The General Certificate of Education (GCE) is an academic qualification that examination boards in the United Kingdom and a few of the former British colonies or Commonwealth countries, notably Sri Lanka and Singapore, confer to students. The GCE traditionally comprised two levels: the Ordinary Level (O Level) and the Advanced Level (A Level). More recently examination boards also offer an intermediate third GCE level, the Advanced Subsidiary Level (AS Level) replacing the earlier Advanced Supplementary level.

History[link]

The GCE was originally introduced in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in 1951, replacing the older School Certificate (SC) and Higher School Certificate (HSC). It was intended to cater for the increased range of subjects available to pupils since the raising of the school leaving age from 14 to 15 in 1947. The examinations were graded into ordinary levels for the top 25% academically of 16-year-olds and CSE for the lower level. A Levels were the subsequent examination for those who studied for a further two years after O-Levels or CSE's. There was also an advanced ordinary level (AO-level), which was at a higher standard than O-Levels but designed for more mature candidates. These were often in addition to O-Levels in subjects that the student was particularly adept at. A higher special paper (Special Paper S-level) was available to A-Level candidates who showed particular prowess in a subject, scoring a distinction in this paper meant that the candidate was in the top 0.1% of the year group. In 1988, GCE O-Levels were phased out in state schools in favour of the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE). GCE A-Levels were retained.

Grades were originally numbers 1 to 9, with 1 to 6 considered pass grades. However, later, letters were brought in, similar to those adopted later for GCSEs.

GCE O-Level is still available and is an alternative to the GCSE exam which was introduced in the late 1980's to replace the CSE (certificate of secondary education).

Worldwide use[link]

Hong Kong[link]

In Hong Kong, students who wish to attend university in the United Kingdom usually take part in the British examinations in addition to Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination (HKCEE) and Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination (HKALE), despite the equivalent gradings granted by UK universities between the two sets of examinations, for students tend to attain better grades in the British examination. The English Schools Foundation in Hong Kong runs schools that follow the British patterned education, and students take GCSE in Years 10–11 and AS/A Level exams in Years 12–13, although the schools are transitioning to the IB Diploma.

India[link]

In India, A-Levels are becoming more and more popular, compared to the traditional 10 +2's which work instead of the A-Levels.^{[citation needed]} The main reason for the increasing popularity of A-Levels in developing countries is the emigrating youth to Western European and North American countries^{[citation needed]}.

Malaysia[link]

Up to 1978, GCE examinations in Malaysia were conducted by the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate, when two agencies of the Malaysian Ministry of Education took over the role with UCLES retaining an advisory role on standards.

The GCE O-Level equivalent is the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM, formerly known in English as the Malaysian Certificate of Education (MCE)), conducted by the Lembaga Peperiksaan Malaysia (LPM, the Malaysian Examinations Syndicate). The SPM is taken by all fifth-year secondary school students in Malaysia. The SPM English Language paper is graded separately by the LPM and by UCLES (which still awards a GCE O-Level for the paper), and both grades are displayed on the results slip.

The GCE A-Level equivalent is the Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM, formerly know in English as the Malaysian Higher School Certificate (HSC)), conducted by the Majlis Peperiksaan Malaysia (MPM, the Malaysian Examinations Council). The STPM is taken by students after a two-year sixth form course. The STPM is accepted for admission to universities worldwide.

Pakistan[link]

Pakistan also runs the GCE education level. Some of Pakistan's top schools offers this course. A Pakistani student currently holds the world record for attaining the highest number of "A's" in A-Level. Ali Moeen Nawazish scored 21 A's in GCE Advanced Level. Another student, Syed Zohaib Asad holds the current world record for 28A's in GCE Ordinary Level. Sitara Brooj Akbar holds the world record for being the youngest passing 4 subjects in GCE ordinary level examinations, she passed them in the ages of 9 to 11.

Singapore[link]

Students take the O-Levels after completing Secondary 4 at age 16 for the Special and Express streams, or Secondary 5 at age 17 for the Normal streams. After that, they have the option to go on to a junior college for two years in preparation for the A-Levels or study a vocational trade and earn a diploma at a polytechnic or technical school. Increasingly, students who perform well in school are given the option to bypass the O-levels and take the A-Levels, in a scheme dubbed the integrated programme (also known as the through-train programme).

