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' In the interests of clarity, I shall capitalise ‘Boards’ when referring to them without a modifier such as
‘examining’ or ‘English’.
2 The meaning of the word ‘matriculation’ has changed along with the purposes of examinations.
Originally referring to ‘enrolling at a university’, it has gradually come to mean ‘achieving the final
school-leaving examination’ as it is now used, for example, in South Africa.
3 This radical step explained University College’s being known in some circles as ‘the godless
institution in Gower Street’ and led to the establishing of King’s college as a means of ensuring an
Anglican voice within the university. Montgomery, R. J. (1965). Examinations: an account of their
evolution as administrative devices in England. London, Longmans.
4 I am indebted to Carol Dyhouse’s research for the full list of England’s nine ‘other’ universities [in
addition to Oxford and Cambridge] that existed by 1939. “...With the dates of their charters, [they]
were: Birmingham (1900), Bristol (1909), Durham (1832), Leeds (1904), Liverpool (1903), London
(1836), Manchester (1903), Reading (1926) and Sheffield (1905).” With the exception of Reading,
each was involved in an examining board. There were of course also the “University Colleges, with
their dates of foundation, [which] were Exeter (1901), Hull (1926), Leicester (1922), Nottingham
(1903) and Southampton (1905). (Dyhouse, 2002. Footnote 8 page 46)
5 Cyril Norwood had a long innings in education. As a young headmaster of a Bristol grammar school,
he provided evidence to the Dyke Acland Report in 1911, and then moved to the private sector where
he eventually became head of Harrow School.
6 The nine included the Welsh board; this study concerns only the English boards which then numbered
eight.
7 As it happened, BTEC and its succeeding body Edexcel were to become bywords for administrative
incompetence among teachers, a reputation which anecdotal evidence continues to sustain.
8 The Capey Review was commissioned to consider structural weaknesses in the GNVQ assessment
structures and reported in 1995. A parallel investigation into NVQs was conducted in the same year
and was published as the Beaumont Report. Both grew out of the perception that “the problems of the
qualifications system, arising from the 1991 White Paper, were becoming apparent.” P 197, Spours, K.
and M. Young (1997b). Towards a Unified Qualifications System for Post-Compulsory Education:
Barriers and Strategies. Dearing and Beyond: 14-19 Qualifications, Frameworks and Systems. A.
Hodgson and K. Spours. London, Kogan Page.
9 On 30 October 2005,1 heard a reference to “Cambridge Assessment” in a television news broadcast.
An internet search revealed that '"Cambridge Assessment is the new brand name of the University of
Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES)1 offering qualifications through three examining