Help to choose my exam board

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Should I switch to private?

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Which one should i choose Edexcel/CAIE?

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i can't tell you whether to switch to private or not - it depends on you. Its certainly not for everyone. If you want to do homeschooling, then you NEED to understand that it requires you to be VERY VERY skilled at time management. it is so, so easy to get distracted when you are doing everything at home. and your social life is also very important. you said you're planning extra curricular clubs if you switch to private - do you mean clubs where you will interact w/people? i have experience with private schooling and a lack of social life, and it is very depressing to have to do everything on your own. also, by private do you mean that your school offers an online course or that you will do everything by yourself without a provider? trust me, if you plan on doing the latter, it won't be easy, because you will have to plan everything by yourself, and you won't have teachers to advise you. if you plan on doing private without a course from your school, it's better to find an online provider [i have experience with Wolsey Hall Oxford, which offers all CIE subs apart from one Edexel, Pyschology] and sign up w/them which will make it much, much easier. but it does cost a decent amount of money [around 3000 per year if you're doing 7 subs]. but they do offer discounts if you have siblings who also want to switch/a specific amount of subjects. also Wolsey offers LOR as there are mocks/assignments

2.

what country are you in? It is generally easier to find exam centres for CIE if you are international [if you are curious about exam centres, I can always send you a list of all the Edexel/CIE centres in your country, my provider gave it to me]. I don't know what your teacher said about Edexel being harder - CIE is generally considered harder because they have international standards to live up to.
Here is a really useful link -
https://www.tutopiya.com/blog/cambridge-vs-edexcel-a-complete-guide/
CIE is [generally] more expensive... so if you're on a tight budget, Edexel is your best bet
if you're not in the UK, CIE overall is better though

1.

I would say I can manage my studies with my O level/GCSEs studies along with my extra Curriculars. Actually I'm a Olympiad guy ( Olympiad is a super competitive exam where they test the problem solving skill of students, it can be in any subject e.g Physics,Math, Programming, Economics, Chemistry, Biology etc.) As my GCSEs or whatever is far away(in 2027) I want to do more Olympiads and clubs and non profits by doing these things I think I would be able to connect with my social life. Cause school is literally pain. I feel school a burden, I don't understand a single concepts they teach but when I take online classes from UK, Pakistan teachers it seems easy to me, that means I have a learning style where I love to learn by myself. I guess doing private will give me more time to prepare independently ( I'll take tuition from online) and will help me to prepare for AP,ACT as well as for Olympiads and other Extracurricular activities.

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Actually I searched for something which is easy but after searching a lot I found both are the same as I want to do private I shouldn't go for CAIE cause it has a practical section ( they also have alternative to practical but I don't like their syllabus 😅) but Edexcel has practical but it's all written. Actually I'm so younger (11 years old) to make decisions of my life and my parents aren't that much experience with exam boards so they aren't able to help me. If I ask my school they'll tell me you shouldn't leave our school ( as I mentioned I'll do school after GCSEs in A level) , like it makes sense that if you ask your school should I leave your school they wouldn't encourage you to do this. I have seen exam centres and exam fees these are okay for me. As you asked why I want to join US colleges so I would say their environment and curriculum and also their selection process ( holistic process). In case of UK I would try to imperial/oxford if I don't get into any US college and Us colleges have more scholarships opportunity. The degree:- I'm still unsure cause I'm exploring various Fields but there's a risk of Automation/Artificial intelligence. But end of the day I want to be a entrepreneur. I guess now you can help with this things. Sorry if I made any mistakes cause I wrote so fast.

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Ohhh okay, if you take online tuition that's settled than, you'll get all the help you need. And participating in Olympiads - wow, that's amazing. Do you have any specific non-profit work you have in mind? I don't think you're old enough yet, but ucas.com has many virtual work experiences you can do

2.

