Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
The School Examination Board was a standing committee of the Senate and was concerned with public examinations primarily designed for pupils in secondary schools.
The University of London has conducted examinations for school pupils since 1838 when the London Matriculation Examination was introduced to determine the admission of candidates for a degree course of the university. The 'London Matric' was open to anyone over the age of 16 and became widely used for purposes other than university entrance.
In 1900 the University was reconstituted and a Matriculation Board was established to conduct the Matriculation Examination and to advise the Senate on matters relating to the admission of students. The Education Act 1902 resulted in the expansion of secondary education and the need was recognised to rationalise the many school leaving examinations, including those conducted by universities, which had developed side by side with the Matriculation Examination. The School Certificate and Higher School Certificate examinations for pupils were introduced in 1918 and following the acceptance of the University as an approved examining body by the Board of Education, the new examinations were conducted on behalf of the University by the Board to Promote the Extension of University Teaching.
Three years after the Hilton Young Report 1926, and the passing of the University of London Act 1926, the Statutes of the University were altered and a new body, the Matriculation and School Examinations Council, was given the dual task of dealing with the Matriculation Examination and the School Certificate Examinations. The Council continued in existence until 1951 when the General Certificate of Education Examination, open to all not just school pupils, replaced the School Certificate and Higher School Certificate Examinations which had been restricted to school children. The Matriculation Examination was abolished and the Council was renamed the University Entrance and School Examinations Council.