GCSE & IGCSE Tutors

GCSE stands for General Certificate of Secondary Education. It is part of the National Curriculum taught to pupils aged 14 to 16, with most students taking the exam to attain the qualification in Year 11. The equivalent in Scotland in Standard Grade.

Each school has autonomy in determining how many GCSEs its pupils can take, which could be as few as 7, or as many as 13. The following subjects are compulsory for students:

• Maths
• English Language
• English Literature
• Science

Aside from that, there is a whole range of GCSE subjects on offer ranging from Art through to Urdu. In most cases, students would select their GCSE options in Year 9, although some schools are opting to commence GCSE learning a year early, so students may need to make their choices in Year 8. Which subjects your child selects can often determine which options they can then pursue at A-Level standard, which, in turn, can affect which university courses they can apply to. To that end, we strongly advise that your child takes the selection process seriously and considers their options.

There are five exam boards which offer GCSE qualifications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland:

• Edexcel
• AQA
• OCR
• CCEA
• Eduqas (formerly known as WJEC)

The International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) is an equivalent set of exams to the GCSEs. Up until 2010, it was used exclusively by international schools worldwide, but an increasing number of independent schools have begun to use them instead of GCSE exams.

The key differences are as follows:

• IGCSE exams tend to be slightly more challenging than GCSEs
• IGCSEs usually have less coursework than GCSEs
• The GCSE course content has traditionally been designed for a primarily British audience rather than an international one, and this is reflected in the course content for certain subjects. For example, Shakespeare is a compulsory part of GCSE English Literature, whereas it is optional for IGCSE English.
• In 2014, the UK government decided to stop counting IGCSE results when coming up with the school performance tables (league tables). The exam boards have thus decided to phase out the IGCSE from state schools.
• Independent Schools in the UK can and do continue to offer IGCSE qualifications to their students

IGCSEs are accredited by the following exam boards:

• Edexcel (Pearson Edexcel)
• AQA (Oxford AQQ)
• Cambridge (Cambridge International)

Before 2017, GCSEs were graded on an A* to U scale. When the new curriculum was introduced, the grading system changed and most of the subjects began to be graded from 9 to 1.

The new grading system is designed in such a way that there are comparable points at key grades. For example, the bottom of a grade 4 can be compared to the old grade C. Additionally, A* and A now correspond to the new grades 7, 8 and 9, meaning there is more differentiation at the top end of the grades. If students do not meet the requirements for a grade 1, they would receive a U.

Internationally, Cambridge IGCSEs are typically graded A* to G but UK schools have the option to either use this system or the new 9 to 1 grading system.