Pupils sit GCSE exams at age 16 or in Year 11. After that they can finish school and get a job. GCSE stands for General Certificate of Secondary Education. Preparation for the academic qualification usually takes two years and starts in Year 10. GCSE exams are taken in England, Wales and Northern Ireland but not in Scotland.
Pupils are expected to take around nine subjects. Compulsory subjects include English, Maths and Sciences: Biology, Physics, or Chemistry. Pupils also have to do Computing, P.E. and Citizenship. Optional subjects vary from school to school. In most cases, pupils can take at least one subject from the following four groups: Arts, Design and technology, Humanities and Modern foreign languages.
GCSE is given for each subject separately based on the results of the exams. In 2017, the British Ministry for Education introduced a new GCSE grading system. In place of traditional As, Bs, etc, came a numerical system from 9 to 1, where 9 – is a top grade possible.
Those who want to enter university stay on at school or attend college for a two-year A-Level course with A standing for ‘Advanced’. A-levels are studied between the ages of 16-18 in the sixth form and schoolchildren sit these exams in the last year of school – Year 13. They are the most popular route into UK higher education institutions. To enter one of the top UK universities you’ll usually need 3 or 4 good A-Level grades. Most pupils start by choosing four subjects in the first year of the sixth form and later drop one to be left with three A-level subjects. The choice of A-level subjects depends on which universities and which courses in universities children may go to after they finish school.
The number of pupils per class studying for A-levels is smaller, more attention is paid to class participation which means lots of preparation before each lesson and lots of revision. Written assignments are much longer and there is a lot of reading on the subject. In addition to academic study, students develop independent thinking, study skills, team cooperation, research and analysis.
