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All subjects of the Secondary School curriculum.
Extent
Ca. 50 metres of shelving.
Scope and content
This is a collection of school examination papers from the 1890s to the mid-1990s. It includes papers for the School Certificate and Higher School Certificate, the General Certificate of Education (GCE) at Ordinary and Advanced levels and the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) papers. It comprises the publications of most of the major examining boards, including the AEB (Associated Examining Board), JMB (Joint Matriculation Board), University of London, University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, Oxford and Cambridge, and other regional groups. The earliest publications date from about 1907; the latest additions were made in the mid-1990s. Some material from organizations dealing with vocational qualifications, such as BTEC and the City and Guilds, is also included.
Since the early twentieth century, public examinations for school pupils aged approximately 16 and 18 have been set by a number of independent examining boards, originally associated with universities but later set up as independent organizations by government. Each board published its own regulations and syllabuses, mark schemes, examiners' reports, statistics, and past examinations papers.
The original School Certificate and Higher School Certificate were replaced in the early 1950s by the GCE (General Certificate of Education) at Ordinary and Advanced levels. GCE 'O' level was supplemented in the 1970s with CSE (Certificate of Secondary Education) for lower attaining pupils, and the two were replaced in 1986 by the GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education).
History
This collection was originally assembled by the library of the DCSF (Department for Children, Schools and Families) and its predecessors.
Access
The collection is not catalogued. Most of the collection is protected by copyright and is therefore only available for academic research. Items from the collection can only be perused in the IOE Reading Room.
