The Certificate of Secondary Education (CSE) was a subject-specific qualification family awarded in both academic and vocational fields in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. CSE examinations were held in the years 1965 to 1987. This qualification should not be confused with the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education which is a school-leaving qualification in India. Also, in some African and former British colonial countries (such as, Kenya) there is a qualification named the Certificate of Secondary Education based on the original and former British variant. Also, the CSE should not be confused with the African qualification CSEE (Certificate of Secondary Education Examination).
CSE
The 1960 Beloe Report was commissioned to look into a new exam which became the CSE.
The CSE was introduced to provide a set of qualifications available to a broader range of schoolchildren and distinct from the GCE (O-Levels), that were aimed at the academically more able pupils, mostly those at grammar and independent schools (rather than secondary modern schools). CSEs were available in both academic and vocational subjects, incorporated controlled assessment in addition to examination, and examination questions were typically offered in a shorter and more structured form than those found on an equivalent O-Level paper.
Before the introduction of the CSE, the majority of schoolchildren at secondary modern schools did not take externally set end of school examinations, and so left school without any nationally recognised qualifications. Gaining a CSE Grade 1 implied that the student could have followed an O level course in that subject. This often caused frustration for such pupils wishing to progress to A-level, who (due to incompatibilities in the syllabi) would need to take a 1-year O-level conversion course in the Lower Sixth and thus waste a year gaining a qualification they theoretically already held.
Though no formal requirements existed, grades 2 to 3 were possibly set to be equivalent to the two (D and E) lowest O-Level pass grades.
<!--This template shows a comparison table of grades between the GCSE, CSE, and O-Level, which is replicated on the pages for these other qualifications. Please make edits at the "Template:GCSE grades" page, not in-place.-->
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Percentage of School-Leavers in England obtaining 'n' O-level (A-C) or CSE grade 1 pass
|-
! individual awards
! 0
! 1
! 2
! 3
! 4
! 5
! 6
! 7
! 8+
! 1 or more
! 5 or more
|-
|1982
|10.6
|11.4
|6.8
|5.0
|4.4
|4.4
|4.5
|4.5
|12.7
|52.6
|26.1
|-
|1983
|9.6
|11.4
|7.0
|5.3
|4.7
|4.3
|4.5
|4.7
|12.8
|53.8
|26.2
|-
|}
Entrants
The 1978 Waddell Report, when comparing O-Level and CSE entrants stated: "the O Level examination tending to be aimed at the upper 20 per cent of the full ability range and CSE catering for the next 40 per cent", is partially supported by the statistics. For subjects where an equivalent O-level paper existed approximately 36% of the pupils entered for either exam, after 1976, sat the O-Level, the remainder (64%) sat the CSE paper. The proportion taking CSE exams increased following the raising of the minimum school leaving age to 16, in 1973, and the subsequent fall in the proportion sitting neither exam e.g.
{| class="wikitable"
|+ English O-Level and CSE Mathematics entrants 1976-9
|-
! Year !! Pupils !! O-Level Maths Candidates !! CSE Maths Candidates !! Total Candidates !! % Maths Papers: O-Level !! % Maths Papers: CSE !! % Pupils entered for Maths
|-
| 1974 || – || – || – || – || – || – || 74
|-
| 1976 || – || 270,297 || 377,731 || 631,927 || 42.8 || 57.2 || –
|-
| 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
|-
| 1979 || 781,240 || 245,500 || 438,220 || 683,720 || 35.9 || 64.1 || 87.5
|-
|}
Exam Boards
The CSE syllabi, examinations and awards were originally made by 15 independent regional boards:
- Associated Lancashire Schools Examining Board
- East Anglian Examinations Board
- East Midland Regional Examinations Board
- Metropolitan Regional Examination Board
- Middlesex Regional Examination Board
- Northern Ireland Schools Examination Council
- North Regional Examinations Board
- North West Regional Examinations Board
- South-East Regional Examinations Board
- South Western Examinations Board
- Southern Regional Examination Board
- Welsh Joint Education Committee
- West Midlands Regional Examination Board
- The West Yorkshire and Lindsey Regional Examining Board
- Yorkshire Regional Examinations Board
In 1979, the neighbouring Metropolitan and Middlesex boards merged to form the London Regional Examinations Board. The West Yorkshire and Lindsey and Yorkshire and Humberside boards also merged to form the Yorkshire and Humberside Regional Examinations Board in 1982.