Sri Lanka[link]

In Sri Lanka GCE Ordinary Level and GCE Advanced Level examinations are conducted by the Department of Examinations of the Government of Sri Lanka. The GCE(O/L) is normally conducted in the month of December and GCE (A/L)s are conducted in the month of August. They are conducted on an island-wide examination centres on same time. Examination entrance is restricted by a minimal number of formal school going years and laboratory field work. The majority of candidates enter the exams via their respective schools, while candidates who have finished school education can also apply as a private CLIENTS

The O/L examination is regarded as the qualification examination for starting on GCE(A/L). Specialization streaming is depended on the grades obtained for subjects in the O/L. The country's reputed schools admit students to their A/L, depending on the O/L grades.

The Sri Lankan University Grants commission determines the cut-off points for the selection of students to the Sri Lankan universities according to the grade points obtained in the A/L examinations based on the normal distribution.^[1]

See also[link]

• Certificate of Secondary Education (CSE) 1965-87

References[link]

The Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) is a one-year course in England, Wales and Northern Ireland for undergraduate degree holders that allows them to train to be a teacher.

In addition to the PGCE qualification itself, those taking the course in England or Wales are recommended for either English or Welsh Qualified Teacher Status (QTS), which is required to teach in maintained schools in England and Wales. Those passing PGCEs in Northern Ireland are granted 'eligibility to teach' in Northern Ireland (equivalent to QTS). Though the QTS/eligibility to teach only applies in the Home Nation it was awarded in, applying for QTS/eligibility to teach in either of the other two Nations is a formality and is nearly always awarded to PGCE holders. Furthermore, the PGCE is also widely-recognised in Scotland and the rest of world, allowing holders to easily register as teachers there.

This course includes credits towards a master's degree. In England and Wales only, a PGCE without master's credits was phased in from 2005 to 2007, which is called a Professional Graduate Certificate in Education.

The PGCE was previously also offered in Scotland, but was renamed the Professional Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) from 2005 to 2006 (the exact year depending on the university offering it). It is identical in content to the previous PGCE. Like the PGCE, the PGDE is widely recognised throughout the rest of the United Kingdom and the rest of the world.

Applications for admission to PGCE (and PGDE) courses are handled by a national clearing house, the Graduate Teacher Training Registry (GTTR).

Further and higher education lecturers are not usually required to hold QTS/eligibility to teach. However, many lecturers attend lecturer training courses to gain qualifications such as the Postgraduate Certificate in Education (FE), which is comparable to the regular PGCE.

Course content and structure[link]

The PGCE is a professional qualification normally taught at a university or other higher education institution, with much of the course time spent on placements in local schools. A trainee teacher will have to meet the Standards for Qualified Teacher Status and any course specific requirements to be awarded the PGCE. In England only, a trainee teacher also has to pass the QTS Skills Tests in literacy and numeracy. As of April 1st 2012, the ICT skills test was removed as a compulsary skill necessary to gaining QTS, in accordance with changes in legislation. The training provider will then recommend the trainee teacher for QTS to the relevant General Teaching Council:

• General Teaching Council for England
• General Teaching Council for Wales

or eligibility to teach to the:

• General Teaching Council for Northern Ieland

After gaining QTS, the candidate becomes a Newly Qualified Teacher (NQT) and embarks on an induction programme in their first post.

Equivalence[link]

A recent review of the equivalence of qualifications in Scotland declared the PGCE to be equivalent to a postgraduate diploma (which in turn is equivalent to the taught element of a master's degree). This left the PGCE with a rather inappropriate name as a postgraduate certificate is a lower level than the postgraduate diploma, requiring only half the amount of work. As a result, the PGCE in Scotland were renamed to Professional Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE).

From 2005 to 2007, most universities attached credits towards a master's degree to their PGCEs. PGCEs that do not carry master's credits are now known as Professional Graduate Certificate in Education.

The PGCE sits on the Master's Level of the Framework for Higher Education Qualifications, while the Professional Certificate in Education sits a level lower on the Honour's Level.

Technically, the PGCE is a non-degree qualification (as it is directly related to a career, it is considered vocational) that does not grant any postnominals, though this is often ignored.

