READ THE TEXT
What is the GCSE exam? It is an examination taken by British school students at the age of fifteen or sixteen. It has been used since 1986, when it replaced two exams: O levels and CSEs. Before 1986, students with a higher academic level took O levels while students with a lower academic level took CSEs. An A, B or C at O level was a pass, and a Grade 1 CSE was the same as an O level grade C. GCSEs were introduced so that all students could take the same exam. There are seven pass grades: A–G. Grades A–C are equivalent to the old O level pass grades. Grades D–G are similar to CSE grades 2–5. They are still passes, but not as good as an O level. There is also one fail grade, a U, which means ‘unclassified’. When students are thirteen or fourteen, in Year Nine of school, they choose which subjects to study for GCSE. Some subjects are compulsory; everyone has to take them. These are maths, English and science, although in some schools a foreign language is also compulsory. The number of subjects a student can choose depends on his or her ability, but most study between eight and ten subjects for two years and take exams at the end of Year Eleven.Different subjects are graded in different ways. In some subjects, for example art, music and ICT, more than half the final mark is given for coursework or projects. Originally, this coursework was done at home, but there were problems with cheating, and so now it is done by students in the classroom with a teacher watching. Students take their exams in June, but they don’t get their results until the last week in August. In the past, results were sent to the students’ school. Sometimes, the schools put all the results on posters so that students could see not only their own results but also the results of everyone else in their year. Now students get their results online using a password; this means that no one else can see them. Grades in GCSEs have been rising every year for a long time. Some people say this is because students are getting cleverer, but others say that the exams are getting easier. Some schools have even stopped using them, preferring the international GCSE (IGCSE) instead.

Which sentences are TRUE about the text? Choose the correct sentences. *

1 There were no GCSEs before 1986.
2 The best grade at CSE was similar to the lowest pass grade at O level.
3.1 A GCSE grade D is a fail.
3 Students have to study a foreign language at GCSE.
4 Not all students take the same number of GCSEs.
5 Not all subjects are graded in the same way.
6 Students can see each other’s results online.
7 Some schools prepare their students for a different exam.

kasper212    1   14.05.2020 14:27    14