GCE Ordinary Level (United Kingdom)

This article is about the preceding secondary school leaving exam taken in the United Kingdom. For Cambridge's globalised version, see Cambridge O-Level.

The General Certificate of Education (GCE) Ordinary Level, also called the O-level or O level, was a subject-based academic qualification that was introduced in 1951 as a replacement for the 16+ School Certificate (SC). The O-level was meant to act as a pathway to the new, more in-depth and academically rigorous A-level (Advanced Level), in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Alternatives to the GCE Ordinary level were released during the qualification's timeline, including the complementary and more vocational Certificate of Secondary Education (CSE), intended for broadening the subjects available and offering qualifications in non-academic subjects, alongside the even more academically rigorous foundation for the GCE A-Level, called the AO-Level.

The O-Level, AO-Level and CSE were replaced in the United Kingdom in 1988 by the GCSE and later complementary IGCSE exams. The Scottish equivalent was the O-grade (replaced, following a separate process, by the Standard Grade). An O-level branded qualification is still awarded by Cambridge International Examinations in select locations.

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