No Graduation in the UK?

[Bill]

> Geoff:
> <snip> 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. <snip>


Does that mean that OWLS are the equivalent of O levels and
NEWTS the same as GCSE?

Bill