You said you're 11 - what school year are you in? That's a bit too young to worry about this, but I get it, when I was your age, I already had my GCSE folders prepared lol
Also if imperial/oxford is an option, 7 GCSEs isn't enough, 9-10-11 would be a safer bet. If you want to be an entrepreneur, it goes without saying that you should take economics/business studies for your subs [economics is harder]. If you're into AI, I'd recommend additional maths [not just the extended syllabus], as coding requires intense mathematical knowledge and many employers/unis really like when people take further maths.
Oh and this is a really funny coincidence, I just saw this on an ad on this forum -
https://www.imperial.ac.uk/be-inspired/global-summer-school
when you're 16 you can sign up if you want imperial

-if i was in your situation, I would pick CIE and switch to private w/extra curricular [LOTS of extra curriculars, US unis put a heavy emphasis on this] . If US unis are even an option, CIE is very international while Edexel is catered to the UK. If you plan on doing private, it is much easier to find free resources for CIE than Edexel. When you start GCSEs just message me, I'll send you my recommended resources. And, I don't know what you mean about not liking the syllabus. I do CIE triple science, its really engaging and interesting, and the alternative to practical is great.
If you want something easy, Edexel is generally easier [especially for english/maths]... but unis aren't stupid, they know this and it might affect your application.

make sure you do lots of non-profit volunteering.

wait - you said you're taking them in 2027 - do you mean starting them in 2 years... or finishing them?


personally, I'm planning on taking a gap year after a levels for volunteering, work experience and camps. I might do a programme in another country.
then I might do uni in Europe or in the UK [my school offers various opportunities/programmes in other countries]
just an idea, if you want to start your GCSEs a year earlier [seeing as you're obviously very smart from participating in Olympiads] you won't miss any time by deciding to take a gap year too. but be careful, some unis might not like it

if i were you, i'd switch to private rn with all my subs on CIE [better for international unis in the US - the curriculum really isn't that different and it's much simpler for private learning], finish LS [year 7,8,9] quickly with private, do your GCSEs, take a levels [while taking them i'd recommend travelling to the US with student programmes to get a feel for it, when you're 16], and then apply for uni in your country of choice

oh and you'll definitely get into a US college. they have generally high acceptance rates unless you're shooting for the stars [ivy league/MIT].

if you want a LOR [and probably also a high school diploma for US unis] you need to reapply to your school after IGCSEs or sign up for a levels with an provider like Wolsey

I'm not an expert but... I feel like this way is better

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Actually I'll introduce my first ever non-profit ( you could say passion project to solve a community problem, I did a bit research on it about our society problem, how it can be solved etc)

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I'm currently in 8th. Actually I would 8 I didn't mention Bangla cause I'm unsure about it, as some unis require proficiency in your mother language so that's why willing to do this also. And I explored Add.Maths but I didn't like this( cause I'm not into maths that much, I already did college algebra course and I'll cover it by AP calc BC, Math Olympiads. I guess these will help me). So about not liking the syllabus, actually my thoughts are silly but I always look for easy but nothing is easy I have to put a lot on this, and Edexcel has some flexibility in A levels but I'm confused about the myth as my school told me Edexcel is hardest one and It has grading scale (A**). Ig these all are lol. CAUSE I have seen that it's (9-1). Even 9,8 also counted as A*. But I also assume syllabus is same in Edexcel and Cambridge. I'm preferring Edexcel cause it doesn't have any disadvantages ig and universities accept both. My worry is if I can't do well like if the myths are true. As I'm taking 8 subs so I'll divide into 2 sittings (e.g. January/June/November). Overall I guess grades do matter, curriculum doesn't. Actually I'm targeting the top ones(e.g. MIT, Ivy). My end question is can you make a difference in Edexcel International GCSES and CAIE O level ( according to your personal experience).

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Actually I'm bit tensed. Like if i do well in Cambridge or if i do good in edexcel and bad in Cambridge . These thoughts are just killing me.What do you think?

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Should i add one more subject? If i do what it should be except for Add.Maths

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don't let these thoughts get to you.

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as you said you want to be an entrepreneur, having an MFL is really useful for this and lots of people say that unis adore people who have them. are you doing one right now in year 8? I'm doing French IGCSE rn, but you can take German/Spanish too [as long as you have experience w/those in KS3]. otherwise, in your situation, i'd recommend economics or geography. I'm doing english lit/history but if you don't have any plans of taking theoretical subs at a level you don't have to [although I would recommend english lit because it's extra proof that you're proficient in English]

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official past papers [i opened biology as an example]