General Certificate of Secondary Education in a British School

GCSE or the General Certificate of Secondary Education in a British School and in Wales, Gibraltar and Northern Ireland is awarded to students between age group 14 and 16, as an academic qualification in a particular subject. Students usually opt to take more than one GCSE and they can apply for it at any point of time externally or through an institution.

GCSE’s international version is IGCSE and this examination can be taken by students from all over the world and includes options related to language and coursework. Students in secondary education in British schools take the GCSE examination to be combined with other qualifications such as Diploma in Digital Applications and Business and Technology Education Council.

Students who opt for the GCE A-Level or for the International Baccalaureate have to necessarily do the GCSE level in UK. In the year 1980, the Conservative Party in fact, introduced the GCSE exams as a compulsory requirement for school leavers. This was in place of GCE ordinary exams and the CSE or Certificate of Secondary Education.

Many different subjects are a part of the GCSE courses offered at the secondary British schools. Students are given the option of choosing subjects. Education in subjects chosen by students start in Year 10 at the age of 15 and examinations are given in Year 11 at the age of 16.

Almost all students studying in British schools take the GCSE examination in science, mathematics and English. Apart from this students are also required to take one technology and design subject, one foreign language, one ICT and one religious education course.

After completion of the course in two year’s time, students receive a grade for each subject. National Qualifications Framework governs the GCSE where level one qualification is awarded for grades D to G and level two qualification for grades A* to C. X grade is awarded to students who have not completed their courses.
CGSE examinations are offered in two tiers for subjects namely the higher tier and the foundation tier. In the foundation tier, students can obtain grades from C to G and in the higher tier, they can obtain grades from A* to D.

Students of British schools who aspire to take A-levels in the Sixth Form or at Further Education colleges must necessarily get at least five A* to C grades including in subjects like Math and English. GCSE offers the choice of completing more than one coursework assignment in certain subjects. 10 to 60% of the final grade is contributed to by the coursework.

GCSE is offered by five examination boards including the AQA or Assessment and Qualifications Alliance, Edexcel, OCR or Oxford, Cambridge and RSA Examinations, CCEA or Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment and WJEC or Welsh Joint Education Committee.
All these boards are self sufficient though governed by the common Qualifications and Curriculum Authority.

Results of the GCSE examinations are published at the end of August, just a week after they publish the A-level results. Students are usually required to collect their results from their schools though certain boards publish results online now.


One of the qualifications offered by British education institutions, Cayman Islands, Cameroon, Wales and Northern Ireland is the A-level or advanced level.