General Certificate of Secondary Education

The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is a set of exams taken in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and other British territories. They are usually taken by students aged 15–16, after two years of study. Some students can take their exams early if their teachers think the students are capable. Most students taking their GCSEs study between 5 and 25 subjects.

All pupils have to study English, mathematics and science until they are 15-16. They do not have to take the GCSE exams, but the large majority do so. In Wales, students must also study Welsh until they are 14.

Most schools require that a pupil passes 5 or more GCSE exams at grades 4 or 5 or above before they can move on to study A-levels.

In 2020, the exams were cancelled for the first time due to the COVID-19 pandemic. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-51980831 

 Subjects 
Many of the subjects in this list are not offered by every school.

Required
In all schools students have to study Mathematics, Science, and English linguistics and literature.

Creativity
 Art
 Art Textiles
 Film studies
 Textiles
 Music
 Design and Technology
 Drama
 Dance
 Performing arts
 Food technology

Languages
 Modern foreign languages including: Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Gujarati, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Russian, Spanish, Somali, Turkish, Tamil, Urdu and Welsh 
 Classical languages including: Classical Greek, Biblical Hebrew and Latin

Technology
 Electronics
 Engineering and Manufacturing (Double Award)
 Graphic products
 Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
 Applied ICT (Double Award)
 Product Design
 Electronics with Resistant Materials
 Resistant Materials
 Systems and Control Technology
 Textiles
 IT

Humanities
 Humanities
 Geography
 Religious Studies
 History
 Citizenship
 Philosophy & Ethics
 Economics
 Hinduism
 Islamic Studies

People and society-related
 Citizenship (Personal Social Health Education)
 Health and Social Care (Double Award)
 Home Economics: Child Development
 Home Economics: Food and Nutrition
 Law
 Psychology
 Social Science
 Sociology

Natural sciences
 Astronomy
 Geology
 Human Biology
 Human Physiology and Health
 Physics
 Chemistry
 Biology

Others
 Further Mathematics (Further Pure Mathematics for Edexcel IGCSE)
 Applied Business (Double Award)
 Archaeology (may not currently be available as a separate GCSE  )
 Business Studies
 Business and Communication Systems
 General Studies
 Outdoor Pursuits - Birdwatching - Fishing
 Physical Education (PE)
 Sports Studies
 Statistics
 Media Studies

 A-levels - Exams taken after GCSEs 
International GCSE - GCSE exams for students whose first language is not English.
Standard Grades - Similar exams taken in Scotland

 References 

Other websites

Category:Education in the United Kingdom