The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification awarded in a specified subject, generally taken in a number of subjects by students aged 14–16 in secondary education in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and is equivalent to a Level 2 (A*- C) and Level 1 (D- G) in Key Skills. (In Scotland, the equivalent is the Standard Grade.) Some students may decide to take one or more GCSEs before or afterwards; people may apply for GCSEs at any point either internally through an institution or externally. The education systems of other British territories, such as Gibraltar, and the former British dominion of South Africa, also use the qualifications, as supplied by the same examination boards. The International version of the GCSE is the IGCSE, which can be taken anywhere in the world, and which includes additional options, for example relating to coursework and the language used. When GCSEs are taken by students in secondary education, they can often be combined with other qualifications, such as the Business And Technology Education Council (BTEC), the Diploma in Digital Applications (DiDA), or diplomas.

Education to GCSE level is often required of students who study for the International Baccalaureate or to GCE Advanced Level (A-level). GCSE exams were introduced as the compulsory school-leavers' examinations in the late 1980s (the first exams being taken in the summer of 1988) by the Conservative Party government, replacing the Certificate of Secondary Education (CSE) and GCE Ordinary Level (O-Level) examinations.

==Structure== In secondary schools, GCSE courses are taken in a variety of subjects, which are usually decided by the students themselves in Year 9 (age 13-14). Typically, study of chosen subjects begins at the start of Year 10 (age 14-15), although some subjects start earlier, for example Maths, English and Science, mainly because these courses are too long to be taught within the traditional 2 years; final examinations are then taken at the end of Year 11 (age 15-16). In Northern Ireland, these age groups are designated as one Year higher, so that Year 9 elsewhere is equivalent to Year 10 in Northern Ireland, and so forth. The number of subjects a student studies at GCSE level can vary. Usually somewhere between eight and ten subjects are studied, though it is not uncommon for more, or fewer, subjects to be studied.

In secondary schools, GCSEs are compulsory in the core subjects and are more common qualification taken by 14–16-year-old students. The only requirement is that in state schools English, mathematics, science, religious education and physical education are studied during Key Stage 4 (the GCSE years of school). In England and Northern Ireland, students following the national curriculum (compulsory in state schools) must also study some form of information communication technology (ICT), and citizenship. In Wales, Welsh (as a first or second language) must also be studied. These subjects do not have to be taught for any examination (or even be discrete lessons), though it is normal for at least English, mathematics and science to be studied to GCSE level.

For the reasons above, virtually all students take GCSEs in English, mathematics and science. In addition, many schools also require that students take English literature, at least one modern foreign language, at least one design and technology subject, religious education (often a short, or 'half', course), and ICT (though increasingly this is the DiDA or OCR National, rather than the GCSE). Students can then fill the remainder of their timetable (normally totalling ten different subjects) with their own choice of subjects (see list below). Short Course GCSEs (worth half a regular GCSE) or other qualifications, such as BTECs, can also be taken.

Grading

At the end of the two-year GCSE course, candidates receive a grade for each subject that they have sat. The pass grades, from highest to lowest, are: ''A*'' (pronounced 'A-star'), ''A'', ''B'', ''C'', ''D'', ''E'', ''F'' and ''G''.

GCSEs are part of the National Qualifications Framework. A GCSE at grades D–G is a Level 1 qualification, while a GCSE at grades A*–C is a Level 2 qualification. As one would expect, GCSEs at A*-C (Level 2) are much more desirable and insisted on by many employers and educational institutions.

Those who fail a course are given a ''U'' (unclassified) and the subject is not included on their certificates.

Students can also receive an ''X'' grade which signifies that they have only completed part of the course or key elements such as coursework are missing and so an appropriate grade cannot be given. A ''Q'' (query) grade means that the clarification is needed by the exam board, whom the school should contact. Both X and Q are normally temporary grades and replaced with a regular grade (A*-G or U) when the situation has been resolved.

Tiers

In many subjects, there are two different 'tiers' of examination offered:

''Higher'', where students can achieve grades A*–D

''Foundation'', where they can achieve grades C–G

If a candidate fails to obtain a Grade G on the Foundation tier or a Grade D on the Higher tier they will fail the course and receive a U. Candidates who narrowly miss a Grade D on the Higher tier, however, are awarded a Grade E. In modular subjects, students may mix and match tiers between units. In non-tiered subjects, such as History, the examination paper allows candidates to achieve any grade. Coursework and controlled assessment also always allows candidates to achieve any grade.

