What is a CIE??

I'm a bit confused......what is a CIE?
Just wondering, as I know these students have exams in October?!! I do all my A levels on the OCR Syllabus...what is the difference between this and a CIE?
Thanks!

Reply 1

YMLSTAR

CIE stands for Cambridge International Examinations. Well its an examining board just like AQA, Edexcel. The exams are conducted by Cambridge Assessment which also makes OCR papers for UK students. international students like me do cambridge papers and I can tell you they are a little tougher than UK papers (AQA, OCR). And they are not modular. they are sat in june and november. the syllabus is not that much different from the other boards but the way the questions are asked can be.

Reply 2

Fizzer

CIE is Cambridge International Examinations.

These exams are normally taken by international students in various approved centres. The idea is very similar to the UK examinations, but a lot more organised as the population who takes it is much larger.

The level of difficulty in CIE exams is a lot higher than the English boards. It doesn't follow a module format, but instead the entire exam has to be sat in one sitting. The only thing that you can carry forward, if you do decide to re-sit that exam is the practical paper in Science subjects.

You can sit the majority of CIE exams twice a year - 'October/November' and 'May/June.' Although CIE states that the level of difficulty is the same, it is an established fact that the October exams are a lot harder. Bear in mind that not all subjects or papers can be sat in the October-November session. You need to consult the syllabus for more details on availability.

CIE is very well suited for candidates who are self-teaching. There are also tons of resources for past papers on the internet.

I don't know about the UK, but the British Council is the best centre to do CIE examinations.

For more information, go to: Cambridge International Examinations.