About GCSEs

The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is the principal school-leaving qualification in England. GCSEs are available in more than 45 subjects, and each year approximately 6.5 million GCSE qualifications are awarded. 

In 1986 GCE O level and CSE were merged to form a new, single system of examining post-16 learners. The new qualification was based on general and subject-specific criteria. Examinations became much more inclusive, and many young people were encouraged to study and enter qualifications at the age of 16. The new qualification was the GCSE, and the first examinations of this new qualification took place in 1988.

GCSEs remain the same today, although they are now more widely available to 14–19 students and are often used as an entry requirement for level 3 study. The most recent revisions to GCSEs were introduced in September 2001, with the first qualifications being awarded in the summer of 2003.

In 2001 the government decided to introduce new GCSEs in vocational subjects to give a vocational option to all young people and to promote vocational learning. The new GCSEs are available in eight applied subjects and are double awards (that is twice the size and value of an academic GCSE). The courses became available in September 2002, with the first awards made in the summer of 2004.