In 2006, GCSE Mathematics changed from a 3-tier system — Foundation grades (D–G), Intermediate (grades B–E) and Higher (grades A*–C) — to the standard 2-tier system — Foundation (grades C–G) and Higher (grades A*–D).

Further education

Receiving five or more A*–C grades, including English and Maths, is often a requirement for taking A-levels in the school sixth form, at a sixth form college or at a further education college after leaving secondary school. Where the choice of A level is a subject taken at GCSE level, it is frequently required that the student has received a GCSE C grade minimum. Most universities typically require a C or better in English and Mathematics, regardless of a student's performance in their A-level or Foundation Degree course after leaving school. Many students who fail to get a C in English and Mathematics will retake their GCSEs in those subjects at a later date. There is now currently no more intermediate level, only higher and foundation.

Coursework

In some subjects, one or more coursework assignments may also be completed. Coursework can contribute to anything from 10–60% of a pupil's final grade, with more practical subjects, such as design and technology (60%), art (60%), ICT (60%) and music (60%), often having a heavier coursework element. The rest of a pupil's grade (normally the majority) is determined by their performance in examinations. These exams may either be terminal exams at the end of Year 11, a series of modular examinations taken throughout the course, or a combination of the two. Pupils can sometimes resit modular examinations later in the course and attempt to improve their grade.

In terms of stress, the upside of coursework is that it can help to ease the stress of examination because students who undertake their coursework with skill and diligence have already achieved around 20% of the marks accounting for their final grade, however the downside is that this means students have a greater workload to complete, sometimes having to produce a large amount of work for a minimal part of the overall grade. For example, in English a student may have to complete 4 pieces of coursework, each over a thousand words long, which individually only account for 5% of the grade. However, this varies between exam boards.

Coursework was usually completed outside of lessons, however concerns about cheating have meant that more and more is now being completed in the classroom, under supervision. For many courses starting in September 2009, including those in Mathematics, Economics, Science and History, a requirement will be that coursework is completed in a controlled environment within schools. Design and Technology subjects also switch to the new, more controlled, environment, with time limits and restrictions on the variety of projects allowed.

CCEA has now replaced Coursework with controlled assessment.

Examination boards

There are now five examination boards offering GCSEs:

Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA)

Oxford, Cambridge and RSA Examinations (OCR)

Edexcel

Welsh Joint Education Committee (WJEC)

Council for the Curriculum, Examinations & Assessment (CCEA)

While all boards are regulated by the Office of the regulator of qualifications (Ofqual) – a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Education – the boards are self-sufficient organisations. Traditionally, there were a larger number of regional exam boards, but changes in legislation allowed schools to use any board before a series of mergers reduced the number to five. The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) acts as a single voice for the awarding bodies, and assists them to create common standards, regulations and guidance.

Results

Students receive the results of their GCSEs in the fourth week of August (the week after A Level results). CCEA publish their results on the Tuesday and the other examination boards publish theirs on the Thursday, however results will be available on a Tuesday from all examination boards from 2010 onwards. Normally, students have to go to their school to collect their results, although Edexcel allow for the option of an online results service whereby results are posted online.

English Baccalaureate

In late 2010 the government announced a new English Baccalaureate certificate would be awarded to students who achieved grades A*-C in English, Mathematics, two Sciences, a Foreign Language and History or Geography. The reason for its introduction was to combat the perceived fall in the number of students studying foreign languages and science. School league tables now take into account the percentage of students awarded this certificate.

Criticism

There is controversy over the discussion that the GCSE system is a dumbing down from the old GCE O-level system (as it took the focus away from the theoretical side of many subjects and taught students about real-world implications and issues relating to ICT and citizenship). In addition, GCSE grades have been rising for many years, which critics attribute to grade inflation. By comparing students scores in the YELLIS ability test with their GCSE results between 1996 and 2006, Robert Coe has noted a general increase in results which ranges from 0.2 (Science) to 0.8 (Maths) of a GCSE grade. Only slightly more than half of students sitting GCSE exams achieve the 5 A* to C grades required for most forms of academic further education.

One of the important differences between O levels (and the earlier grading of A levels) and the later GCSE qualifications was supposed to be a move from norm referenced marking to criterion referenced marking. On a norm referenced grading system fixed percentages of candidates achieve each grade. With criterion referenced grades in theory all candidates who achieve the criteria can achieve the grade. A comparison of a clearly norm referenced assessment such as the NFER CATs test with GCSE grading seems to show an unexpected correlation which challenges the idea that the GCSE is a properly criterion based assessment.

