Questions on the education system in England: GCSE, A Levels, Universities

Factual Questions
1

I’m particularly interested in England, but comments about Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are appreciated as well.

So, today on Twitter, #alevelresults is trending.

From my very basic understanding, a GCSE is similar to an American high school test. Are there specific subjects for the GCSE or is it more similar to the American SAT or ACT, more of a basic knowledge test?

Again from my basic understanding, you would go on to A levels if you did well on the GCSE. It seems like A level tests are subject specific, similar to an AP or SAT achievement test in the USA. Do you attend additional classes for A levels or is it self study?

So, is it just now, on 15 August, that students will learn if they’re admitted to university? This seems awful late in the year. I understand that UK universities don’t really have the same structure as in the USA, you don’t come in and take a bunch of liberal arts classes the first two years. From my understanding, you do well on a subject specific A level and that’s what you’ll study at university and you don’t get to ‘change majors’ if you decide it’s not for you.

Do I have this correct? Thanks for any help. Yes, I have googled but it seems most websites are written that you already know the basics of the system.

Oh, as a bonus, what is clearing?

2

Supplementary question: did GCSEs replace O levels, that I used to read about?

3

GCSEs are subject specific. There is no equivalent of “graduating high school” in the UK - you leave after four, five or six years with a bunch of subject-specific qualifications. You might get GCSEs in English, Maths, Physics, History and French, then go on to do A levels in Maths and Physics if that’s the route you want to take at University.

GCSEs and O Levels ran concurrently for a while, but O Levels no longer exist.

I’m in Scotland, where we have our own system - the equivalent of a GCSE is a National 5.

Yes, you really can find yourself only in August finding out which University you are going to in a few weeks. You will have had a “conditional offer”, based on specific achievement in the exams. This makes it easy for everything to fall into place if that’s what you achieve.

“Clearing” is a system offered by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) which matches up candidates who failed to get admitted to their first choice with Colleges and Universities that will have them. Say you have a conditional offer from a more prestigious University based on a particular result, and you fall a bit short. What you have achieved will probably be good enough to get you in elsewhere, and the “Clearing” system will find that place for you. My boyfriend back when I was an age to be going through all this stuff had everything planned to go to Newcastle University but didn’t get the required qualification. He found himself heading off to University of Ulster instead, with about two weeks notice.

4

Scoug has covered the admissions side, so let me try to explain in a bit more detail how this all works in schools.

GCSEs are normally the culmination of two-three years of class work in a specific subject. They’re normally taken at 16 (and of sophomore year in US terms), but can be taken at any age. They are nationally set and marked by a handful of exam boards, so should be marked consistently across the country. The standard minimum is 5 GCSEs including maths and English, but almost all students take 8-10.

A-levels are again the end of two years’ work in class, and are normally taken at 18. Again, nationally set and marked so theoretically consistent. A normal student takes 3 A-levels, but 4 is common for bright students and a few take even more.

The link between A level subjects and university courses varies. I studied physics at Uni: most courses required A-levels in physics and maths to apply. In other subjects (e.g. theology) the A-level is not normally available, so universities look for good grades in similar subjects (so for theology it might be history or English).

5

I work in university admissions, and am just finishing a 13-hour shift doing Clearing. Clearing’s increasingly popular these days - even with those who meet the conditions of their original offer - as universities will often lower their entry requirements in order to fill vacancies on courses, so budding students can essentially ‘trade up’ and land a place on a more prestigious course, with lower grades than earlier in the year.

This is a risk though, as not all courses will still have vacancies; and a bit of a pain for universities, as it piles more admissions work into the final month before courses start (generally September).

6

In the past O-levels (formally known as GCE Ordinary Level) were supposed to be for the academically able, while CSE’s (Certificate of Secondary Education, a.k.a Certificate of Second-rate Education) were a sort of consolation prize for the less able. We were repeatedly assured that a Grade One CSE pass was fully equal in parity of esteem to a O-Level Grade ‘C’, the equivalent of the Pass grade back when O-Level was still a pass/fail examination, but employers didn’t believe it either.

7

I’m interested in this part of the OP. A few years back I toured Trinity College in Dublin (I know, not England but…) and was told by the student guide that you basically had to decide on you major when you were around 16. When I was 16 I wanted to be a mathematician. Senior year in high school (well into the college admission process) I decided that maybe chemistry would be it. During my freshman year in college I switched to computer science, before switching to electrical engineering sophomore year.

If I had grown up in England would I now be miserable teaching math in some second-rate public school, having made my bed at 16 and then having to sleep in it?