Fees[link]

This section is outdated. Please update this section to reflect recent events or newly available information. Please see the talk page for more information. (April 2011)

Students on PGCE courses in England and Wales now have to pay tuition fees of £3290 (September 2010) and are usually eligible to apply for a Student Tuition Fee Loan from the Student Loan Company (SLC). Students from England are also eligible to apply for a means-tested (and non-returnable) Maintenance Grant of up to £2,906 to cover part of the fee costs.^[1] They receive a training bursary in monthly instalments over the course of the year. Until 2011, for most subjects the bursary amount was £6,000, but for shortage subjects in secondary schools, such as mathematics, sciences and design & technology, the bursary was £9,000. For primary PGCEs the bursary was £4000. In addition, secondary school teachers of shortage subjects formerly received a golden hello after successfully completing their induction period. This can be up to £2500 for English, religious education, modern foreign languages, design & technology and music, and up to £5000 for mathematics and sciences. Students in Scotland and Northern Ireland still do not pay any fees, but do not receive a bursary. There are also other financial incentives for teachers once qualified.

Independent schools[link]

Teachers in independent schools in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are not required to hold any particular qualifications, although most schools now prefer applicants to have a PGCE, especially younger people going into teaching as a first career. This flexibility does allow them to occasionally hire older people who have practical experience, such as appointing ex-engineers as mathematics or physics teachers, or appointing people with high-level postgraduate qualifications but no formal teacher-training.

Other qualifications[link]

The PGCE is the main postgraduate route for teacher training in England, Wales, but there are a number of other ways to gain QTS. See Qualified Teacher Status#Routes to QTS.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Graduate Teacher Training Registry
• Training and Development Agency for Schools (England)

v t e Education schools in the United Kingdom Postgraduate Certificate in Education Professional Graduate Diploma in Education Graduate Teacher Programme England University of Bedfordshire Faculty of Education and Sport Brunel University School of Sport and Education University of Chester Faculty of Education and Children's Services Institute of Education National College for School Leadership University of Plymouth Faculty of Education University of Southampton School of Education School of Education (UWE) Northern Ireland   Scotland Moray House School of Education University of Strathclyde Faculty of Education Wales   Category

The tractate Of Education was published in 1644, first appearing anonymously as a single eight-page quarto sheet (Ainsworth 6). Presented as a letter written in response to a request from the Puritan educational reformer Samuel Hartlib, it represents John Milton's most comprehensive statement on educational reform (Viswanathan 352), and gives voice to his views “concerning the best and noblest way of education” (Milton 63). As outlined in the tractate, education carried for Milton a dual objective: one public, to “fit a man to perform justly, skillfully, and magnanimously all the offices, both private and public, of peace and war” (55); and the other private, to “repair the ruins of our first parents by regaining to know God aright, and out of that knowledge to love Him, to be like Him, as we may the nearest by possessing our soul of true virtue” (52).

Influences[link]

The influences at work in the tractate are an interesting blend of Renaissance humanism with its emphasis on the via activa, tempered by the more contemplative medieval concern with personal redemption. It is clear, however, that the overwhelming thrust of Milton’s educational programme as outlined in the tractate is centred in the public objective. This is likely a reaction to the scholasticism that dominated the medieval university from the twelfth century, which still held sway in Milton’s time (Ainsworth 25).

Important individual influences on Milton’s tractate include Spanish educator Juan Luis Vives (1492-1540) and Moravian educator John Comenius (1592-1670). Both Vives and Comenius rejected the dialectical approach in education in favour of empirical observation and “the study of things rather than words, nature rather than books” (Lewalski 204). In an interesting fusion of empiricism and morality, both educators promoted the idea that the study of nature was instrumental to the formation of moral character (Viswanathan 352).

Milton’s educational views[link]

Medieval education[link]

The objective of medieval education was an overtly religious one, primarily concerned with uncovering transcendental truths that would lead a person back to God through a life of moral and religious choice (Kreeft 15). The vehicle by which these truths were uncovered was dialectic:

To the medieval mind, debate was a fine art, a serious science, and a fascinating entertainment, much more than it is to the modern mind, because the medievals believed, like Socrates, that dialectic could uncover truth. Thus a ‘scholastic disputation’ was not a personal contest in cleverness, nor was it ‘sharing opinions’; it was a shared journey of discovery (Kreeft 14-15).

The learners in the Middle Ages were the clerics who comprised the literate segment of medieval society and who were responsible for the production, transmission and exposition of scholarly texts, both sacred and classical (Hanning 594). Their ‘shared journey of discovery’ had become, by Milton’s time, an academic exercise so divorced from the practical realities of life as to render medieval education repulsive to Renaissance humanists in general, and to Milton in particular, for whom “the scholastic grossness of barbarous ages” did little more than immerse students in “unquiet deeps of controversy”, leaving them with “ragged notions and babblements” and “such things chiefly as were better unlearned” (Milton 54; hereafter cited by page number alone). Milton dismissed the medieval curriculum which produced such scholars as the “scragged and thorny lectures of monkish and miserable sophistry” (Lewalski 208), and sought to liberate it from the scholastic yoke from which he believed it desperately needed rescuing.