There have been calls from several MPs for GCSEs to be scrapped in favour of a national Diploma . The Department for Education does not look likely to do this at any time in the near future. Sir Mike Tomlinson, former head of Ofsted, also stated that GCSEs ought to be scrapped and replaced with Diplomas in August 2009.

In recent years, concerns about standards has led some public schools to go as far as to remove GCSEs from their curriculum and to take their pupils straight to A-level or the International Baccalaureate. Other public schools, such as Manchester Grammar School are replacing the GCSEs with IGCSEs in which there is an option to do no coursework. The new Science syllabus has led to many public schools switching to the IGCSE Double Award syllabus.

History and format

GCSEs were introduced for teaching in September 1986, and replaced both the GCE O-level (General Certificate of Education, Ordinary Level) and the CSE (Certificate of Secondary Education) qualifications, which suffered problems due to the two-tier nature of the system. Grade C of the GCSE was set at equivalent to O-Level Grade C and CSE Grade 1. Thus the final students to sit the former O-Level/CSE examinations were those of May–June 1987 and the subsequent retakes in September 1987.

The table below shows what each GCSE grade is equivalent to:

!GCSE Grade	O Level Grade	!CSE Grade

Blue background – certificate and qualification awarded.

Red background – no certificate or qualification awarded.

The format of the GCSE has remained basically the same since its inception, though many minor changes have been made.

The A* grade was introduced to distinguish the very top end of achievement in 1994, although the threshold for achieving an A* has varied considerably over time, coming down as low as 47% in a 2005 AQA Business Studies GCSE.

Initially, most exams had two tiers: Higher, offering grades A-E (A*-E from 2002), and Basic, offering Grades F-G. In 1998, the Higher tier was modified to cover grades A*-D, while the Basic tier was renamed Foundation and now covered grades C-G. In 2004, a 'allowed' Grade E was introduced to the Higher tier for candidates narrowly missing a Grade D.

For many years, Maths was an exception, having three tiers: Higher (grades A*–C), Intermediate (grades B–E) and Basic/Foundation (grades D–G). Maths moved to the standard two tier system in 2006 (for the first examination in 2007 or 2008 depending on whether the modular or linear course was taken).

Introduced in 2000 was the Vocational GCSE (VGCSE), which encouraged students to take the work-related route and included courses such as Engineering and Manufacture, Applied Business, ICT, and Leisure and Tourism. From September 2004, the word 'Vocational' was dropped and a Vocational GCSE is now known simply as a GCSE.

Science GCSEs were overhauled in 2006 (for first examination in 2008). The most popular course, Double Award Science GCSE, where students received two identical grades for a course with twice the content as the Single Award Science GCSE, was terminated. Students studying for two Science GCSEs now study the single Science GCSE (known as core science) and then one of two complementary GCSEs: Additional Science GCSE (which has a more academic focus) or Applied Science GCSE (which has a more vocational focus). Candidates now receive separate grades for each of their Science GCSEs.

GCSE examinations in state education are taken officially in the summer, though many schools take mocks beforehand. GCSE examination results are received on a specified date in the summer, and due to this, the examinations are always taken near the end of the academic year (unless in private education). GCSEs are externally-marked examinations, taken between April and July, unless a pupil has specific reasons to be entitled to extension of time.

There were further changes to the English GCSEs from 2010. Instead of the current system where (virtually) all students take English and the vast majority also take English Literature, students will take English Language and English Literature together or just English on its own, which will effectively be a hybrid of the other two GCSEs.

The youngest student to gain a GCSE is home-educated Arran Fernandez, who took GCSE Mathematics in 2001 at the age of five, gaining grade D, the highest available at Foundation Tier at that time. In 2003 he became the youngest ever student to gain an A* grade, also for Mathematics.

Special educational needs

For students with learning difficulties, an injury/repetitive strain injury (RSI) or a disability, there is help offered in these forms:

Extra time (the amount depends on the severity of the learning difficulty, such as dyslexia, disability or injury)

Amanuensis (somebody types or handwrites as the student dictates; this is normally used when the student cannot write due to an injury or disability)

A word processor (without any spell checking tools) can be used by students who have trouble writing legibly or who are unable to write quickly enough to complete the exam

A different format exam paper (large print, Braille, printed on coloured paper, etc.)

A 'reader' (a teacher/exam invigilator can read out the words written on the exam, but they cannot explain their meaning)

A different room (sometimes due to a disability a student can be placed in a room by themselves; this also happens when an amanuensis is used, so as not to disturb the other candidates)

All of the above must be approved by the exam board concerned. There are other forms of help available, but these are the most commonly used.