8

You do not have to choose your major at 16, although as you do only 3 or 4 subjects at A level, it is normal to choose either a science track (choose from maths, physics, chemistry, biology, further maths (if that still exists)), or arts subjects.

I did maths, biology and chemistry, thinking I would go into medicine. Instead, I decided on Biochemistry and got a BSc in that. I ended up as a software engineer, though, without having to take any extra courses.

9

Is that now the case with A levels and GCSE? Is there any reason an academically talented student wouldn’t take A levels?

10

There is an argument to be had about whether the A-level route is too narrowly academic and specialised, and whether some pupils would be better off doing advanced technical qualifications (and how to ensure that great British will o’ the wisp “parity of esteem”). Some schools offer the International Baccalaureate, which is a broader, but still academic, programme.

It"s not the case that an A-level in subject X means that you’re tied to subject X at university. Some subjects are “linear” (university degree syllabuses are designed on the assumption that students will have the relevant grounding at A-level), but many aren’t (many of the humanities and social sciences). There are some subjects offered at A-level that university academics in the field would almost prefer their students didn’t have - because they would want them to have experience of other disciplines and modes of thought (Law is a case in point)

11

It’s misleading to call the University topic a ‘major’ in the UK- it’s simply the topic. There’s no ‘minor’ and may well be a fixed set of modules, all directly associated with that topic. Once you have entered University, it may be possible to switch subject within a department- say, zoology to botany, in the first year or so, as many of the modules and skillsets will be similar if not identical, but switching to a different department may mean starting again at the beginning, if it’s allowed at all.

One slightly bewildering aspect of the UK exam system is the system of exam boards. Although the results are pooled together, different boards sometimes have different reputations for difficulty in certain subjects- my school used exams from 3 different boards; some of the subjects may be only offered by one, some are offered by all. There are also, for GCSE, tiered exams in some subjects- so kids may take an exam where the highest possible grade is a 5, while the maximum for the subject as a whole goes up to 9 (number grades replaces letters 2 years ago, it might be 4 instead of 5). This is supposed to make it easier for low achieving kids to get a decent pass, which makes no sense to me.

12

Good answers so far. I thought I’d just answer your specific questions a bit more.

GCSEs aren’t similar to the SAT at all. They’re mostly essay-based, and you take two or three exams per subject, and usually about 10 subjects, plus there might be some coursework. Here’s an example paper for English: http://filestore.aqa.org.uk/sample-papers-and-mark-schemes/2017/november/AQA-87001-QP-NOV17-CR.PDF

Recent changes took away a lot of the coursework elements except for practical subjects like drama, and the grading was changed from A*-G to 9-1, with 9 being the highest grade.

The only similarity to the SAT is that the marking is done blind, so it doesn’t matter where you studied, an A is an A. Well, if you got an A at a rough inner city school you might well be brighter than a kid at an expensive private school, but the exam itself is the exact same thing. So it doesn’t matter if your teachers want to bump your grade up or down, they can’t.

I think the name is a bit confusing; General Certificate of Secondary Education does sound like it’s one single certificate, like a high school diploma. But it’s always plural. “He took his GCSEs this year.”

And yep, they’re the replacement for O levels.

A levels are the exams you take at 18 (usually), like the others said. You don’t attend additional classes or do self-study, they’re what you’re in school to study for. The level is similar to an AP course or slightly higher. Again they’re marked blind. Some A levels, like drama and art, include coursework, but it’s mostly exams.

AS levels (Advanced Supplementary) are, essentially, in between GCSEs and A levels. It’s fairly common to do an extra AS level as well as three or four A levels (this is also in a state of flux but that’s a level of detail you don’t really need). So you might do physics, chemistry and biology if you want to study medicine, with maths or a language or psychology or almost anything, really, as an AS level as well.

There are alternatives, like BTEC awards, usually for more practical subjects. The IBac is another option but very few schools offer it, and you couldn’t, as a pupil, say “I want to do this instead.”

This is how it works in England and Wales. Scotland’s system is completely different.

You don’t choose a single subject specific A level, you do three or, very often these days, 4. The girl at the college was exaggerating a bit. It definitely helps to choose the right A levels for your specific course, but unless you decide to switch from history to medicine, or something like that, it won’t usually be a problem. Then you’d have to take extra A levels, which you can do at any age.

At university you do specialise early on, but if you realise after the first term/semester (some universities have terms, some have semesters), that you’re on the wrong course it’s usually possible to switch paths.

13

There has been some mention of O-levels and GCSE courses.

Most folk these day do not understand the difference, O-levels were a competition whereas GCSE are achievement courses.

