The GCE Examining System: a Quasi-Market Analysis - (97.9)

In England and Wales much of secondary school curriculum and student assessment is delivered through a quasi-market for school qualifications. The main agents in this market are the examining and assessment boards which are run on a not-for-profit basis. The boards work within guidelines laid down by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA), reconstituted in the Education Act of 1997 from the School Curriculum and Assessment Authority (SCAA). This research focuses on General Certificate in Education (GCE) Advanced Level courses, which traditionally have been the main qualification for entry to university and other forms of higher education In England and Wales. The system of postcompulsory education, beyond the age of 16, for students intending to move on to higher education is highly specialised, with students typically studying only three or four closely related subjects. This produces university entrants with considerable prior knowledge of their chosen subject, and allows them to complete a highly specialised undergraduate degree course in a shorter period of time than in many other countries. A-levels have been praised for getting able students to a high level of cognitive achievement by the age of 18, and while successive governments have been willing to “reform” other aspects of the education system, they have been reluctant to interfere with what former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher referred to as the “Gold Standard” in education.