Measured lives: the rise of assessment as the engine of change in English schools

The Class of 2000 In the summer of 2000, 16 year olds sitting General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) examinations in England were the first cohort of students to have followed the National Curriculum throughout their eleven years of compulsory schooling from its introduction in September 1989. The National Curriculum was implemented without piloting so they have, in a sense, been the guinea pigs for the new system and its assessment.