Is igcse science a lot harder than GCSE science

[Worried61]

If a young person has studied GCSE science and got a d grade before. Will they have covered most of the igcse stuff

LOL.

Not sure sense of humour bypass MNers will appreciate that...

I ma interested that iGCSE MFL is superior . My son loves languages but even he knows he is drilled to get through the GCSE and he is worried he'll crash and burn at A level. My friend, who teaches Spanish, is still sulking at the changes made to GCSE because , I think, she has lost control of being able to do their CAs for them
I agree it's too easy. But my other friend who teaches Languages at a private school does GCSE, too, so I think the iGCSE in anything other than the core is quite unusual?

But.. this must be because it's an international GCSE , surely? It assumes a different linguistic experience prior to 14/15?

My big concern is students' results being compared against each other at uni application stage.. but I guess it was ever thus.

I teach IGCSE English language at a private school.

We chose it because of the 40% coursework element.

All our Nice But Dims have not only us, but also lovely helpful tutors at home.

Our results are very very good indeed .

My daughter's English Language IGCSE did not include speaking and listening. I repeat, there is more than one IGCSE syllabus/qualification. Just as there with GCSE.

My DS did no coursework or speaking and listening for his IGCSE English.

Just one terminal exam in year 11.

That's part of the problem though with iGCSE Abraiid... how can it be so unregulated that each exam board even has differing % of coursework, from 40% to none!

I can't recall our board but we did three coursework assignments and then I had to sit through the torture of endless speeches...

I am beginning to sound a bit like Gove. the horror.

Get , do you remember if that one exam involved any revision? This is genuine curiosity... one terminal exam doesn't seem much unless it was very long and detailed!! GCSE always had two exams.. I think... God, everything changes so much I no longer have any confidence in my memory!!

When I started teaching it was 100% coursework nostalgic sigh

beans it's a couple of years ago now so I don't recall. I think more work went in to Lit.

I remember that DD's GCSE English had endless CAs which were bloody time consuming but great for banking swathes of good marks.

Yes, they sure were...

It's so complicated.

Did a quick goggle and it looks like coursework is 'optional' in some exam boards for iGCSE but that would suggest they then did more exams.

Either way, for a whole host of reasons, I feel really sorry for anyone doing the new GCSEs in English (actually more specifically Lit) this year. One of the exams - one!- is 2 1/4 hours long with AQA.

Obviously , we are mainly talking about bright children on this thread for whatever reasons but imagine the least able enduring that. I feel like weeping. It has been known :(
The new English Language AQA GCSE is actually rather solid and sensible and methodical. What they have to read is rather archaic.But it's at least structured and predicable, to an extent.

Haha ! Google, not goggle!!

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

You'll never get out!!

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.

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.

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.

That's the ONLY problem portico ??

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.

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.

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.

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?