All 9s at GCSE….

[CurlewKate]

Less than 1.5% of candidates get all 9s at GCSE. I wonder why so many of them seem to be Mumsnetter’s children! 🤣

In my subject, the distance and skills required by A Level are best met by GCSE. IGCSE is a better preparation for a more general range of content, such as International Baccalaureate Diploma.

A teacher and an examiner (me) of both.

It's a comment on the fact that private school pupils are advantaged at every point. It's a comment on the fact that for the brief window, where state school students were allowed to sit IGCSEs, they 'magically' did so much better.

That advantage couldn't be allowed. Our two tier educational system is designed to perpetuate the British class system.

Your children benefit from it. They aren't inherently more intelligent or better than state school students. They have just had many more advantages.

I've worked in both state and private. I teach and examine both IGCSE and GCSE.

In my subject, the GCSE questions are harder than the International A Level questions. You may not like it, but even a rookie, non expert would be able to pick that up.

my twopenneth to add in about igcse’s PE. 3 girls at my swim club are taking GCSE PE this year. One girl swims 57 seconds for 100fc. So, fast, competes nationally. Trains 15 hours per week. Marked 20 out of 25 in a state school. Second girl swims 1.17 min for 100fc. So huge difference in swimming ability (trains 1 hour per week). Marked 21/25 different state school. Third girl also 1.17 and 1 hour. 25/25 igcse. Ffs. It’s farcicle.

Intrigued as to what your subject is @MiserableMrsMopp

In my case, my kids are neuro divergent and for one DD with ADD, it meant she flunked out totally in her A levels whilst in process of being diagnosed and has so far taken a year out, 2 more years to get through first year of Uni and already has retakes next month in her second year. Younger DD is a late Aug baby, went to bog standard state schools and got all 9's in GCSE and A* s in A levels and she barely revises for anything.
I have been on MN for years because my kids have been challenging to parent. Maybe many of the very bright kids are not neuro normative and have other challenges such as anxiety and being quite socially awkward.
There may be reasons why these parents are on MN

It seems that @MiserableMrsMopp can only speak for her subject alone, at best.

But that which is asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.

Do you teach every subject then?

In Maths, they are the same. I have been teaching/tutoring GCSE (3 different exam boards), IGCSE (UK version and Cambridge version for international schools), A Level Maths, IAL for 17 years so I would like to think I know a thing or two about this.

Completely incorrect
There is no easier ride
In fact students doing gcse coursework get it much easier. This is why the Govn have started reducing th amount of coursework in GCSEs

Only about 4% of the working population earn 100k + ....but all of them are on MN too! 😄

Correct @queenofthesuburbs the workload is heavier

they are also exam based unlike the wide use of coursework in GCSEs. Which students re do for a higher grade. You can’t do that in sat exams.

No wonder the Govn have started to reduce coursework for GCSEs

I presume GSCEs or (I)GCSEs are not scored based on athletic ability - as it is an subject that studies both the practical and theoretical aspects of physical education... So - faster swimming does not get you a higher grade? As it should not.
So - no - the swimming speeds are not the stats that support the position that state schools are disadvantaged by taking GSCEs.

In more traditional academic subjects - maths, sciences, history, geography - iGCSEs go into wider selection of topics and at a greater depth. They also don't only focus on Great Britain for the books, geographies, or history periods to cover. I think teaching them at state schools is probably harder and that is the real reason most state schools don't teach them.

Private schools tend to do a mix. And they certainly don't pick iGCSEs because they are easier. In the end of the day - private schools are businesses, and their outcome is judged at A-levels and uni admissions. And if it were true that grade 9s at iGCSE's were actually 7s - we'd see a huge drop of grades at A-levels at those schools.
And yet - the top private schools that have 95%+ grades 8-9s at GSCEs go on to produce 80-90% Grades A-A*s.

So - @MiserableMrsMopp conjecture does not work. Or - maybe she is teaching some niche subject that is an outlier.

This is also so so true. 🤣🤣

erm - looking at my daughters igcse syllabus it’s definitely not easier. I’d say the same but different. Also - a friend who transferred from uk to iGCSE was working at two grades lower and had a lot of work to do to catch up to iGCSE standard. Plus husband has taught both and said they’re no different in terms of difficulty.

