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GCE vs IGCSE O levels?

Hey guys,

I am an international student who has recently finished A Level by CIE in a college.
I finished GCE O level endorsed by Edexcel, while most of other international students took IGCSE O levels by CIE.

Most students who apply for competitive universities like Oxbridge, LSE, UCL or Imperial College get A*AA or better for their A level. Well, I have seen some students who took AP or SAT :cool:

who thought that taking only A level would not guarantee the admission to these universities.

Among important criteria which the universities admission teams take account (Personal statement, A level results or equivalent, CV, etc) to accept a student, I hardly doubt that they will look at our O level results. :s-smilie:

There are three types of O level, IGCSE, GCSE and GCE O level (If i am not mistaken) and I heard that most universities see them as equal. The point that I wanna make here is that, while students who take GCE O level usually take 7-9 subjects, those who take IGCSE O level usually take 9-11 subjects! Furthermore, the highest grade you can get for GCE is A while for IGCSE, it is A* :eek:

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So, while most of competitive candidates who took IGCSE get like 9A*-11A*, GCE candidates get like 7A-9A. Obviously, 11A* looks much better than 9A. :frown:

Some of my friends and I have applied for same universities (competitive ones). I got 7A and 1B for my O level. And 3 of my friends got 9A* 1A and 2 10A* respectively for IGCSE O level. I cant stop myself from being quailed before them as GCE and IGCSE are taken as equal. Our A level grades are about the same, 3-4A* and a-b for thinking skills. So O level does matter :s-smilie:

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Basically, this is the background for writing this thread coz I am kinda worried that my O level grades might be underestimated compared to IGCSE O level grades.

So, straight to the question, is GCE O level acknowledged harder than IGCSE O level? :confused:

Thank you in advance :smile:

Reply 1

humzach555

What sould i go for igcse olevels or gce oevels?

Reply 2

Call_me_bo

To answer your question,
[Disclaimer: I think that it's hard to judge the different methods of testing because of the way they ask questions, outcomes etc]

I did 10 IGSCE subjects and one GCE O Level subject. In my experience, the O level subject was definitely harder than the others. When I say harder I mean the content and exam are generally more advanced, even if the advancement is slight, it's there. For example, a lot of the content of S1 for AS Level Mathematics is covered by the O Level subject.
Assuming all subjects follow this trend, I'd say that O Level is harder.

O Level is good to do because it prepares you better for AS/A2 subjects. Not to say that if you do IGCSE you'll fail. It's just a big jump for your mindset and requires you to grow up a little.

However, I do agree that it is unfair when you see someone with 12 A*s but they've earned it because of the volume of content they've managed to learn. IGCSE makes up for what it lacks in content by allowing you to do more subjects. The A* looks attractive to Universities (because it denotes you're a 90th percentile student) but I'm sure if you specify that you did O Level they won't overlook you.

They know all the different exams you could've taken so they'll probably figure out that you can't get an A* in those exams. Not to fear.

Reply 3

Call_me_bo

In the end though, it's your A Levels that make or break the deal

Reply 4

shahzadkamal

Can I choose combination of papers from GCE and igcse to complete o levels from CIE. .I mean I do 2 papers from GCE and remaining from IGCSE so would it be acceptable. How many minimum papers I need to pass if I have already passed two from GCE.