Students working below GCSE level may take a different qualification altogether in one or more subjects. The Entry Level Certificate, in particular, is designed for this purpose.There are also other qualifications which can be taken such as Btecs at level 1 and above

Subjects

Note: Many of the subjects in this list are not offered by every school.

Core/Compulsory subjects

English (students can take one of two 'routes'):

* Two GCSEs: English Language and English Literature

* One GCSE: English

Mathematics

Welsh or Welsh Second Language (in all schools in Wales)

* Many Welsh schools offer Welsh Literature along with the language course

Irish in Irish-medium schools in Northern Ireland

Science

Science (students can take a number of different 'routes'):

* One GCSE: Science (which includes elements of biology, chemistry, and physics)

* Two GCSEs: Science and Additional Science (a more academic course)

* Two GCSEs: Science and Additional Applied Science (a more vocational course)

* Two GCSEs: Double Award Applied Science (a very vocational course)

* Up to three GCSEs: Biology, Chemistry and Physics as separate GCSEs (known as a Triple Award)

Languages

Modern foreign languages

Afrikaans

Arabic

Bangla

Chinese (Cantonese or Mandarin)

Dutch

French

* Applied French, also known as Business French, a vocational course that aims towards an NVQ

German

* Applied German, also known as Business German, a vocational course that aims towards an NVQ

Modern Greek

Gujarati

Modern Hebrew

Hindi

Irish

Italian

Japanese

Maltese

Manx

Panjabi

Persian

Polish

Portuguese

Russian

Somali

Spanish

Turkish

Urdu

Welsh

Classical languages

Classical Arabic

Classical Greek

Biblical Hebrew

Latin

Classical Sanskrit

Technology

Design and Technology

*Parametric CAD

* Electronic Products

* Electronics with Resistant Materials

* Food Technology

* Graphic Design/Products

* Product Design

* Resistant Materials

* Textiles

* Systems and Control

Catering

Electronics

Engineering

Engineering and Manufacturing (double award)

Home Economics

* Food and Nutrition

* Child Development

* Textiles

Manufacturing

ICT

Computing (ICT Functional Skills) (Pilot offered by OCR for first teaching September 2010)

Humanities

Citizenship

Classical Civilisation

Economics

Geography

History

* Modern World

* Economic and Social

* Schools History Project

Humanities

Religious Studies

* Buddhism

* Christianity

* Hinduism

* Islam

* Judaism

* Philosophy and Ethics

* Sikhism

People and society-related subjects

Business Studies

Applied Business (double award)

Business and Economics

Financial Services ''(to be withdrawn; last session summer 2010)''

Health and Social Care (double award)

Hospitality

Law

Leisure and Tourism

Psychology

Sociology

Travel and Tourism

Expressive arts

Animation

Applied Art and Design (double award)

Art and Design

Art and Design: Fine Art

Art and Design: Graphics

Art and Design: Photography

Art and Design: Textiles

Art and Design: Three-dimensional Design/Studies

Dance

Drama

Digital Photography

Expressive Arts

Film Studies

Media Studies

Moving Image Arts

Music

Performing Arts

Others

Accounting

Archaeology ''(no longer current)''

Astronomy

Construction / Construction and the Built Environment

Environmental Science

Geology

General Studies

Human Physiology and Health

IFS Personal Finance...

Journalism

Learning for Life and Work

Motor Vehicle and Road User Studies

Personal and Social Education

Physical Education (PE)

Physical Education: Games

Preparation for Working Life

Rural and Agricultural Science

Statistics

See also

GCE Advanced Level in the United Kingdom. Commonly referred to as "A-Levels", these are the next set of exams that students take.

References

Notes

''The Guardian'', 25 August 2005, "It really is that bad" – GCSE standards

''The Guardian'', 3 September 2005, independent school to ditch GCSE science"

External links

Directgov: GCSEs

GCSE Geography

Category:School qualifications Category:School examinations Category:Standardised tests in the United Kingdom Category:Educational qualifications in the United Kingdom Category:Standardised tests in the Caribbean Category:Educational qualifications in the Caribbean

ca:General Certificate of Secondary Education de:General Certificate of Secondary Education es:Certificado General de Educación Secundaria fa:گواهی عمومی آموزش ثانوی fr:General Certificate of Secondary Education simple:General Certificate of Secondary Education

name	Nick Gibb
honorific-suffix	FCA MP
office	Minister of State for Schools
term start	13 May 2010
primeminister	David Cameron
predecessor	Vernon Coaker
office2	Member of Parliament for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton
term start2	1 May 1997
majority2	13,063 (27.9%)
predecessor2	''Constituency created''
birth date	September 03, 1960
birth place	Amersham, Buckinghamshire, England
nationality	English
party	Conservative
alma mater	Durham University
footnotes	}}

Nicolas John "Nick" Gibb FCA MP (born 3 September 1960) is a British Conservative Party politician. He is the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton. Gibb was appointed Minister of State for Schools in the newly formed Department for Education on 13 May 2010.

