GCSE

General Certificate of Secondary Education
	A mock-up of an English Language exam paper's front page
Acronym	GCSE
Type	Prerequisite to a school leaving certificate
Knowledge / skills tested	Varies depending on subject, but in almost all GCSE subjects general knowledge, fundamental writing and numerical skills are tested.
Year started	1988
Score / grade range	England: Grades from 9 to 1, with 9 being the highest; Wales: Grades from A* to G, with A* being the highest; Northern Ireland: Grades from A* to G, with A* being the highest. There is also a C* grade;
Restrictions on attempts	All units for a single subject must be taken in one examination series. Only the first attempt of a student is recorded for school league table purposes, but students may take a subject as many times as they like.
Countries / regions	England, Wales and Northern Ireland
Languages	English, Irish and Welsh
Fee	Free to students in schools. Resits and private entries incur variable fees.
	^a Irish-medium exams are only available in Northern Ireland, from the CCEA exam board. ^b Welsh-medium exams are only available in Wales, from the WJEC exam board.

The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of particular subjects, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, having been introduced in September 1986, and its first exams sat in 1988. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. However, private schools in Scotland often choose to follow the GCSE system in England.

Each GCSE qualification is offered in a specific school subject provided by several examination boards, such as English literature, English language, mathematics, science, history, geography, art and design, design and technology, business studies, classical civilisation, drama, music, foreign languages, etc.

The Department for Education has drawn up a list of preferred subjects known as the English Baccalaureate for England on the results in eight GCSEs which includes both English language and English literature, mathematics, three of the four sciences (physics, chemistry, biology, computer science), geography or history, and an ancient or modern foreign language.

Studies for GCSE examinations take place over a period of two or three academic years (depending upon the subject, school, and exam board), starting in Year 9 or Year 10 for the majority of students, with examinations being sat at the end of Year 11 in England and Wales.

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