Grades

GCSE stands for the General Certificate of Secondary Education. Many of the courses followed in Key Stage 4 lead to a GCSE qualification.

Some subjects have to decide what tier (Higher or Foundation) to enter a student for. This is when examination papers are set at different levels of difficulty. Decisions on which tier to enter a student for are normally made towards the end of a course.

Awarding body - sometimes called an exam board. There are a number of these and their names are usually shown as abbreviations, e.g. OCR, AQA, WJEC, Pearson / Edexcel

Non-examination assessment (NEA). This is where assignments are set and marked by teachers and verified by the awarding body. This work is carried out during the course.

BTEC and other Level1/2 courses are vocational courses. BTEC stands for Business and Technology Education Council Course. There are external assessments - examinations which are a minimum of 25% of the total marks. Students also have to complete a number of NEA/controlled assessment tasks which are assessed by teachers and the awarding body. The grades awarded are Level 1 pass, Level 1 merit, Level 1 distinction, Level 2 pass, Level 2 merit, Level 2 distinction and Level 2 distinction*.