Early life

Nick Gibb was born in Amersham, Buckinghamshire and was educated at Bedford Modern School, Maidstone Grammar School, Roundhay School, Leeds, and Thornes House School, Wakefield. He then attended the College of St Hild and St Bede at the University of Durham where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in law in 1981.

In 1982, Gibb joined NatWest as a trainee accountant, before working on Kibbutz Merom Golam in 1983. In 1984 he joined KPMG as a chartered accountant until his election to parliament.

Political career

Gibb worked as an election agent to Cecil Parkinson at the 1987 General Election, and becoming the secretary of the Bethnal Green and Stepney Conservative Association in 1988, becoming its chairman the following year.

Gibb contested Stoke-on-Trent Central at the 1992 General Election but was defeated into second place some 13,420 votes behind the sitting Labour MP Mark Fisher. In 1994, Gibb was selected to contest the 1994 Rotherham by-election, caused by the death of James Boyce, held on 5 May 1994. He finished in third place, 12,263 votes behind the winner Denis MacShane.

Gibb was selected to stand as the Conservative candidate for the newly created West Sussex seat of Bognor Regis and Littlehampton at the 1997 General Election. Gibb won the seat with a majority of 7,321 and has remained the MP there since. He made his maiden speech on 4 July 1997, in which he spoke of the visit of King George V in 1929 to Bognor Regis to take in the sea air, hence the suffix of Regis on the town's name. He recalled also the town of Felpham which was the home of poet William Blake.

Opposition

Shortly after his election, Gibb joined the opposition frontbench of William Hague when he was appointed as the spokesman on trade and industry in 1997, before joining the social security select committee later in the year. The following year, in 1998 he rejoined the frontbench as a spokesman on the treasury, moving back to trade and industry in 1999.

He was briefly a spokesman on environment, transport and the regions following the 2001 General Election but resigned under the leadership of Iain Duncan Smith, reportedly because he was unhappy at his new role. Michael Howard brought him back to the frontbench following the Conservative Party's defeat in the 2005 General Election as a spokesman for Education and Young People. Shortly afterwards, the newly elected Conservative Party Leader, David Cameron, promoted Nick Gibb from within the education team to shadow Minister for Schools.

Government

In the wake of the 2010 general election and the formation of a Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government, Gibb was appointed Minister of State for Schools in the new Department for Education.

Views and controversy

Gibb is a longstanding advocate of synthetic phonics as a method of teaching children to read, and is also a supporter of the motor neurone disease cause, currently being vice-chair of the All Party Motor Neurone Disease Group in parliament.

Just days after being appointed as Minister for Schools in 2010, Gibb was criticised after leaked information suggested he had told officials at the Department of Education that he "would rather have a physics graduate from Oxbridge without a PGCE teaching in a school than a physics graduate from one of the rubbish universities with a PGCE".

Personal life

He is the brother of Robbie Gibb, a former spin doctor who is now editor of the BBC's political programmes, ''The Daily Politics'' and ''Politics Show''.

Publications

''Forgotten Closed Shop: Case for Voluntary Membership of Student Unions'' by Nicholas Gibb and David Neil-Smith, 1985, Cleveland Press ISBN 0-948194-01-4

''Simplifying Taxes'' by Nick Gibb, 1987

''Duty to Repeal'' by Nick Gibb, 1989, Adam Smith Institute ISBN 1-870109-71-6

''Bucking the Market'' by Nick Gibb, 1990

''Maintaining Momentum'' by Nick Gibb, 1992

References

External links

Nick Gibb MP official Conservative Party profile

BBC News – Nick Gibb MP BBC profile

{{s-ttl | title = Member of Parliament for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton | years = 1997 – present }}

Category:1960 births Category:Living people Category:Members of the United Kingdom Parliament for English constituencies Category:Conservative Party (UK) MPs Category:Alumni of Durham University Category:UK MPs 1997–2001 Category:UK MPs 2001–2005 Category:UK MPs 2005–2010 Category:UK MPs 2010– Category:Old Maidstonians Category:People from Amersham

name	Stephen Merchant
birth name	Stephen James Merchant
birth date	November 24, 1974
birth place	Bristol, England
occupation	ActorDirectorWriterRadio presenter Comedian
yearsactive	1998–present
height	6 ft 7 in }}

