IGCSE Advice please :)

[loumum3]

Hi

We are about to take our eldest (14) out of school and he wants to do IGCSE's . I would be really grateful for any suggestions or advice from anyone who has been through this process before as this is all new to me and we are not quite sure where to start !

Is there anything you would change with hindsight, or perhaps you have a good tip ?

Thanks

I'm going to offer some advice from a different POV. I work in uni admissions and if uni is in his plan (and if he has any ideas about what he might want to do at uni) then I'd recommend doing some research about what they want in terms of GCSEs/iGCSEs. We have had a few applications from home ed students recently that have been very difficult because despite being obviously very bright they have not done the subject combinations that we require. We do our best to be flexible, but there are limits to what can be done. Even if he has no clear ideas, I'd try and do some research about subjects/unis that seem plausible. In general, you should stick to the same 'core' subjects as most schools otherwise he may find things tricky in a few years time.

I would suggest you join the exams Yahoo list by sending an email to mailto:[email protected]. Lots of people there can give help on exam fees and centres, past papers, etc.

There is also a web page at www.home-education-exams.org.uk.

Thanks for the suggestions, I have a lot of research to do...

My 15 year old is studying at home for iGCSEs in November this year. We started by looking at the specifications and past papers on the exam board websites, and chose to do Edexcel as they generally look easier than the Cambridge iGCSEs!

We're sticking with core subjects - English lang and lit, maths, 2 separate sciences, history and 2 languages, and we may add in a couple of 'easy hits' like ICT nearer the time. Hoping it will all work out ok, luckily there's an exam centre near us so I'm not anticipating any problems with that aspect of it, the only problem we seem to have with home ed is self motivation - that's teenagers!

Good luck

Thanks for the info...I have found a school that will let ds sit a Maths and RE GCSE and a few places that will take him for IGCSE, I just need to work out the distances and prices and decide on the best option.

Is your child doing all 8 together or are you staggering them over a couple of years ?

Thanks

Doing all 8 in one session, although getting 2 or 3 (eng lang and maths?) out of the way at an earlier session might have made sense.

Do make sure that you're clear when you're intending the exams to be taken as the specifications do change. One good thing is that you can choose which texts to do in English lit, and which periods to cover in history, rather than what a school has decided you will do.

Thanks, I think we are going to 3 one year and 4 the next, well that's the idea at the moment !