptable), P (poor), D (dreadful) and T (Troll) would suffice in a discussion of the real grades for the UK students (and others). 76.2.229.233 (talk) 19:01, 20 February 2008 (UTC)


I am pretty sure that in the 50's/60's that you either passed or failed the 'O' level exam. I think that gradings were introduced in the 70's, C Grade being the old pass mark. Anybody able to confirm this? One B, Two C's, Two D's, and Two "Pass" Equivalents (and what is the point of that?) 11:23, 3 April 2007 (UTC)

From Fivish: I passed 7 'O' levels in 1969. I got 4 A's, 2 C's and an E. Curiously, there was no B or D, and F was a fail. The two 'O' levels for which I got C's I also took the CSE and got level 2. So theres the comparison: C = 2. But I dont think any employer ever cared about CSE's, they were worthless. Now the GCSE combines the GCE and CSE usually by providing a higher and lower paper, so they neednt have bothered combining them as in reality they didnt! The lower paper has an upper limit of a grade C even if you get 100%. This is not widely known.

I think it may have depended on what board. (Note the lack of discussion of boards is an omission in this article). I did University of London and I am fairly sure they changed around 1975 from A C E | F u to A B C | D E u.
Little u was unclassified and meant it did not go on your certificate.
Mentioning boards, that still exists today with the difference between EdExel and the others.
All OR but... Spenny 21:25, 9 October 2007 (UTC)


When I took my O levels in the early 1970s, grade 1 to 6 were passes, with grades 7 to 9 as failures. There was also a U grade. CSE grade 1 was supposed to be equivalent to a GCE pass but the claim was certainly tenuous. I was forced by my school to do CSE chemistry (in which I got a grade 1, which was just as well because I went on to do A level in chemistry) and it was truly pathetic. They were certainly worthless - much like a GCSE at grade D today.

My form was asked to do the next year's paper as some kind of moderation/planning exercise. CSE papers had an quarter hour reading-only period at the beginning of the exam, followed by the 90 minute paper when writing could be done. In this 15 minute period (since I was sat at the back and didn't want to waste too much time) I completed the whole paper. I handed it in immediately the invigilator said "you can start now" and walked out (and I was pretty sure I had got over 95%). I'll never forget the look on his face as he sat down to look at what I'd done. That's how easy they were for an O level standard pupil.

This article makes no mention of GCE AO levels, which are still in use today. My son took additional maths AO last year, in the fifth form, after passing GCSE maths in his fourth form. His school mandates an A at AO level if a pupil wishes to go on and take double maths A level. AOs were around in the 1970s - I took French Literature AO after passing French O level a year early (we had to read novels and short stories in French and then write essays on them). It was said to be an A level paper marked at O level standard and was effectively intermediate between O levels and A levels.Cliff 18:00, 20 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Pass grades and AS

O level grades in the mid 60s were A - E, then O, all passes. Then F fail. That was in 1967 In 1968, the grades changed to A, C, and E, passes. and F fail. I'm sure of that change because I took english and maths in 67 and a load of others in 68 and the grading system was different between the two sittings. After that they went to A, B, C, passes. I'm not sure which year. I suspect that this was a preparation for the current situation where most people who sit the exam get given a certificate. Currently there are A - E, passes, but everyone distinguishes between and A - C pass and a D or E pass. F is still a fail but very few do that badly.

AS did not exist back in the 60s / 70s. There were S levels which were A level extensions but you were only allowed to take one of them. Yes they were used to get into the better universities and were often taken in the Upper 6th, i.e. third year in the 6th form.

Would it be worth mentioning the British Council in the article? In Sri Lankha(Colombo) and Cyprus, the majority of entries are given a British Council centre number (at least for Edexcel) rather than being sent from individual schools. I'm new to this, so I don't want to jump in and make a large change just yet, any thoughts? Pan narrans 23:58, 11 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Bangladesh

is still part of the Indian subcontinent. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.67.41.63 (talk) 23:24, August 27, 2007 (UTC)


[edit] Bad Terminology

"which was used in Britain" - shouldn't it be changed to "used to be at Ordinary and Advanced level in the UK", or deleted altogether, because GCEs still exist in the UK as AS and A2. Amlder20 12:56, 26 September 2007 (UTC)

Was GCE O level used in Scotland? Northern Ireland? I profess ignorance of this but I thought it was mainly an England and Wales thing. --TS 15:05, 21 February 2008 (UTC)