Stephen James Merchant (born 24 November 1974) is an English writer, director, radio presenter, comedian, and actor. He is best known for his collaborations with Ricky Gervais, as the co-writer and co-director of the popular British sitcom ''The Office,'' as the co-writer, co-director and a co-star of ''Extras'', and as the co-host of ''The Ricky Gervais Show'' in its radio, podcast, audiobook and television-show forms. ''The Ricky Gervais Show'' in radio form has won a bronze Sony Award. He is also due to be appearing in the new TV series ''Life's Too Short''. He voiced the character Wheatley in the popular 2011 video game ''Portal 2''.

Early life

Merchant was born in Bristol, England, the son of Jane Elaine (née Hibbs), a nursery nurse, and Ronald John Merchant, an insurance representative. He attended Hanham High School. As he has described in Xfm London shows and podcasts, Merchant was a very shy child, tending to focus more on school work as opposed to sport. His school yearbook predicted that he would enjoy success. Merchant has also described his relatively normal childhood, which is often contrasted with that of his friend Karl Pilkington. Merchant is a graduate of the University of Warwick, and a former film reviewer on the student radio station, Radio Warwick, where he began his broadcasting career. The station's 1995/96 yearbook tipped him for great things: Members of Merchant's "posse" included film critic James King, Dan Warren, Neil the Maskell and Geraint the Welshman. Recently, a number of tapes of "The Steve Show", recorded at the time, have been rediscovered and are being distributed on various Merchant fansites. He graduated with a first class degree in Film and Literature in 1996.

Career

Pre-2001

Merchant began his career performing stand-up comedy at Bristol's Comedy Box, where, he recalls, "The first week I did really well ...The second week I died on my arse. I realised that stand-up was not that easy after all." He also appeared as a contestant on a 1997 episode of the TV game show ''Blockbusters'' and worked for a short time as a DJ for Radio Caroline.

Merchant met Ricky Gervais for the first time in 1997, when Gervais (then in the position of "Head of Speech" at the London radio station Xfm) hired Merchant as his assistant. (Gervais said later that he had called Merchant for an interview simply because it was the first CV handed to him.) Merchant and Gervais hosted a Saturday afternoon radio show together from January through to August 1998, when both of them left XFM as it was bought by the Capital Radio Group. In the same year, Merchant was a finalist at the Daily Telegraph Open Mic Awards.

Merchant did a total of 7 years on XFM 104.9. The Saturday show never had a large audience; Gervais says "It's a tin pot radio station... It's not even the biggest radio station in the building." Merchant created the features 'Hip Hop Hooray', 'Make Ricky Gervais laugh' and 'Song for the Ladies.'

After leaving XFM, Merchant began a production course at the BBC. As part of his coursework, he enlisted Gervais to perform in a 30-minute short film, "Seedy Boss," which became the earliest inspiration for their sitcom ''The Office''. They collaborated on a sitcom pilot called ''Golden Years'' featuring a manager suffering a mid-life crisis; the pilot aired on Channel 4's ''Comedy Lab'' series in September 1998, but failed to find further success.

2001–03 (''The Office'' and return to XFM)

In summer 2001, BBC Two aired the first series of ''The Office'', co-written and co-directed by Merchant and Gervais and starring the latter as paper sales office manager David Brent; the show initially received low ratings. Beginning in September, Merchant and Gervais returned to Xfm as co-hosts of ''The Ricky Gervais Show'', another Saturday afternoon program, which led to their fruitful relationship with producer Karl Pilkington.

They took a break from the radio show in mid-2002 in order to film the second series of ''The Office'', which aired that autumn; in addition to writing and directing the show, Merchant made a cameo performance in the episode "Charity" as a friend of Gareth Keenan's character known by the name Oggy or Ogmonster. (Merchant's father also appears in multiple episodes as an office handyman named Gordon.) Merchant also directed a sitcom pilot called ''The Last Chancers'', which aired on ''Comedy Lab'' in November 2002 and became a five-part series broadcast in December on E4.

