Editing GCSE (section)

=== Grade inflation ===
When the GCSE system was introduced, there were comments that it was a [[dumbing down]] of the previous GCE [[O-Level]] system (as it took the focus away from the theoretical side of many subjects, and taught pupils about real-world implications and issues relating to [[information technology|ICT]] and [[citizenship]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://lauramcinerney.com/2012/06/24/were-o-levels-harder-than-gcses/|title= Were O-Levels Harder Than GCSEs?|publisher= Laura McInerney|access-date=5 December 2016|date= 24 June 2012}}</ref>

In addition, the proportions of candidates awarded high grades at GCSE have been rising for many years, which critics attribute to [[grade inflation]]. By comparing pupils' scores in the YELLIS ability test with their GCSE results over a period of about 20 years, Robert Coe found a general improvement in grades awarded which ranges from 0.2 (science) to 0.8 (maths) of a GCSE grade.<ref>[https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20080109111834mp_/http://www.statistics.gov.uk/about/data/methodology/specific/PublicSector/output/downloads/Peter_Tymmns_paper_GCSE_and_A_level.doc Robert Coe, Changes in Standards at GCSE and A-Level: Evidence from ALIS and YELLIS, CEM, Durham 2007 p.4] accessed 29 July 2011</ref> Only slightly more than half of pupils sitting GCSE exams achieve the 5 A* to C grades required for most forms of academic further education.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmhansrd/vo060227/text/60227136.htm|title=House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 27 Feb 2006 (pt 136)|website=Publications.parliament.uk|access-date=14 June 2015}}</ref>

One of the important differences between previous educational qualifications (and the earlier grading of A-Levels) and the later GCSE qualifications was supposed to be a move from norm-referenced marking to criterion-referenced marking.<ref>[https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200203/cmselect/cmeduski/153/15304.htm#a3 House of Commons Education and Skills Third Report 2003] retrieved 27 July 2011</ref> In a norm-referenced grading system, fixed percentages of candidates achieve each grade. With criterion-referenced grades, in theory, all candidates who achieve the criteria can achieve the grade. A comparison of a clearly norm-referenced assessment, such as the NFER Cognitive Ability Test or CAT, with GCSE grading seems to show an unexpected correlation, which challenges the idea that the GCSE is a properly criterion-based assessment.<ref>{{cite web |last= |first= |date=6 December 2000 |title=Monitoring progress and target setting in the secondary school: finding appropriate methods of data collection and analysis |url=http://www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/documents/00001635.htm |access-date=11 October 2017 |website=Leeds.ac.uk}}</ref>