The Midland Examining Group (MEG) was an

examination board An examination board (or exam board) is an organization that sets examinations, is responsible for marking them, and distributes the results. Some are run by governmental entities; some are run as not-for-profit organizations. List of national ex ...

, operating in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

and

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. It offered a range of

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of subjects taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, having been introduced in September 1986 and its first exams taken in 1988. State schools ...

and Certificate of Achievement qualifications. It became part of OCR in 1998.

History

The board was one of a number of new 'examining groups' formed to develop syllabuses for the GCSE qualification, which was due to replace the GCE O Level and CSE qualifications in 1988. MEG was formed by the

University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate The University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES), branded as Cambridge Assessment, was a non-teaching department of the University of Cambridge. It merged with Cambridge University Press to form Cambridge University Press and A ...

, the Oxford and Cambridge Schools Examination Board and Southern Universities' Joint Board for School Examinations GCE boards and the East Midlands Regional Examinations Board and The West Midlands Examinations Board CSE boards in 1985. Though this was not a merger and the boards remained independent of each other, the East Midlands and West Midlands boards, who stopped offering CSEs after they were phased out in 1987, now only offered exams as part of MEG, although they continued their other services such as in-service training, OFSTED inspections, and prison service education. The operation and processing of the GCSE was shared out between the constituent boards with the Oxford, Cambridge, Bristol, Nottingham and Birmingham centres each taking responsibility for a number of the subjects offered. The University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate, Oxford and Cambridge Schools Examination Board and Southern Universities' Joint Board each continued to offer A Levels independently. Despite its regional name, schools were free to pick which exam board to use for their qualifications and MEG eventually set 30% of all GCSE qualifications taken each year. The board also wrote syllabuses for the Certificate of Achievement (later becoming the Entry Level Certificate), aimed at students working below GCSE level. In 1993, MEG became part of the

(UCLES), though it retained its separate identity. Around this time, UCLES also took over the East Midland Regional Examination Board. UCLES's A Level division, the Oxford and Cambridge Examinations and Assessment Council (OCEAC), took over both the Southern Universities' Joint Board and later, in 1995, the Oxford and Cambridge Board. The Midland Examining Group (MEG) headquarters offices were then in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

at the UCLES offices in Hills Road, although some MEG subject officers and part of the exam processing were still based in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

in the TWMEB offices at Mill Wharf.http://birmingham.enquira.co.uk/education-training/education-agencies-authorities/midland-examining-group-west-midland-office-l15647.html Following the government decision to establish "unitary" exam boards, UCLES announced in 1997 that it was, with the Royal Society of Arts Examinations Board, launching the

Oxford, Cambridge and RSA Examinations Oxford, Cambridge and RSA Examinations (OCR) is an examination board which sets examinations and awards qualifications (including GCSEs and A-levels). It is one of England, Wales and Northern Ireland's five main examination boards. OCR is bas ...

(OCR) exam board, which would take over running all UCLES (including MEG and OCEAC) and RSA qualifications in the

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from October 1, 1998, though it continued to use the old syllabuses until they expired. The West Midlands Examinations Board became part of OCR. The MEG name appeared on some, but not all, of the Summer 1999 exam papers, but the certificates for that year, and all subsequent exam papers, featured the OCR name only.

References

{{Authority control Examination boards in the United Kingdom Organizations established in 1985 Organizations disestablished in 1998 1985 establishments in the United Kingdom