How many iGCSEs?

[BradleyPooper]

My dd is in year 9 at an international school overseas. She will choose her IGCSE options at the end of this year and she can take 8 only. After iGCSE, most students sit the IB (there is no A level option). 8 GCSEs seems pretty restrictive - does anyone know how this might be viewed by UK university admissions? Will they only look at IB results as long as she has the basics (maths, English etc) at GCSE?

It’s the minimum but ok as long as they are considered academic. That leaves her with little choice though. Many do 7 here which comprises the EBacc. So English x 2, Maths, MFL, Humanity, Double or Triple Science. That leaves your DD with one choice which is limiting as she could do an art, another humanity or another MFL or science etc. 9 gives a better range where two of the above options can be studied.

Many universities at the top end will look at GCSEs. If she’s only done 8, the best universities would expect great results as she’s had a lighter workload than a DC who has done 10. The reason they now look at GCSEs is because they are actual results and not predictions. For example, Oxford publishes the number of top GCSE grades their successful applicants have so they definitely look at them. If she nails 8 though, that’s good enough!

I think it is important to understand that the UK is, in some ways, an anomaly with formal examinations being taken at age 16 and 18 and consequently given the number of international students applying to UK universities, admissions departments are used to seeing students with no qualifications at 16 and using predicted grades to make offers.
I think the IB diploma is well-regarded and at my daughter's IB school students do not sit external MYP examinations and apply to UK universities with only predicted grades. This does not seem to affect offers - students graduating in 2018 received offers from LSE, Warwick, Sheffield, Imperial, UEA, Durham, Newcastle among others.
My son also did iGCSEs and has 10 - but not taken at the same time (another mumsnet no no!) and received 5 offers the UK.
Short answer - I think 8 is fine.

8 is quite low and may be a little restrictive if your dd does Triple Sciences (3), English language and Literature (2), Maths. A foreign language, a humanities subject as well as a creative one?

And, as others have said, the expectations might be higher due to a lower workload of only taking 8 subject exams.

She needs to do the core 8 my parents did in the 1940s, i did in the 70s and my children have done which in most cases are there
English lit
English lang
maths
A foreign language - probably French (or 2 I did French and German)
2 or 3 sciences
History
Geography (or at the least one of history and geography)

That will take her to 8 so on top of that she might do something less academic - I and some of my children did music. Some people do RE or drama or art.

If she mades her 8 business studies, law, knitting, childcare, tourism etc she may as well not bother.

So nothing wrong with 8 but it will have to include if she wants to do well the core ones.

are they perhaps including triple science within the 8 and counting it as one if that makes sense?

I did Igcse and then IB diploma, I had ten inc double science, English Lit & Language.

Thank you all, seems like it's not as drastic as I first thought. Double science counts as one subject, they can choose one language, one humanity and one language. Dd has already submitted a first preference sheet with 10 months before she starts the course and is happy but she has friends who want to specialize in performing arts or languages and can't....

We had her parent evening today and seems that she's on target for A*s as far as anyone can tell 2 years in advance. I did 8 gcses at the end of the 1980s and attended a top 10 UK uni but am aware that things change so grateful to you all for your comments.

Isn't double science counted as 2 GCSEs?

If double science counts as one of the 8, then she'll be fine! Good grades at IGCSE then doing the IB is loved by plenty of top unis.

It’s the absolute minimum but most good schools will do 9 to allow for breadth.

So in effect she has 8 subject choices but double science counts as one of these. She is doing 9 actual igcses if so.