The General Certificate of Education (GCE) is a subject-specific family of academic qualifications used in awarding bodies in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Crown dependencies and a few Commonwealth countries.
The General Certificate of Education set out to provide a national standard for matriculation to university undergraduate courses.
In the English education system both the O level and CSE examinations were replaced in 1988 with the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE), which set out to provide a multi-level examination system catering for all abilities of secondary school pupils.
In the earliest years of the system subject marks were given as percentages at both Ordinary and Advanced Level.
Significant numbers of private schools in England have also reverted to preparing pupils for GCE examinations.
After leading British universities had expressed concerns that the A grade alone would no longer be enough to distinguish the most exceptional candidates, the A* grade was introduced (GCSE, the replacement of GCE and CSE)[clarification needed] for students who achieve 80% and above in the overall A-Level qualification and achieve 90% and over in all A2 (this applies to GCSE and not GCE but may apply to CSE) modules.
[1][dubious – discuss] In the past, a Scholarship / Special / "S-Level" / Advanced Extension Award (AEA) existed.
It also retains selection to grammar school by the AQE examination, a public examination which selects children as suitable for an academic (essentially a liberal arts) secondary syllabus from the age of eleven to eighteen.
At the end of the school year, all other students leave, while GCE candidates stay on to revise and prepare for the exams in late May.
Once the candidates finish writing in early June, they all return to their various homes, waiting to hear their results.
After that, they have the option to go on to a junior college for two years in preparation for the A-Levels or study a vocational trade and earn a diploma at a polytechnic or technical school.
Examination entrance is restricted by a minimal number of formal school going years and laboratory field work.
The Sri Lankan University Grants commission determines the cut-off points for the selection of students to the Sri Lankan universities according to the grade points obtained in the A/L examinations based on the standard normal distribution.
However, in England and Wales, the high school diploma is considered to be at the level of the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE), which is awarded at Year 11.
The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) recommends that in addition to a high school diploma, grades of 3 or above in at least two, or ideally three, Advanced Placement exams may be considered as meeting general entry requirements for admission.