Merchant and Gervais continued to host ''The Ricky Gervais Show'' through 2003, taking another break to film the ''Office'' Christmas special, which aired that December. The radio show went off the air indefinitely in January 2004. During 2004, Merchant appeared in a recurring role as a chef on ''Garth Marenghi's Darkplace'' and in a cameo on ''Green Wing'', and served as a script associate on the Chris Morris and Charlie Brooker sitcom ''Nathan Barley''. The same year, ''The Office'' aired in the U.S to critical acclaim. It went on to win the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy which both Merchant and Gervais accepted.

This was followed in 2005 by a 4th series of the radio show, consisting of six episodes.

US series of ''The Office''

In March 2005, the American version of ''The Office'' premiered, with Merchant and Gervais credited as executive producers. They would later co-write the third-season episode "The Convict", and Merchant would direct the fifth-season episode "Customer Survey".

Podcast series

In December 2005, with sponsorship by ''The Guardian'', Merchant, Gervais and Pilkington began recording a weekly podcast (also called ''The Ricky Gervais Show''). Throughout its first series (through 20 February 2006), the podcast was consistently ranked the most popular in the world, and was certified as the most-downloaded of all time by Guinness World Records. Two more series and three special instalments (the "Podfather Trilogy") were recorded in 2006, with the final episode released on Christmas Eve. In late 2008, they recorded four more podcasts and began a series of audiobooks examining Pilkington's perspective on various subjects.

''Extras''

In July 2005, following a brief return of the XFM radio show (filling in for Adam and Joe), Gervais and Merchant's new sitcom ''Extras'' premiered on BBC2. The series features Merchant in a supporting role as Darren Lamb, the incompetent agent to struggling actor Andy Millman, played by Gervais. Series 2 of ''Extras'' aired in late 2006, followed by a Christmas special in December 2007; all three instalments aired on HBO in the United States. Merchant won a 2006 British Comedy Award for Best TV Actor for his performance as Lamb.

''The Steve Show''

In January 2007, Merchant began hosting his own radio show on BBC 6 Music, airing weekly on Sunday afternoons. Instead of comedy, ''The Steve Show'' focused on music and particularly "new music," defined by Merchant as "music you've not heard before." Many of the songs on the show were suggested by listeners or co-presenters. In addition to Merchant, the show featured several of his friends, including his housemate Dan, his childhood friend Harry, and actor Rufus Gerrard-Wright (who also appeared in an episode of ''Extras''). A spring search for a "she-J" resulted in the addition of former ''Byker Grove'' actor Sammy T. Dobson joining the ensemble. "The Steve Show" aired for four seasons and concluded in May 2009; the presenters continue to contribute to a music blog called the Steve Show Posse.

''Stand-up''

Merchant will begin his first nationwide tour of the UK, ''Hello Ladies...'', in September 2011, with a stop in New York as well.

Other work

Merchant has played small roles in the films ''Hot Fuzz'' (2007), ''Run Fatboy Run'' (2007), and ''The Invention of Lying'' (2009), the latter starring Ricky Gervais. He has a supporting role in the 2009 film ''Tooth Fairy''. On television, Merchant made a cameo appearance in a non-speaking role on the sixth season premiere of ''24''; he also starred as a sports commentator in the unaired pilot ''No Skillz''. Additionally, Merchant provides the voice-over in 2009 advertisements for Barclays and Waterstone's.

In 2009, Merchant and Gervais collaborated on the film ''Cemetery Junction'', set in working-class England in the 1970s. The film was released in April 2010 to generally mixed to positive reviews.

In September 2010, Merchant produced a television show alongside Ricky Gervais starring Karl Pilkington called ''An Idiot Abroad''.

In July 2010, filming finished for the pilot of ''Life's Too Short'', written by Ricky Gervais and Merchant, who will both cameo alongside the show's star, Warwick Davis. In 2011, he lent his voice to the CGI film ''Gnomeo and Juliet'', and had a role in the Farrelly brothers' comedy ''Hall Pass''.

In January 2011, Stephen appeared at the 'Free Fringe Benefit' at the Bloomsbury Theatre, London. A show of stand-up to benefit the Free Fringe at the Edinburgh Comedy Festival, alongside comedians Jeremy Hardy, Michael Legge, Robin Ince, Mitch Benn, Isy Suttie, Bennett Arron, Andy Zaltzman and founder Peter Buckley Hill. He also stated on the recent free podcast ''The Ricky Gervais Guide to...Comic Relief'' that he will be touring his first solo stand up tour later in the year.

On ''Film 2011'''s Questionnaire feature, broadcast on 2 March 2011, Merchant described his favourite film as ''The Apartment'' (1960), his guilty pleasure as ''Con Air'' (1997), the film he cried at as ''The Bridges of Madison County'', and the film he didn't get as ''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy.