What this means is that obtaining a O-Level pass was not just a matter of obtaining a certain score, only a certain percentage were allowed to pass and then those pass grades would also be subject to percentage rules. The idea was to chase excellence rather than just those who simply undertook the course and achieved a particular standard.

In practice it still tended to mean that if you did the work you would pass and if you didn’t then you would fail, but in failing you received absolutely no recognition. In the end the O-level and A-level changed subtly so that they came to resemble achievement course instead of competitive exams. I’m pretty sure this was entirely by design because the GCSE O-level and GCSE A-Level ran in parallel for a short period but it was clear that they were accepted as equivalent to the old O and A levels which were then shelved.

Mos of these changes took place when less than 5% of the population went on to further or Higher education, further education is not the same as higher education. This level of education for the UK population was clearly inadequate for a modern economy so there as a huge effort made to expand advanced education and training.

Nowadays those going on to further and higher are the majority, with close to 50% going on to higher education (education with degrees as their primary outcome)

Around 35% go on to further education (education whose primary outcome will be diplomas or higher vocation qualifications)

These figures are only for school leavers, many adults go on to further and higher - especially for vocation qualifications which are directly related to employment such as apprenticeships, skilled occupational training - all of which can be the lead on to degrees and beyond.

14

GCSEs are subject specific, and taken at age 16. People will take anything from 6-10 different GCSEs, in subjects they would have selected at the age of 14.

Most people will take English Language and Maths, as pretty much anything you do from this point demands these two as a minimum.

I then also took French, German, Biology, Physics, Art, History, English Literature. As you can see, I leaned much more towards arts than sciences (my school made us take two sciences, or I might have dropped them).

A Levels are higher grade subject specific qualifications you take after GCSEs in two years of additional school. They aren’t compulsory - you could leave school at this point and go and do an apprenticeship or BTEC if you preferred. But A Levels are the traditional qualifications for University.

With my arts-bent, I chose Art, History and English Literature. During your final year of school you’ll be applying for Uni, and most courses will make you a conditional offer - conditional on achieving certain grades in your A Levels.

Not exactly - there’a a million subjects at University which you don’t study at school. But if you want to do something in sciences, for example, you stand a better chance if your A Levels have been in science subjects. I studied graphic design, which my arts-based A Levels were more leaning towards. But I didn’t study any graphic design at school.

Switching subjects isn’t unheard of, if you do it within the first year. Depends on the course, and the attitude of your course leaders.

15

It’s not necessarily easy to switch majors in American universities, either. Yeah, a lot of schools let you stay undeclared for a year or even two, and switch majors at will… but if you didn’t start as a physics major, you’re not going to graduate with a physics major. It might be allowed, but you’d need to add an extra year to have any chance of finishing all of your required classes, and it basically never happened. Though it is quite common for students who start as physics majors to switch to other subjects (often “General Science”).

I went from Astronomy in undergrad to Physics in grad school, and even that involved taking a couple of remedial courses.

16

Not sure if this has been covered but in England, after GCSEs, you are free to go. You can leave school at 16 and start work, or go into an apprenticeship, or go to another school (sometimes called a Sixth Form College) to take a specific career-oriented syllabus like accounting or surveying for example. I got 8 O Levels (and a CSE in French), and rather than doing my A Levels and going to a Uni, I joined an engineering outfit at 17 that put me through school (part-time) culminating in two decent technical degrees and ultimately an Undergrad Degree along with 8 years of really good work experience.

This needs to be done in the USA. IMO.

17

A couple years ago I had a student apply for several universities in the UK, and they made her acceptances conditional on her final round of AP exams. It was very different, because all her peers were committed May 1st and she had to wait. I think she went ahead and paid the enrollment fee/committed to a school in the US just in case, but she got the score she needed.

18

It sort of is: A lot of high schools have career technical programs, to prepare students for trades such as construction or car repair or plumbing or whatever. In my state (Ohio), not every school has such a program, but every public high school is partnered with a nearby school that does (so, for instance, students in the Cleveland suburbs of Rocky River or Westlake who are interested in going into the trades can take a bus to Lakewood for part of the day, because that’s where the career tech program is around here).

But you still have to be in some sort of high school program or other until you either graduate or turn (IIRC) 18.

19

You are not “free to go”, you have to stay in full time education, apprenticeship or work until you are 18. You can no longer leave school at 16 with nothing lined up.
I was one of the first to take GCSEs, from 1988 until 1991. I did sufficiently bad in them that I took a one year BTEC course in general engineering which got me into a two year course on electrical engineering. That course had an entry qualification of 4 GCSEs of C or above, but the initial year gave me the equivalent - I never had to test whether employers would take it as equivalent.

20

That’s an England-only thing.