The Medieval curriculum[link]

The medieval curriculum was characterized throughout by a preoccupation with the speculative. It began with the trivium, which included the study of grammar, rhetoric and dialectic. Grammar instruction dominated the early years of a student’s education, where the focus, as Witt explains, was exclusively linguistic: “…in a school program where the student aimed at perfecting a prose style largely divorced from classical precedents, the emphasis in teaching grammar fell on providing instruction more in the mechanics of the language than in ancient literature” (26). The trivium laid the groundwork for the quadrivium, which turned its attention to the theoretical in the world of number, including the study of arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy. These two foundational programmes prepared the medieval university student for the study of philosophy and theology with its heavy emphasis on dialectical reasoning.

Milton’s proposed curriculum[link]

Milton is clear in the tractate about the “many mistakes” that encumbered the medieval curriculum, which he censures as making “learning generally so unpleasing and unsuccessful” (53) in his time. His first target is the instruction of grammar. Milton is critical both of the amount of time spent on it as well as its mechanical emphasis: “we do amiss to spend seven or eight years merely in scraping together so much miserable Latin and Greek as might be learned otherwise easily and delightfully in one year” (53). Progress, in his view, is delayed by unnecessarily “forcing the empty wits of children to compose theme, verses, and orations” (53); instead, he proposes that after some foundational grammatical instruction, students should “be won early to the love of virtue” by having “some easy and delightful book of education” from among the ancient classics read to them (56). The objective is not simply to teach grammar, but to “inflame [students] with the study of learning” (56). This, for Milton, was best accomplished through the reading of great literature.

After grammar, Milton takes up the cause of curricular sequence. He derides the medieval practice of “present[ing] their young unmatriculated novices, at first coming, with the most intellective abstractions of logic and metaphysics” after having only recently left “those grammatic flats and shallows where they stuck unreasonably to learn a few words with lamentable construction” (54). Instead, he proposes “beginning with arts most easy”; that is to say, those “most obvious to the sense” (54). His method, as Riggs notes, is an inductive one, starting with the study of “sensible things” (52), and progressing to “things invisible” only after mastering the former (Riggs 450). This move effectively inverts the deductive method common in medieval education. The “organic arts” of rhetoric and logic therefore find a place at the end of Milton’s curriculum, rather than at the beginning (59). Noteworthy too is Milton’s inclusion of poetry amongst the other organic arts: “poetry would be made subsequent, or indeed, rather precedent, as being less subtle and fine, but more simple, sensuous, and passionate” (60).

Milton’s proposed curriculum, encompassing as it does grammar, arithmetic, geometry, religion, agriculture, geography, astronomy, physics, trigonometry, ethics, economics, languages, politics, the law, theology, church history as well as the “organic arts” of poetry, rhetoric and logic, is encyclopedic in scope. His main thrust in the educational enterprise remains, however, on that practical erudition which would serve both the individual in a moral sense and the state in a public sense, equipping people “to be brave men and worthy patriots, dear to God and famous to all ages” (56). This stands in contrast to the contemplative and speculative concerns of medieval education.

Influences from Renaissance humanism[link]

As Ainsworth points out, “Milton, like other genuine humanists, cared little for virtue apart from practice, or for talent without principle” (15). Milton’s desire to marry scholarly pursuits to commitments of a professional and public nature is, as Ainsworth implies, an overriding characteristic of Renaissance humanism (Witt 34). Briefly stated, the humanist educational agenda of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries included “a clearer consciousness, among teachers and students, of education as a discipline for active life”, combined with “an insistence on the more extensive reading of ancient writers both classical and Christian as a means of securing this discipline” and “an attitude of severe and hostile criticism toward medieval education and culture” (Ainsworth 8).

The changing demands of society[link]

The shift in educational concerns evident in the Renaissance was informed by the changing structure of society at this time. The ecclesiastical world of the Middle Ages, which was well served by its clerics, slowly gave way, in the sixteenth century, to a burgeoning bureaucratic world, served by the clerks who oiled the machinery of government, “keeping records, accounts, and correspondence” (Viswanathan 349). A linguistic and salvational emphasis in education was no longer tenable as the Puritans came to demand a general and practical education for their children. Education thus became concerned with “instilling into students a consciousness of themselves as national subjects” where moral concerns were public as well as private (Viswanathan 350). Milton’s tractate fits well into this trajectory in its accommodation of education “to the needs of an age” (Ainsworth 42).

