What is GCSE?

The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is the name of an academic qualification awarded in a specified subject, generally taken in a number of subjects by students aged 15–16 in secondary education in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. (In Scotland, the equivalent is the Standard Grade.) Some students may take one or more GCSEs younger. The education systems of other British territories, such as Gibraltar, and the former British dominion of South Africa, also use the qualifications, as supplied by the same examination boards. The International version of the GCSE is the IGCSE, which can be taken anywhere in the world, and which includes additional options, for example relating to coursework and the language used. When GCSEs are taken by students in secondary education, they can often be combined with other qualifications, such as BTECs, the DiDA, or diplomas.

Education to GCSE level is often required of students who study for A-levels, themselves a common requirement for entry to university.

it stands for General Certificate of Secondary Education

The GSCE was brought in to replace the previous standard ‘O’ level exams (ordinary level) exams taken to indicate competence in a subject at aged 16, two years further study could end up with the student gaining an ‘A’ level (Advanced). Before the GCSE came along, students would have to be entered for either an O’ level or a CSE exam at the end of the course. The CSE was easier to pass, but not as highly regarded, although a grade 1 CSE was supposed to be equivalent to an O’level. The introduction of the GCSE exam was supposed to get around the problem of students being streamed into either one exam or the other - I think the GSCE basically combined the two qualifications so that those that would have had a grade 1 CSE now actually had a worthwhile qualification - Grades A to C were passes, after that lower grades had CSE style gradings ie grade 2 and above (grade 1’s were now classed in the A-C categories). I may have selective amnesia regarding the minutia of this system, but the basic principles are in the right ball-park… Nothing whatsoever to do with any US system, the system was used in England and Wales only - there may be equivalent qualification in the US, it would probably be whatever exams you do at the end of high school…

it would probably be whatever exams you do at the end of high school…

Thank you for the answer. I’m not in US though. :)