Is igcse science a lot harder than GCSE science

Science coursework is experiments in class time I believe...

The models and posters etc are not coursework... they are supposed to be 'applied learning' :whether they are or not is a whole other debate!

Sorry, I have compared a few syllabuses. DS dies the new AQA 9-1 ones. I choose questions from IGCSE papers as they are more stretching - as they should be.

beans one of the reasons I much preferred DS IGCSE English to DD's GCSE was that there was so much more time left for DS to do other stuff during years 10 and 11 with no CAs or coursework.

He did some interesting stuff those two years.

That said, I really rate the English department at the school from what I've seen of DD's sixth form English since too.

Oh gosh, yes, Thanks for that. I'll remember how bone idle I am when I am wading through 4 hours of marking tomorrow and when my DS's teachers are giving up three hours of their time for 10 days of the Easter holidays to run revision sessions.

I , too, hate the kind of homework you describe but I am not sure it's about being bone idle and that seems a bit harsh!

Anyhooooo, none of this v helpful to poor OP!!

We have properly derailed!

Given that coursework has finished, why do bone idle teacher still impose posters work, and Blue Peter type model structure to be constructed at home. It's us parents who have to get the materials and do the bulk of it. Worse still is doing this in class. YouTube videos and written work should be enough.

Adios, and FO to any type of coursework.

... and the uptake of both A level maths and A level English lit is forecast to decline, too,...

And, since the independents have more curriculum time, generally, coursework is rather a pleasure.

Can I also say that coursework is not at all the same as Controlled Assessments? English GCSEs had CAs for a few years. They had to be done in class in silence, so were effectively exams : bloody boring and time consuming.

iGCSE coursework was not nearly so constrained : drafts were allowed and typing was allowed and talking was allowed. This, to me as a teacher of both, made iGCSE measurably easier (and, of course in many many ways better , if the content hadn't been so dull...) It honestly was not challenging.

But this is the only subject I have direct knowledge and experience of. As I said before my DH says the new maths GCSE is much harder than the current maths iGCSE.

So, it does kind of matter - because students applying for uni in a couple of years will be pitted against each other and, unless something is done to check iGCSE grades against new GCSE grades, there won't be a good (or at least very exact) degree of comparability (even less so than before). I am hopeful the universities are going to have a close look at this...

Originally, of course , Gove wanted the new qualifications to be written by the universities but they pulled out very early on.

Think we established English iGCSE does have coursework happy! Although some posters have said it doesn't, online all the exam boards state it does (although it can be 'optional')

How does telling you the IGCSE is harder justify fees?
I'm struggling to remember but I'm not sure DS2's school ever said they were harder, the MFL teachers in the state sector said they were as in fact they have on here over the years, as did a very experienced Latin tutor,
I suspect many independent schools like no course work which as everyone says is very time consuming, a couple of exams per subject at the end of yr 11, therefore easier to plan and organise,and no government interference. But frankly I think most super selectives see them as a hoop to jump through as their pupils are going to get top grades a necessary evil for university admission another box to tick but little more use than this . So perhaps take the view does it matter if they're easier or harder?

TBH, I am looking forward all new GCSEs except Eng Lang, Eng Lit, and Maths. They will be much harder to score highly at the top end.

Having taught both I think there is very little difference between them. And the new GCSEs are significantly harder. Sorry but I'm afraid a lot of private schools will tell you they are harder - they have to justify those fees somehow 😁. And Universities won't look at them differently so it really doesn't matter which one you sit.

Yes, because if we can have a wider and breadth amount f relevant questions, I think most students and parents would feel a little more confident. At the moment it's a case of boldly going into unknown territory.

That's the ONLY problem portico ??

The only problem with the new specs is that we do not have enough practice papers to practise on. Not sure the first batch of text books have the correct rigour of questions to help students to prepare for the new exams.

Entirely agree Ilikebeans. Too many versions of each GCSE. Too much confusion. My daughter couldn't apply to one medical school because they mistakenly thought her English Lang IGCSE was one that foreign students took and because it didn't have a speaking and listening component they thought she had no proof that she could speak English well. She was born in Britain and we are all British. She has taken part in all the school plays and did debating and is frankly the child in the class most likely to have driven teachers mad with her incessant chattering. In English. Her native tongue. While it was annoying at the time it did make me smile. They should come over and listen to her when she is having a rant.

It appears IGCSE varies tremendously I guess dependent on the exam board. DS2 (CIE) did no course work accept for I think 10% for English. For MFL oral you could not prepare your answers in advance, as I said the teaches at the local 6th form college said IGCSE in MFL was the equivalent to an AS friend who tutors Latin at all levels from CE to under graduate said IGCSE seen paper was the at least equivalent to AS.
But ultimately it's totally irrelevant DS2 with 9 IGCSE's at mainly A*s and a couple of As applied to five top universities and got offered places at all of them as did his friends, universities clearly don't care if they're easier or harder.

You'll never get out!!

Just found an English Lit paper from 1986 which was 2.5 hours long. But of course in those days the 'less able' students did CSEs which might not have been as long.

I didn't know that about the AS etc not exceeding 2 hours.

I don't think long exams are a particularly good idea for any students, but clearly they're more difficult for less able children. And you're right that my son's in a very academic school where a lot of the discussion for many children is about how to get to AStar from A if you're not there already.

Anyway, have wasted too much time on this as I've now fallen down the rabbit hole of old O level papers.

Again, I think you are focusing on the more able (Judging by your comments you are blessed with a very bright DS).

At one point, when AS s were introduced the then Sec of State decreed no exam should exceed 2 hours at AS.

I didn't do O levels ; I did Scottish O grades but I genuinely think they weren't 2 1/4 hours.

It's not just the length. It's that combined with another exam and the hoops they have to jump through in just that one exam,so they can't settle and rest on one thing.

So, there's an essay question on a modern text, followed by an essay question on a poetry anthology (comparing two poems) followed by a question on one unseen poem, followed by a comparative question on that poem and yet another unseen poem. If you don't think that's a hell of a lot, then I would be very surprised.

I do think - and have always thought - that English and Lit are very demanding GCSEs, involving at every stage lengthy essay type responses.

ALL GCSE exam boards have to have the same % of coursework to exam (so 0% these days) as regulated by Ofqual...

It definitely would make sense to have one - but the difference sin GCSE boards are - and always have been- very fine.

It seems the differences between iGCSE boards can be huge?

How long were O levels? Not that it matters but I can't remember. I know some A levels were 3 hours because you basically had 45 minutes per essay, but slightly less because you needed 5 minutes to scan the paper and choose the titles (if you were doing arts).

My son's English Language and Maths exams are all 2 hours long, and one paper in History and the Sciences too, so the extra 15 minutes doesn't sound that bad.

There are several different IGCSE boards just as there are several different GCSE boards and they all seem to involve different amounts of coursework, controlled assessment and final exams. That's why all schools can pick and choose to some extent regardless of GCSE/IGCSE differences. It would make much more sense if there was just one exam in every subject.

My son this year is doing a mixture of Edexcel IGCSE, OCR GCSE and CIE IGCSE. No coursework or speaking in English Language and two final exams - one comprehension, I think, and one creative/directed writing (so pretty much what I did at O level many years ago). No coursework in any of the MFL either though I see that mentioned on some discussions here.

Haha ! Google, not goggle!!