To only now now realise that iGCSEs are harder than GCSEs...

[dontgetmestartedwillu]

So, around the time when the new, reformed GCSEs were introduced in state schools there was lots of discussion about this and the conclusion from Mumsnetters was that the GCSEs were harder (no coursework).

Quite a few heated discussions on here on the topic a while back! But now I have heard from friends who work as a tutor (ex teacher) hat that isn't strictly true.

Yes, in some subjects there is typically coursework elements for the iGCSE but the exam questions are much less scaffolded for the iGCSEs and so require more breadth, depth and problem solving. She said there may be one really tough (impossible) question in the GCSE but, overall, the questions are requiring higher level problem solving skills in the iGCSEs.

My tutor (ex teacher) friend says the iGCSE actually prepares kids better for A-levels particularly in maths/STEM.

I didn't have a clue this was the case.

All this time I've just assumed that private school kids had all the advantage and that the state school kids had a much tougher ride to get good GCSEs versus their private school counterparts (who already benefit from smaller class sizes and more resources).

In 2017 DS did AQA iGCSE for all the sciences and got all A*

And?

in 2024 my dc did WJEC GCSE for all the sciences and got all A*. It adds nothing to this post.

I don’t know if iGCSE maths or GCSE maths is harder, but I do know that doing WJEC level 2 additional maths was useful for those going on to do A level maths and further maths.

Both mine did iGCSEs for sciences. They both continued with different sciences at A level. Both said that they had to go over content that they had done previously because those that had done GCSEs hadn't covered the material previously.

That is interesting.

I wonder whether perhaps the GCSEs, if they don't go through as much depth, instead make the exam questions harder, whereas for iGCSE - if more breath/depth - the question less so as it's covering more ground?

All I know is my Dd still has numerous exams to go (French today eng lang and geog tomorrow more next week) her best friend at a private school doing igcses in similar subjects has finished!

I teach and examine both. IGCSE 9 in my subject is the equivalent of a GCSE 7.

This may well not be the case in other subjects. I have students who do GCSE in school and take IGCSE as private candidates and mostly, their grades bear this equation out.

There is also a lot of variation between the exam boards however despite them being theoretically the same standard.

I think there are different exam boards, though? If they're already finished it probably just means the exams were less spread apart?

Gosh, that's really interesting. May I ask in which subject? That is really quite a stark difference.

I'm an invigilator, there are still IGCSES and normal GCSEs going on, just depends on the subjects.