Many private schools in the UK opt to do the IGCSE, the International General Certificate of Secondary Education, a 2 year course undertaken in most subjects with exams taken only at the end of two years, ie in the summer of Year 11. So they are more like the older O’ level system. These exams are thought to be more academic by some people perhaps because a whole 2 years worth of work is examined at one go and individual sections cannot be resat to improve an overall grade.
GCSE’s (undertaken by many but not all British Curriculum schools in the UAE) are much more modular in the way they are taught and examined. For example the Edexcel GCSE Science 360 exam covers Physics, Chemistry and Biology for the first year with multiple choice exams taken twice during the year. The final grade is an amalgamation of these scores and an average of internally assessed activities (IAA) marked at school. This IAA part of the exam is not simple to revise for. Each element of multiple choice may be resat once. A good level of vocabulary is essential for the multiple choice questions which some people think are often designed to catch out rather than show off knowledge. I understand though that this exam will be scrapped in favour of more short answer question papers where students get credited for what they do know.
Additional science is undertaken at the end of Year 11 and again covers Physics, Chemistry and Biology, so at the end of 2 years, most students gain 2 science GCSE’s, Science and Additional Science. Some students are invited by their school to undertake a third science GCSE, Extension Science. The IGCSE however would be 3 Individual science exams leading to 3 IGCSE’s Physics, Chemistry and Biology.
Some schools do a mixture of both IGCSE and GCSE. It’s rare to be able to choose once you are in a school which route you want to take, this is pretty much set by the school.
The AQA English GCSE 4704 course is also modular in how it is taught and examined, with exam type assessments starting as early as October of year 10 for some routes. Schools can choose to teach English, English Language and English Literature side by side over the course of 2 years and may follow a range of different texts and aspects of English to study. It does feel however (at least from my experience) that the whole of year 10 is a constant exam year as far as English is concerned. Resists are not easy to do and impossible for some modules such as the long essays written over 4 mornings at school under exam conditions involving quite in depth analysis.
Apparently the UK Government has agreed to pay state schools (non fee paying) to do English IGCSE from this year despite the GCSE AQA 4704 exam being very new therefore many more schools will opt for the conventional 2 year course leading to a separate IGCSE for English Literature and Language.
Make sure you choose the right route for your child and familiarize yourself with the exam board for each examination, Edexcel, AQA and OCR seem to be the most popular.
Did you find this article helpful? Do you have any questions relating to this post ? Let me know by writing in the comment box below. Do leave your email address in the subscription box above to ensure you receive subsequent posts talking about the IB diploma vs A levels. Click here for the link between GCSE and IB
The British system just requires A levels to get into University, the US system requires SATs to be done. The IB is accepted in the UK and Europe, also Australia without having to sit extra SATs. The British education system is in a state of flux at the moment with E Bac, and GCSE’s going back to O levels. I always thought that the basic Indian education system till age 11 was a great foundation for any change in curriculum at secondary school, but your daughter being happy and well adjusted with uncondtional support from parents will ultimately determine how successful she will be, anywhere. Hope this helps. Have a look at the GCSE and IB link as mentioned above and please like and share http://www.doindubai.com, it’s offered as a free service, thanks Monica.
hi..i’d like to enquire about O levels . IF my daughter studies CBSE , and then A levels, what exams does she have to write if she has to apply to UK/US universities and go abroad? if my daughter studies O levels , then what exams would she have to do ? She is currently in a CBSE school , but unable to cope with the syllabus. So we thought we would put her ina british school ( like Dubai Gems ) . She is 4th grade now..but we wnat to plan for her future.
I think it would be really difficult exactly for that reason, gcse’ s are modular and controlled assessments are an integral part of the course, that’s why alot of home schooled students can only do the IGCSE’s apart from subjects like drama and art which of course are not just one external exam at the end of 2 years, hope this helps, thanks Monica.
hey monica i wanted to know if someone who is home schooled can do there GCSE since coursework is relevent????
Glad you found it useful, I think the best place to find information is from people who have gone through something themselves and are happy to share it, please pass on to anyone else you think would find it helpful, kindest regards, Monica
This is a great blog Monica – and it will be extremely useful for me over the next 3 years. Thanks. Tricia