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GCSE

British

abbreviation

General Certificate of Secondary Education: a public examination in specified subjects for 16-year-old schoolchildren. It replaced the GCE O-level and CSE

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The Department for Education said: "It is for exam boards to decide which languages to offer at GCSE," and added that it was introducing a "stepped qualification in languages" within the primary curriculum.

From BBC • Mar. 1, 2026

And at GCSE, there was a proposal to move to the grading system used in England and Wales, where a numerical system from 9-1 is used where 9 is the highest grade.

From BBC • Feb. 18, 2026

She says schools in her region are offering fewer languages at GCSE, which leads to fewer pupils taking them at A-levels and then going on to study them at university.

From BBC • Dec. 15, 2025

The problem may also be more deeply rooted, and in many cases may go far further back than GCSE.

From BBC • Aug. 21, 2025

One pupil, Matthew, said learning to ride the moped was what attracted him to take the GCSE.

From BBC • Jan. 18, 2025

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023