No Graduation in the UK?

[Geoff Bannister]

Geoff:
I thought the best way to answer the questions which have arisen in 
this thread would be to give a general overview of school exam 
development since the 1950s.

I feel qualified to do this having gone through the system at that time 
and also having been the Examinations Secretary for fifteen years at 
the school where I taught. This meant that I was responsible for 
dealing with every student who was being entered for a national exam 
at either Fifth Year (current Year 11) or Sixth Form level.

May I say first that there is no such thing as graduation from a secondary 
school in the UK. Graduation is a word reserved for obtaining a degree 
either at a university or a college authorised to grant them.

In the years after the Second World War, in England and Wales,there was 
effectively a two-level education system. At 11, pupils sat an exam; if 
they passed, they went to a grammar school, if not then a Secondary 
Modern school.

Pupils at this time could leave school at the end of the term in which they 
reached 15, so they could leave at the end of the Autumn, Spring or 
Summer terms. This was rationalised gradually until they could only leave 
in the summer by the late 1960s.

Until 1951, pupils considered able enough sat for the Matriculation, where 
a Certificate was only issued if the pupil was successful in Maths, English 
and Science; I think these were the necessary passes.

In 1951. the General Certificate of Education (GCE) was introduced which 
gave pupils individual passes. It ran at two levels:  Ordinary (O) Level, for 
pupils in the Fifth Year and Advanced (A) Level for pupils at the end of their 
Upper Sixth Year.

Durign  the 1960s, moves began towards combining grammar and modern 
schools into comprehensive schools under the 1964 Labour Government 
and, in parallel with this, the Certificate of Secondary Education (CSE) was 
introduced as a slightly lower qualification for middle ability pupils.

The school leaving age was raised to 16 in 1974. During the 1980s, the 
GCE and CSE were combined to create the General Certificate of Secondary 
Education (GCSE), in which exam Grades A, B and C were considered passes.
A Level continued, being generally known by this name. This is the basic 
situation today.

If a pupil fails GCSE, they can retake them if they stay into the SIxth Form 
or can resit again at a college dealing with 16-18 students. Leaving age 
remains at 16 although the Government has been giving thought to making 
18 the mandatory age; so far, nothing has occurred.

In our area, many students are electing to stay on, either at their own 
Community College or at a 16-18 college in Taunton, 30 miles away to take
 A Levels or vocational subjects partly because of the lack of jobs. This is 
echoed throughout the country. Some financial incentives are offered by the 
Government to stay on.

Hope this answers questions raised.