Beloe Report facts for kids

The Beloe Report was an important study in the United Kingdom during the late 1950s. It directly led to the creation of a new school exam called the Certificate of Secondary Education, or CSE. This exam was used from 1965 until 1987. The CSE exam was stopped at the same time as the older GCE Ordinary Level (O-level) exam.

History of the Beloe Report

The GCE exam had been introduced in 1951. The committee that created the Beloe Report met from 1958 to 1960. This committee was led by Robert Beloe, who was a top education official in Surrey from 1940 to 1959. He was only 35 when he started this job.

Robert Beloe had helped set up the system of grammar schools in Surrey in the late 1940s. He also created many bilateral schools in Surrey during the 1950s. These schools were similar to what we now call comprehensive schools. This approach helped save money on building new grammar schools. It also made it easier to set up the comprehensive school system in Surrey in the 1970s, compared to other areas.

The Beloe Report was published in July 1960. It was put together by a committee of the Secondary Schools Examinations Council. The Ministry of Education oversaw the report.

At that time, many students in secondary schools left school when they were 15 years old. This is like students in Year Ten today. The school leaving age did not increase to 16 (now Year Eleven) until 1973. The new CSE exam was mainly for students in secondary modern schools or the early comprehensive schools.

The CSE exam encouraged secondary modern schools to have "fifth forms." These were for students who wanted to stay at school longer than the required leaving age. This helped show that a student's future was not only decided by the eleven-plus exam. The report also helped the idea of comprehensive schools grow. Before the CSE, there wasn't a widely accepted exam for most students who didn't go to a grammar school.

What the Beloe Report Recommended

The report looked at education in secondary schools across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. It suggested that a new exam should be introduced. This new exam would be different from the GCE O-level, which focused on very difficult academic knowledge.

About 20% of 16-year-olds took the GCE exam. The CSE was designed for the next 20% of students. The report said the CSE should be a different type of exam, not just an easier version of the GCE. Teachers would mostly create the exam questions. They would work together in 20 different groups across the country.

How the CSE Led to the GCSE

The CSE exam eventually paved the way for the GCSE exam. The GCSE was introduced in 1986, with the first exams taking place in 1988. While the GCSE covers much of what the CSE did, some people feel it doesn't have the same academic difficulty as the old O-level.

The 1978 Waddell Report also suggested having one common exam for all students. This report was prepared by Sir James Waddell. It hoped that the new common exam would be taken for the first time by 1985.