General Certificate of Secondary Education

The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academically rigorous, internationally recognised qualification awarded in a specified subject, generally taken in a number of subjects by pupils in secondary education in England, Wales and Northern Ireland over two years (three years in certain schools). One of the main changes to previous educational qualifications in the United Kingdom was to allow pupils to complete coursework during their two years of study, which was marked by their teachers and contributed to their final examination grade. There has been a move recently from doing coursework and modular examinations for part of the course when pupils would take exams throughout the course to an end of year exam after the two years of study (a 'linear' series). The exams are being revised to make them more difficult such as testing skills from a whole text in English instead of part of a text. Coursework has now been replaced by Controlled Assessments in certain subjects, in which the student completes a number of assessed pieces of work which will ultimately count towards their final examination grade in the specified subject. The Controlled Assessment component of the qualification is usually done under exam style conditions. GCSEs being phased in from 2015 generally have little to no coursework/controlled assessment influence on the final grade.

Certificate of Secondary Education

The Certificate of Secondary Education (CSE) was a subject specific qualification family, awarded in both academic and vocational fields in: England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. This qualification should not be confused with the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education which is the school leaving qualification in India. Also, in some African and former British colonial countries (such as, for example, Kenya) there is to this day a qualification named Certificate of Secondary Education based on the original and former British variant. Also, the CSE should not be confused with the African qualification CSEE (Certificate of Secondary Education Examination).

CSE

Was introduced to provide a family of qualifications available to a broader range of schoolchildren and distinct from the GCE (O-Levels), that were aimed at the academically more able pupils, mostly those at grammar and independent school (rather than secondary modern schools). CSE's were available in both academic and vocational subjects, incorporated controlled assessment, in addition to examination and when examined question were typically offered in a shorter and more structured form than those found on an equivalent O-Level paper.

Secondary education

Secondary education normally takes place in secondary schools, taking place after primary education and may be followed by higher education or vocational training. In some countries, only primary or basic education is compulsory, but secondary education is included in compulsory education in most countries. In post-Soviet countries it is also known as general education or general middle education.

Terminology

Secondary schools may be called high schools, gymnasia, lyceums, middle schools, sixth-form, sixth-form colleges, vocational schools, or preparatory schools, and the exact meaning of any of these varies between the countries.

By country

Argentina

The school system is free and mandatory.

Australia

School is compulsory in Australia between the ages of five/six to fifteen/sixteen/seventeen, depending on the state, with, in recent years, over three-quarters of people staying on until their thirteenth year in school. Government schools educate about two-thirds of Australian students, with the other third in independent schools. Government schools are free although most schools charge what are known as "voluntary contributions" or "tax levies", while independent schools, both religious and secular, charge fees as well as levies. Regardless of what whether a school is government or independent, it is required to adhere to the same curriculum frameworks. Most school students, whether in government or independent school, usually wear uniforms, although there are varying expectations and a few school exceptions.

General officer

A general officer is an officer of high rank in the army, and in some nations' air forces or marines.

The term "general" is used in two ways: as the generic title for all grades of general officer and as a specific rank. It originates in the 16th century, as a shortening of captain general, which rank was taken from Middle French capitaine général. The adjective general had been affixed to officer designations since the late medieval period to indicate relative superiority or an extended jurisdiction.

Today, the title of "General" is known in some countries as a four-star rank. However different countries use different systems of stars for senior ranks. It has a NATO code of OF-9 and is the highest rank currently in use in a number of armies.

General officer ranks

The various grades of general officer are at the top of the military rank structure. Lower-ranking officers in land-centric military forces are typically known as field officers or field-grade officers, and below them are company-grade officers.

Certificate

Certificate may refer to:

Computing

Academic qualification