Certificate of Secondary Education

The Certificate of Secondary Education (CSE) was a school leaving qualification awarded between 1965 and 1987 in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

It was introduced to provide a qualification available to all schoolchildren distinct from the GCE (O-Levels) that were aimed at the more able pupils, mostly those at grammar and independent school (rather than secondary modern schools) aiming for places at a university.^[1] Before the introduction of the CSE, the majority of those schoolchildren at secondary modern schools did not take O-Level examinations and so left school without any qualifications at all.^[1] However, by the late 1960s and early 1970s, counties frequently had introduced their own examinable qualifications for the bulk of Secondary Modern School pupils who left in 'Form Four' (at 15 years of age). For example, the county of Monmouthshire in Wales awarded the Monmouthshire Certificate in Education.

There were five pass grades in its grading system ranging from grades 1 to 5, with grades 2 to 3 being recognised with equivalence to the three (later two: D and E) lowest O-Level pass grades (of which there were originally six, later five, A, B, C, D and E).

Achieving CSE grade 1 was equivalent to achieving an O level in the subject where the student may have reasonably gained an A, B or C grade had they taken an O-level course of study in the same subject ^[2]. Gaining a CSE Grade 1 therefore implied that that student should have followed an O level course in that subject. As the comprehensive schools replaced secondary modern schools in the 1970s pupils could increasingly take a mixture of CSEs and O-levels until finally the examinations were merged with the new GCSE certification courses.

Cecile Wright, a leading sociologist, found that many black pupils were entered for the CSE instead of the O-level at an English school. This raised the question of whether teachers were wrongfully categorising ethnic minority pupils as low achievers.^{[citation needed]}

CSEs and O-levels were replaced by the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) in 1988.^[1]

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c} "The story of the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE)". Qualifications and Curriculum Authority. http://www.qca.org.uk/qca_6210.aspx. Retrieved 2008-10-11. ^{[dead link]}
2. ^ West Midlands Certificate of Secondary Education certificate definition of grades on the back of the certificate verbatim quote : 'Grade 1: describes a standard such that the candidate might reasonably have attained Grade A, B or C at ordinary level of the G.C.E. examinations had he followed a course leading to that examination. Grade 4 describes a standard of performance expected of a candidate of average ability who has followed an appropriate course of study in the subject*. Grades 2 and 3 are given in approximately equal numbers to all candidates between Grades 1 and 4. * This refers to the whole of the 16 year age group.'