Merchant provides the voice of Wheatley in Valve's 2011 video game ''Portal 2'', a role which earned him widespread acclaim among reviewers. While he states his work on the project as "exhausting", Merchant is also "very pleased by the response people have had to it. What I was really pleased by how people seemed to respond to it in the way they do with a movie they've enjoyed, or a TV show they've enjoyed."

Filmography

Film

Year	Film	Role	Notes
2007	''Hot Fuzz''	Peter Ian Staker
2007	''Run Fatboy Run''	Man with Broken Leg
2009	''The Invention of Lying''	Man at the Door
2010		Tracy
2010		Dougie Boden	Also Writer/Director
2010	''Jackboots on Whitehall''	Tom	Voice Only
2010		Holyrood Footman
2011		Gary
2011	''Gnomeo and Juliet''	Paris	Voice Only
2012	''Movie 43''	Donald

Television

Year	Show	Role	Notes
2002	''The Office''	The Ogg Monster	Writer/Director
2004	''Garth Marenghi's Darkplace''	Chef	Episode 2 – Cameo
2004	''Green Wing''	Lab Technician	Episode 6 – Cameo
2005	''Extras''	Darren Lamb	Writer/Director
2010–	''An Idiot Abroad''	Himself
2010–		Himself
2011	''Life's Too Short''	Version Of Himself	Writer/Director
2011	''Ronnie Corbett's Comedy Britain''	Himself	Guest

Game

Year	Game	Role	Notes
2011	''Portal 2''		Voice Only

Awards

!Awarding Body/Event	!Awarded
! BAFTA Awards		* 2002 Situation Comedy Award ''The Office''	* 2003 Situation Comedy Award ''The Office''	* 2004 Situation Comedy Award ''The Office''
! British Comedy Award		* 2006 Best TV Comedy Actor ''Extras''
! Broadcasting Press Guild		* 2002 Best Writer ''The Office''	* 2003 Best Writer ''The Office''
! Emmy		* 2006 Outstanding Comedy Series ''The Office''
! WGA Award		* 2007 Best Comedy Series ''The Office''

Personal life

Merchant spent two years dating digital advertising producer Claire Jones, although their relationship reportedly ended in 2009. Merchant is an atheist.

Appearance

Merchant's considerable height (6ft 7in; 2.01 m) has been a source of humour and teasing throughout his life. He made a cameo appearance in ''The Office'', playing a character nicknamed the Ogg-Monster, whom David Brent called "a big lanky goggle-eyed freak". His height, and also dance moves, have attracted comments from several sources. The ''Daily Mail'' newspaper described him as a "giant albatross hopping on stilts" as he danced in a London pub (although Merchant denied this during an episode of the ''Ricky Gervais Show'', stating that he did not take to the dance floor on that occasion). While discussing what the Daily Mail had said on the show, friend and collaborator Ricky Gervais has likened him to an "upright lizard being given electro-shock treatment" and a "stick insect with glasses" or ''Beaker'' from ''The Muppet Show''. Radio producer and co-host of Merchant, Karl Pilkington, has described his moves as a "bit of weird art" in the past, while British comic and broadcaster Russell Brand has likened him to a "graceful grasshopper". Merchant has commented that he prefers to liken himself to fellow tall man and English football player, Peter Crouch who is also six foot seven inches. Merchant impersonated Crouch in a BBC sketch broadcast as part of the pre-match build-up to England's opening game at the 2006 World Cup.

References

External links

Stephan Merchant's official website

Steve's BBC 6Music site

The Steve Show's post-6Music site

Stephen interviewed on BBC Radio Five Live

6Music homepage

Xfm: Stephen Merchant Biography

RaW: Radio Warwick

''Tall man, taller success story'' – interview in ''The Telegraph'' – 8 August 2005

Interview with Barbara Ellen in The Observer Magazine – 5 November 2006

Radar Online interview – 11 January 2007

An Englishman abroad

Stephen Merchant interview

Stephen Merchant interviewed by Sophie Elmhirst on ''New Statesman''.

Category:1974 births Category:Alumni of the University of Warwick Category:BAFTA winners (people) Category:Emmy Award winners Category:English comedy writers Category:English podcasters Category:English radio DJs Category:English radio personalities Category:English television actors Category:English television directors Category:English television producers Category:English television writers Category:English video game actors Category:English voice actors Category:Living people Category:The Office (U.S. TV series) Category:People from Bristol Category:Writers Guild of America Award winners Category:English stand-up comedians Category:English atheists

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