References[link]

• Ainsworth, Morley Oliver, ed. Milton on Education: The Tractate of Education with Supplementary Extracts from Other Writings of Milton. New Haven: Yale UP, 1928.
• Hanning, Robert W. “From Eva and Ave to Eglentyne and Alisoun: Chaucer’s Insight in the Roles Women Play.” Signs 2.3 (Spring, 1977): 580-599.
• Kreeft, Peter. Summa of the Summa. San Francisco: Ignatius P, 1990.
• Lewalski, Barbara K. "Milton and the Hartlib Circle: Educational Projects and Epic Paideia." Literary Milton: Text, Pretext, Context. Eds. Diana Benet and Michael Lieb. Pittsburgh: Duquesne UP, 1994. 202-19.
• Luxon, Thomas H., ed. "Of Education." The Milton Reading Room. March 2002. 4 Nov. 2005[1]
• Milton, John. "Of Education." Milton on Education: The Tractate of Education with Supplementary Extracts from Other Writings of Milton. Ed. Morley Oliver Ainsworth. New Haven: Yale UP, 1928. 51-64.
• Riggs, William G. "Poetry and Method in Milton's Of Education." Studies in Philology 89 (1992): 445-69.
• Tinsley, Barbara Sher. “Johann Sturm’s method for humanistic pedagogy.” Sixteenth century journal 20 (1989): 23-39.
• Viswanathan, Gauri. "Milton, Imperialism, and Education." Modern Language Quarterly: A Journal of Literary History 59 (1998): 345-61.
• Witt, Ronald G. “Medieval ‘Ars dictaminis’ and the beginnings of humanism: a new construction of the problem.” Renaissance Quarterly 35.1 (Spring, 1982): 1-35.

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2007)

Guillaume Lekeu (January 20, 1870 – January 21, 1894) was a Belgian composer of classical music.

Life[link]

Lekeu, who was born in Verviers, Belgium, took his first lessons at the conservatoire in that city. In 1879, his parents moved to Poitiers, France. There, he finished school while he continued his music studies autodidactically. At the age of 15, he composed his first piece.

In 1888, his family settled down in Paris where Lekeu became a student of César Franck. After Franck's death, Vincent d'Indy became his new teacher. He obtained in 1891 a second prize in the Belgian Prix de Rome for his cantata Andromède.

The famous violin virtuoso Eugène Ysaÿe, who had been friendly with Franck, asked Lekeu to write for him a violin sonata. Ysaÿe played this composition for the first time in March 1893, and it remains Lekeu's most popular piece. At the age of 23, Lekeu fell ill with typhoid fever and died in Angers only one day after his 24th birthday. He was buried in a suburb of Verviers.

Compositions[link]

Lekeu composed about 50 works. Several of them have been recorded a number of times, notably the violin sonata. His style shows influences of Franck, Wagner and Beethoven, though he was never a mere imitator of those masters. He used cyclic principles; that is to say, themes in his works will often recur from movement to movement, as they do in a good many of Franck's and d'Indy's compositions. In general, Lekeu is regarded as a highly talented composer who died far too young.

• Works for orchestra
  • Première étude symphonique (1889)
  • Deuxième étude symphonique (1889)
  • Adagio pour quartet d'orchestre (1891)
  • Fantasy on two folktunes from Angers (1892)
  • Introduction and Adagio for brass band (1892)
• Vocal Music
  • Andromède, poème lyrique et symphonique for soloists, choir and orchestra (1891)
  • Chant lyrique for choir and orchestra (1891)
  • songs
• Chamber Music
  • String Quartet in G major (1888)
  • Piano Quartet in B minor (1892/93, completed by d'Indy)
  • Piano Trio in C minor (1890/91)
  • Violin Sonata (1892/93)
  • Cello Sonata in F minor (1888)
  • Piano Sonata in G minor (1891)

Sources[link]

• http://chihiro.net/lekeu/lekeu1.htm

External links[link]

• Free scores by Guillaume Lekeu at the International Music Score Library Project
• Guillaume Lekeu Piano Trio in c minor, Sound-bites & short bio
• Guillaume Lekeu at Find a Grave
• Guillaume Lekeu - El poder de la palabra/© José Antonio Bielsa (Spanish)

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