GCSE Coursework & Past Papers

What's coursework and what're Past Papers???
I'm an international student living in a small town attending a very- let's say not so advanced/sophisticated private school. They just recently (aka this year) added the option to be able to study GCSEs instead of the local General Secondary Education Certificate Examination that almost everyone in town is used to taking, and they haven't looked into it at all and barley know anything about GCSEs/A levels.
Needless to say they haven't mentioned anything about "Coursework" or "Past Papers" and I'd like to know what they are since everyone seems to be talking about them and saying they help a lot.
Thanks!
.
(tl;dr I want to know what's coursework and what're past papers and how do I get them ig).

Reply 1

Muttley79

Original post by ItzLexiii

First you need to know which exam course you are doing ie the exam board and the specification.

Each exam board has a website where past papers are loaded about a year after they are sat and where all the syllabus details can be found [these are called specifications].

Reply 2

ItzLexiii

Original post by Muttley79

Exam board is Pearson Edexcel.
But what are past papers?? Like what do they include or have?? And what's coursework too??

Reply 3

neko no basu

Original post by ItzLexiii

Exam board is Pearson Edexcel.
But what are past papers?? Like what do they include or have?? And what's coursework too??

past papers are the exam papers from previous years that you can use to do some practice

coursework or nea (non examined assessment) is work that counts towards your final grade but is not done as an exam. Not every subject will have coursework, you will have to check.

Reply 4

Muttley79

Original post by ItzLexiii

Exam board is Pearson Edexcel.
But what are past papers?? Like what do they include or have?? And what's coursework too??

This is the Edexcel website: https://qualifications.pearson.com/en/qualifications/edexcel-gcses.html

You now need to know whether they are GCSEs or iGCSEs ... and which specification

.Past papers are the papers sat in previous years - you can also find mark schemes [how marks were awarded] and examiners reports [comments on how well questions were answered and sometimes example answer are commented on]

Reply 5

ItzLexiii

Original post by neko no basu

Oh Ok thx!
One more question, If I want to SELF-study a subject... Should I look for subjects with or without coursework? Sorry if it's a stupid question, I'm very new to this 😅😅

Reply 6

ItzLexiii

Original post by Muttley79

Thank You so much!!

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 7

IQuitTSR

Original post by ItzLexiii

Oh Ok thx!
One more question, If I want to SELF-study a subject... Should I look for subjects with or without coursework? Sorry if it's a stupid question, I'm very new to this 😅😅

You should check the specs to see if the subject is available to private candidates

usually: coursework = private candidates can't take it (unless you are lucky and the center is happy to mark it, if possible)

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 8

Muttley79

Original post by ItzLexiii

Oh Ok thx!
One more question, If I want to SELF-study a subject... Should I look for subjects with or without coursework? Sorry if it's a stupid question, I'm very new to this 😅😅

It will have to be without coursework unless your school offer the subject and are willing to mark it.

Reply 9

neko no basu

Original post by ItzLexiii

Oh Ok thx!
One more question, If I want to SELF-study a subject... Should I look for subjects with or without coursework? Sorry if it's a stupid question, I'm very new to this 😅😅

as the above users have said, you'll be better off doing non coursework subjects unless you can find some way around it with the marking.
I think most coursework subjects are the practical subjects such as music or drama which will be hard for private candidates to do.

Geography also has fieldwork which you can theoretically complete on your own although it's going to be more difficult as you'll have to organise everything yourself. With that said, I didn't go on either of my geography GCSE fieldwork trips (because reasons) and I managed fine. As long as you research how to answer the questions.