IGCSE's harder than GCSE's?

Yes. You are an arrogant fool. Why don't you share the stupid and idiotic message you sent to Usycool1....

IGCSE may be harder(subjective), but it doesnt mean GCSE are easy. Seriously stop acting like an arrogant prick, its a really bad quality.

Thankyou what are igcses then? What's the difference and I am going into year 10 next year to


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iGCSEs aren't harder. They're easier to use, more friendly to navigate, and designed for complete beginners. They're really expensive though. Personally I don't see the advantage over normal GCSEs.

IGCSE may be harder(subjective), but it doesnt mean GCSE are easy. Seriously stop acting like an arrogant prick, its a really bad quality.

IGCSE's are harder than GCSE's. I did both but people who do pure IGCSE's often take under 9 subjects because the syllabus has greater depth. With IGCSE you are introduced to concepts which are usually taught at AS or sometimes even A2 level, hence students are often more prepared. There is also no coursework which increases exam pressure. Personally, I'm happy I did IGCSE's because didn't feel the jump from gcse to Alevel as much as some. However the drawback is, universities treat them the same despite the fact that one is arguably harder than the other, so it made me think what was the point of the extra work? Having said this, I am in no way saying regular gcse's are easy.

IGCSE's are harder than GCSE's. I did both but people who do pure IGCSE's often take under 9 subjects because the syllabus has greater depth. With IGCSE you are introduced to concepts which are usually taught at AS or sometimes even A2 level, hence students are often more prepared. There is also no coursework which increases exam pressure. Personally, I'm happy I did IGCSE's because didn't feel the jump from gcse to Alevel as much as some. However the drawback is, universities treat them the same despite the fact that one is arguably harder than the other, so it made me think what was the point of the extra work? Having said this, I am in no way saying regular gcse's are easy.

So, as I'm going into year 10 this September and starting a mix of igcses and gcses, I was just wondering if there is any large difference in workload between the 2 qualifications. I've already started my IGCSE,s in the three seperate sciences, which I've found incredibly challenging and have had to work very hard for as there is a lot of course content. Other people on TSR often say that they found GCSE's incredibly easy, or that you only need to revise if you want above a C. I know that with the igcses I've started, not revising would get me a U. Is this because IGCSE's are harder than normal gcse's?


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IGCSE's are the international version of gcses. They have no coursework, no modules, all the exams are taken at the end of the course. They also have a higher course content, which go beyond GCSE's and better preparation for a level. I don't know if state schools are allowed to do them, but most private schools do.


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From personal experience, IGCSEs are meant to:
(a) make it easier for students who have NO previous experience in a subject to catch up, so that students from poor educational backgrounds have a fair chance;
(b) give a standard that's acceptable for most international qualifications, so they can go on to do IB or A Levels or whatever;
(c) provide options for all schools, even if they have limited resources (flexible teaching scheme) and have accessible exams for homeschooled students and non-exam centre students (alternatives to practicals and coursework).

In short, the subject matter's larger, the teaching is so flexible that self-studying is feasible, and the syllabus are designed so that most countries will accept them. BUT the grade boundaries are also very flexible. The syllabi are a little different from the GCSEs, and they include lots of simple DIY practicals, but there really isn't that much of a difference. We use GCSE study guides, textbooks... Some people might find it harder, some easier, but in my opinion, they just help people in different conditions and from different Primary School systems to sit a standard exam They really are quite awesome, and maybe a step up from GCSEs for foreign languages, a little more application-oriented in Sciences.

Oh, and obviously, they're more 'international minded'—case studies, Lit, etc. But that's about it. (Sorry for the super long post, BTW)

The funny thing is, it's so obvious that the majority of people doing IGCSEs would not argue the same case if they were doing GCSEs. Meaning they are simply saying they are much harder to look "more intelligent" when it comes to results. What's the point in looking down on people because they only do GCSEs? Most of us don't have a choice. And at the end of the day, you're not going to get further in life than people doing GCSEs. You will not be favoured on the basis of that. Even if IGCSEs ARE slightly more difficult, there's no need to be so arrogant about it, just be proud of how well you may achieve!

Regardless as to whether they are more difficult, an A* is an A* whether it be achieved through IGCSE or GCSE. So instead of downgrading people, take other considerations into account

I am picking that up from post 26? you knew that right?

Hey, what did you mean about lit? I'm just really curious haha! I did IGCSE English and the texts we studied were quite UK based (with the exception of the Great Gatsby as for the novel), as we did a Shakespeare piece and our poems were mostly by British poets.

Also, I don't know if I'm helping here, but as far as I know, GCSE is much easier...our teacher once gave us a GCSE Spanish paper and according to the grade boundaries I got an A* while I got a B in an IGCSE paper afterwards. This was during the first year I'd started learning Spanish, mind you, so that A* was wholly undeserved.

And then again, I'm guessing that most people would be talking about Edexcel IGCSE, so I can't really say a thing, since I take CIE and don't know much about Edexcel IGCSE.

You cannot adjust the grade boundaries soo much that you make a hard IGCSE exam the same equivalent of a GCSE exam. No matter what the boundaries are , IGCSE is a lot tougher. Check any exam paper without being bias and you will see. Do you think that in GCSE the grade boundries arent adjusted?? Its done in both. You cannot say which exam boards brings it boundaries lower than the other without any proof.
PS for example check the 2011 IGCSE math paper , and compare it to the 2011 GCSE math paper. There is a world of a difference.
(No matrices and transformation wtf!)

For Lit, there are two different syllabi: 0486 and 0476 (CIE). 0476 is accredited for use in the UK, and it's very similar to the GCSE syllabus as far as set texts go—British authors, compulsory Shakespeare, etc. We do the same syllabus, not world literature, just that our code is different (0486) and we have different set texts: For the 2014 exam year, for example, we had a choice between Nigerian, Indian, and British authors for our prose set texts. Which makes it great for us because the government recommends African books for Lit, so this way we can run an international syllabus and still receive recognition from the gov't 'cause we offer African authors' books

And for foreign languages, the IGCSE is definitely a grade or so more difficult.

I thought CIE was the more popular one? At least that's the way it is in Africa—the name 'Cambridge' strikes awe into the hearts of parents/teachers/principals