I'm from Hong Kong and did 9 IGCSEs and 1 GCSE in drama. Wondering what the difference is! Whenever I tell people I did IGCSE, they stare at me and say, oh, you mean GCSE. ???
Most schools abroad do IGCSEs and they are often considered to be harder than GCSEs. However, UCAS recognises GCSEs to be the equivalent to IGCSEs.
I got this from wikipedia: The IGCSE allows teaching to be placed in a localised context, making it relevant in different regions. It is suitable for students whose first language may not be English and this is acknowledged throughout the examination progress.
GCSEs are what most students in the UK take as they are the most widely available qualification.
They're officially viewed as the same, but really regarded as harder than a GCSE. Maths IGCSE is particularly popular in the UK, becoming common amongst the top league-table schools, as it has no coursework and an extra module instead – it's viewed as a much more challenging and overall harder course. Science IGCSE is also gradually becoming more common.
This is right. I don't think state schools can take IGCSEs though - I'm not sure why. I think it is something to do with the fact that they receieve funding from the government. I'm not sure where I read this - perhaps on the BBC news websites. IGCSEs are becoming popular with private schools though.
I know people at a local independent school which has just switched over to IGCSE who are annoyed at not being able to get the resources, but one would think there would still be good resources for revision and stuff...
It is that as well... as far as I know, there is no coursework but it is definitely international. Hence the name; it isn't NCGCSE (for No Coursework)...
Of course it would be no coursework, how dop ypu expect the examiners to mark a whole load of pieces and send them all back to their relative countries?
Of course it would be no coursework, how dop ypu expect the examiners to mark a whole load of pieces and send them all back to their relative countries?
The cost would be enormous.
actually you can chose if you want coursework or not in the IGCSEs, but you have to do an extra paper if you don't
Jules is right. if you don't do coursework, you need to take a "coursework" paper as an exam. It's a bit like doing practicals on paper (at least for science)
Hi, im in year 10-thailand international school im doing IGCSE for every single subject and yes there is coursework. i do it for english, history and art. why wouldnt there be coursework, its just the same.and ur right, it does cost alot, but hey...its international, ofcourse the price would be high. ==' personally, i have tried alot of papers from GCSE and IGCSE and IGCSE is way harder. thats my opinion anyways.
im from hong kong too igcse is actually harder cuz im taking them next yr but my teacher is already asking me to consider the options. gcse is more standard though but they are recognised as exactly the same
im from hong kong too i think a igcse is harder... thats what everybody in my skl says. im taking them nxt yr >< but they are recognised as the same I think.