GCE Ordinary Level (United Kingdom)
The General Certificate of Education (GCE) O-level, also called the Ordinary Level or O level, is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education (GCE). It was introduced as part of British educational reform by the government of the United Kingdom alongside the more in-depth and academically rigorous A-level (Advanced Level) in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. England, Wales and Northern Ireland replaced O-levels with GCSE and IGCSE exams. The Scottish equivalent was the O-grade (replaced, following a separate process, by the Standard Grade). The O-level qualification is still awarded by Cambridge International Examinations in select locations, including secondary schools in the country of Mauritius, instead of or alongside the IGCSE qualifications. Currently, CIE (abbrev. Cambridge International Examinations) offers curricula for approximately 40 different subjects.[1] The O-Level qualifications are still recognized for admission into universities worldwide.[2]
Structure
O-levels were predominantly exam-based; this had advantages for students in part-time or evening education. Some commentators criticised this mainly exam-based approach as offering only partial proof of the student's overall ability in comparison with other methods (e.g., coursework-based assessment). There was no summative "school certificate": each subject was a separate O-level in its own right.
Madsen Pirie found that the O-level was advantageous to boys because of exam-based learning.[3] Pirie also observes that the GCSE focus on coursework has disadvantaged boys, reversing the gender gap in attainment, to the degree where in all subjects girls outperform boys, including traditionally male subjects such as sciences and physical education.
Grading
Pass grades for the O-level were originally 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. Grades 7, 8 and 9 were fails. Standardized alphabetic grades where introduced with grades A, B, C and D were passes, and E and U (Unclassified) were fails.[4][5] Over time, grades were allocated on a norm-referenced basis, assigning a fixed proportion of each cohort to each grade (A 10%, B 15%, C 15%...). The proportion obtaining a pass, A-D, or equivalent was initially fixed at 57% - 58%. However, with continuous reformations of the education system, grades were allocated via a criteria referencing system, based on examiner judgement, in the final year DES statistics were available 6.8% achieved an A, and 39.8% an A-C grade.
| GCSE Grade | O Level Grade | CSE Grade | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-1975 (numeric) | Pre-1975 (alphabetic) | 1975 onwards | 1965 onwards | ||
| A | A* | 1 | A | A | 1 |
| A | 2 | B | |||
| B | 3 | C | B | ||
| B | 4 | ||||
| C | 5 | D | C | ||
| C | 6 | E | |||
| D | 7 | F | D | 2 | |
| E | D | 8 | G | E | 3 |
| F | E | U (ungraded) | 4 | ||
| G | F | 9 | H | 5 | |
| G | |||||
| U (unclassified) | U (ungraded) | ||||
- Blue background – certificate and qualification awarded.
- Red background – no certificate or qualification awarded.
Entrants
For subjects where an equivalent CSE paper existed approximately 36% of the pupils entered for either exam sat the O-Level, and the remainder (64%) sat the CSE paper eg.
| Year | Pupils | O-Level Maths Candidates | CSE Maths Candidates | Total Candidates | % Maths Papers: O-Level | % Maths Papers: CSE | % Pupils entered for Maths |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (Pre) 1977 | 751,070 | 217,560 | 392,020 | 609,580 | 35.7 | 64.3 | 81.1 |
| 1978 | 768,460 | 230,660 | 414,950 | 645,610 | 35.7 | 64.3 | 84 |
| (post) 1979 | 781,240 | 245,500 | 438,220 | 683,720 | 35.9 | 64.1 | 87.5 |
Later developments
The O-level qualifications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland were replaced by a new system, the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE). However, the O-level is still used in many Commonwealth countries, such as Bangladesh, Mauritius and Singapore. Some British schools also reverted to exams based on the O-levels.[8] The Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination was also benchmarked against the O-levels for comparable subjects. But it has switched to benchmark against the IGCSE. The School Certificate of Mauritius continues to use the O-level exams.
O-levels continue to thrive as well respected international qualifications for students in other countries, who use them for preparation for advanced study in their own country and/or access higher education overseas.[citation needed] Approximately 12 million candidates from more than 200 countries register annually for O-level examinations across the world. Institutions that offer O-levels include Cambridge International Examinations (CIE).[9]
See also
- List of CIE Ordinary Level subjects
- Certificate of Secondary Education (CSE), an alternative qualification for those who did not take the O-level
- General Certificate of Secondary Education, which replaced the O-levels and CSE
- General Certificate of Education, which comprises O-levels and A-levels
- General Certificate of Education in Singapore
References
- ^ http://www.cie.org.uk/programmes-and-qualifications/cambridge-secondary-2/cambridge-o-level/
- ^ http://www.cie.org.uk/programmes-and-qualifications/cambridge-secondary-2/cambridge-o-level/recognition/
- ^ Pirie, Madsen. "How exams are fixed in favour of girls", The Spectator, 20 January 2001.
- ^ http://www.liverpool.gov.uk/Images/tcm21-94640.pdf
- ^ In particular see page 88 of the definitive UCAS document at http://www.dur.ac.uk/resources/ug.admissions/ucasinfo/ukquals07.pdf
- ^ "The Swann Report (1985) - Education for All". Educationengland. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
- ^ "The Cockcroft Report (1982) - Mathematics counts". Education England. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
- ^ Clark, Laura. "Private schools dump GCSEs in favour of old-style O Levels", Daily Mail, 9 August 2006.
- ^ Cambridge O Levels described at CIE's website