Drop from GCSE to A levels

[Guest55]

students who have done iGCSEs tend to make the transition more easily to AS.

Proof? We have no problems with students moving to A level because we teach all the GCSE syllabus and ensure algebra skills are fluent.

Many schools take short cuts because A* questions are so few and that's why there is an issue.

Bucks GS have very different entry criteria to their Sixth forms and I suspect that this is also true in Gloucestershire.

[Amber]

Hi Amber, did you say that your son at STRS will be taking a number of iGCSE's as opposed to GCSE's? I was of the understanding that these were tougher than our GCSE's which would make the school's GCSE results more impressive (if it includes the iGCSE results). I've tried to find out from the various GS's websites but can't find any reference to it, do you know if many of the Gloucs GS's encourage the children to take the iGCSE over the GCSE? Our local private school offers it for bright children but only in maths so I'm not very familiar with which iGCSE's are available, perhaps it's only maths? Many thanks.

You can do iGCSE in any subject pretty much. Yes, STRS do them, not sure what in apart from sciences and now English, I gather via my son. I have taught a bit of iGCSE English and in my view it is more traditional and for me, a better exam than the AQA nonsense my daughter was put through last year - all meedja-based, presentational features etc; and the WJEC nonsense I put my own students through too, for that matter. I really would not try and choose a school on that basis - schools change from year to year (one I know of, a GS not in this area, actually switched one course midway through!). Cairo has the best advice - go and look at a school and decide how it feels. There is more to life than a school with high results.

[EmeraldE]

GCSE v's iGCSE....there is some work to be done here. I always assumed that igcse was more rigorous but that may not be the full story at all.
In this article from TES
http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6055169" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
They say, and I quote
IGCSE success rates are also significantly better than those achieved by independent schools in conventional GCSEs, data from the Joint Council for Qualifications show.

Also
Traditionally, marks awarded in most exams have followed a "bell-shaped" curve, with most pupils gaining the middle grades and fewer doing very well or very badly. Edexcel's IGCSE results for UK candidates, however, follow a different pattern, with A* the most commonly awarded grade, followed by A, followed by B, and so on down to G grade.

The issue is that igcse, in its current form, does not map the national curriculum and therefore easy to adopt for indie schools but less so for state (although I believe this is being looked into).The article goes on to examine the igcse and the gcse Maths papers. An interesting read if nothing else.

ALso see here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7924496.stm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[sandman]

Academies, along with private schools, do not need to follow the national curriculum. They must provide a broad and balanced curriculum. This has been the case for at least 18 months, in the case of academies.

[sherry_d]

IGCSE Maths is slightly different content from GCSE, but not much. Edexcel IGSCE has an odd bit of calculus, but it is fairly simple so not too difficult. CIE have a few other odd things (such as matrices) but not calculus and is probably the hardest one as it has a different feel about it. Unlike GCSE, IGCSE is also 100% calculator. GCSE Maths has been getting more wordy so IGCSE may be easy for a child who prefers complex but straightforward questions rather than the wordy verbal reasoning type. I looked at last year's AQA GCSE paper which contained about 30% functional maths or shall we say "maths applied to the real world".

IGCSE are meant for the international market so the Maths can't be too wordy like GCSE as English will be second language to some of the candidates. For the same reason, English IGCSE is more traditional and CIE is without anthology.

I think the reason some schools may prefer IGCSE is less hola hoops for them to jump without the burden of coursework etc. The other reason for better IGCSE isn't because they are easy as such, most schoools that do them are super selectives. Middle of the road indies may have one or two subjects as IGCSE if any at all. My thoughts are IGSCEs work well for the bright while GCSEs work better for the average student as they can have several bites on the exam rather than sitting one or two long exams at the end. There was a Geography IGCSE exam I looked at which is a one 3 hour paper, if a child messes up or don't finish that one paper that's it they are doomed.

[Guest55]

That's EXACTLY why Maths GCSE is better than iGCSE - there's no coursework and the questions are more problem solving ie more similar to A level.