In 1968, the Standing Conference of Regional Examination Boards (SCREB) for the CSE advised the Schools Council for Curriculum and Examinations (SCCE) that it was desirable to establish a separate nationally recognised examination for the increasing number of secondary school pupils who, having completed courses at the age of 16+, stayed on at school for either 1 or 2 years to follow sixth form courses which were not geared to GCE A Level examinations. The proposed examination would be based on the philosophy, modes of examination and methods of assessment of the CSE examination.

In 1970 the Schools Council agreed that there should be some form of extended CSE examination available for older students and pilot examinations for a CEE were introduced in 1972 by most CSE Boards. In 1974 the Schools Council defined the CEE target group as not just being limited to candidates who had previously attained CSE grades 2-4, but to allow also for candidates with CSE grade 1 and the lower unofficial grades of O Level pass. This redefinition of the target group allowed the GCE Boards to declare an interest in conducting CEE examinations, and accordingly a number of GCE Boards (OCSEB, UCLES, UODLE, ULSED, and SUJB) formed a consortium, the ‘Inter-Board Committee for the CEE’, to superintend the arrangements for setting up the CEE for first examination in summer 1977.

The first meeting of the Inter-Board Committee was held on 23 September 1976. CEE examinations were offered by the consortium in eight subjects but later extended to include the following: English & Business Communication, Economics, Social Studies, Engineering Technology, Mathematics with Applications, Mathematics (SMP), Statistics, Law & Government, Environmental Studies, Health Science, Home & Living, Electronics, Computer Studies. CEE grades I, II and III were certified as being equivalent to at least a grade C in the O Level examination.

The Department of Education & Science (DES) appointed the Keohane Committee in 1978 to study the Schools Council proposals for a CEE. In its report published in December 1979, the Keohane Committee recommended the introduction of the CEE, but with some differences of emphasis from the pilot schemes in order to help candidates to prepare more effectively for employment.

The DES consultation paper ‘Examinations 16-18’ (c.1980) proposed the introduction of a pre-vocational qualification to be made available in both schools and colleges for young people of 17+ of broad average ability. The document ‘17+ Examinations: A New Qualification’ (c.1982) followed on from the DES consultation paper and set out the Government’s intention of introducing a new national qualification: the Certificate of Pre-Vocational Education (CPVE) which was intended to replace the CEE and a range of pre-employment courses available in further education and some secondary schools. A Working Party of the CEE Inter-Board Committee, set up to discuss the future of the CEE in the light of these proposals, agreed to continue to provide a CEE examination providing there was sufficient demand for it from schools and colleges.

Arrangements for the conduct of the CEE pilot schemes were supported by the DES until 1985 and the introduction of the CPVE. Thereafter, some CSE Boards and the consortium of GCE Boards continued to offer the CEE. It was the Consortium’s intention to revise the suite of CEE syllabuses in a modular format and to increase the pre-vocational emphasis of CEE course. However, the introduction of the GCSE in 1988, and in particular the appeal of one-year courses for GCSE Mature examinations, led to a marked decline in entries in 1988 and 1989 and to the point where the CEE examinations were no longer viable. The Consortium therefore discontinued CEE examinations in 1990.