how are they different ?

Question

-GCSE
-Irish Junior Certificate
-A-Level / Scottish Highers, International Baccalaureate or equivalent
-Irish Leaving Certificate
-HNC
-HND
-2nd Degree
-1st Degree

Answer 1

well the Irish ones are all to do with the Ireland that isn't part of the UK - I can't explain them for you sorry as I don't know anything about it

GCSE's are exams that all pupils in Year 11 of secondary school in the United Kingdom take. The minimum you can take is 9 subjects or 10 I can't remember (I'm doing 13) but some people that can't cope can only take like 5 (this normally applies for people with learning problems, it's not very common to only take 5 GCSE's).

Then, if you pass in 5 or more of your GCSE's (a pass is a C or above) then you can go to sixth form where you do your A levels. Also I think you can do A levels in college too. Anyway, the first year of A levels, you do AS level exams which count towards the overall mark of your A levels. At AS you can take maximum 5 subjects but most people opt for 4.
Then in year 13 you do the A level exams, and you can drop 2 subjects from your AS if you've taken 5 AS's or you can drop 1 if you've taken 4 As's. but you can do 4 subjects at A level (that's the maximum) if you feel you can cope with but, but again, loads of people opt for 3 which is the minimum. A levels then are used to get into universities.

that all happens in secondary schools in the UK

I don't know about any of the others sorry

Answer 2

I agree with both of the answers above.
In addition to what lu said, 1st Degree means the first University Degree you do (usually a Bachelors Degree) and 2nd Degree would mean the second Uniersity Degree you do (perhaps another Bachelors degree or a Masters).

Answer 3

They are all different levels of Education