Agree
Of note @MiserableMrsMopp Private schools do NOT do IGCSEs because they are easier that really is such a hilarious claim !

They offer IGCSEs because

• They have kids that come from many different countries.
• GCSEs are only done in this country, they are not International.
• IGCSEs are Internationally recognised and taken in many countries worldwide
• They have a larger course content and for many subjects offer an excellent transition to A levels.

'catch up' 🙄

OK. I appreciate not all subjects are the same, but in skills based subjects, the range of skills examined are not as wide and not as rigorous.

For AQA GCSE, in my subject, there are 6 AOs. For CIE IGCSE only 4. 2 areas just aren't covered. So most definitely NOT a wider / larger course content.

For CIE IGCSE coursework is possible. No coursework with AQA GCSE. Coursework is preprepared and open to a lot of teacher support. Not available to state school students because they can't do IGCSE. I'd say the majority of students find coursework easier due to the ability to prep, opposed to the stress of exams.

For CIE IGCSE many small mark, short answer questions. For AQA GCSE essay based.

It's not a level playing field. Privately educated students are advantaged in many ways. As I said before. Not more intelligent or better. Better opportunities.

What IS your subject?

@Seatheviewfromthekitchen
Well we night owls can play detective…

The subject is skills based and is offered by CIE as an iGCSE and by AQA as a GCSE. The latter has six assessment objectives as opposed to four.
I’m going to say “Dance”

It is clear that @MiserableMrsMopp has a massive chip on her shoulder about private schools and this has blinkered her views on the topic to point of stating her opinion as fact and then applying that opinion on one subject to all iGCSEs as fact.
Are you actually a teacher? I hope you don’t teach at either of my children’s schools. Incidentally, they will be doing GCSEs.

The biggest scandal in the education system is not the existence of private schools but the vast disparity in quality of education within the state school system and the teacher retention crisis.

Well, I've taught at 3 private schools and currently work in the private sector. I wouldn't work at them if I had a chip.

There are obviously advantages to private education. Which is why you send your children there. Denying that is disingenuous.

The teacher retention crisis is a huge issue. And if it's to be solved, the issue of teaching conditions needs massively overhauling.

I'd be a LOT fitter if it was dance!!!!

Teachers and examiners in Maths, Science and History have all said that the iGCSE is harder than the GCSE in their subjects.

@MiserableMrsMopp Can you at least accept that which one is harder depends on the subject?

And ideally also that since iGCSE is actually harder in many subjects - especially some academic rather than skills-based ones - school choice between them isn't to do with an easy ride, and doesn't materially advantage private school students.

I'm wondering which subject you teach too. Perhaps DT? That sounds like a particularly hard subject to get good grades in, but very good for students' growth and development. I haven't done the detective work to see how many areas are covered!

There are obviously advantages to private education. Which is why you send your children there. Denying that is disingenuous.

Of course there are! The advantage of getting a really great education during those irreplaceable school years. Well-run private schools have the resources and focus to treat each child as an individual, and develop the students so much in every way: academically and personally.

You're a teacher. Surely you value education: not as a 'cheat', but as a route to genuine personal growth and transformation.

Just to add: private schools are obviously not unique in giving their students an amazing education during their school years. Some state schools are truly outstanding.

Some state schools are better than some private schools. Others fail their students. Sometimes through poor practice, and sometimes simply due to having such challenging cohorts that they can't deliver an adequate education.

Going private gives you more choice about which school your DC go to (obviously not completely free choice, since selective schools restrict admissions). Most private schools have more funding per-student (paid entirely by the parents) and may choose to restrict their intake to children who are less disruptive to education, which means the funding they have goes further. That's still about good education, not cheating.

Where did I deny it? I absolutely send my DC to private school because of the shocking situation in the state sector that I mentioned. Every child should have access to great education - the scandal is that the state system does not provide that. We have chosen to use the resources we have to ensure our DC do not suffer because of it. Unfortunately, I can’t make it better for all children. I am a higher tax payer so I very much pay into the state system and my children do not use the state resources.

Like I said, hopefully you don’t teach my DC.

Seeing as only just over 1000 kids in the country got all 9s last year, there’s an awful lot of people on here whose kids went to a school where about 30 kids got all 9s… 🤔