IGCSEs - Does anyone know why these are more difficult or anything about the grading scheme?

[lazymumofteenagesons]

My son is taking English lang, English Lit, Biology and chemistry IGCSEs. Can anyone explain to me the difference to the normal GCSEs? Also are the grade boundaries different?

If they are so much more difficult I wonder whether this is taken into account when applying for university.

My dd is in Yr7 at an international school where they sit IGCSE. I'm not at that stage yet but from what I understand, IGCSEs are regarded as more rigorous than GCSE. They seem to be more academic and have not be subject to the grade inflation of other qualifications.

My son is studying for iGCSEs at the moment - he's Year 10. I believe they are more highly thought of than GCSEs, but whether universities take that into account I'm not sure. There is an option to sit them just with a final exam and no marked coursework, but I think they can also be done as part coursework too.

I've just checked out the UCAS Tariff website and it doesn't mention either GCSEs or iGCSEs - they only seem interested in higher level qualifications, so I guess the important thing is how they'll be seen as entry to A levels or college courses.

I'm also interested in this as we are looking at secondaries for ds who is 10. afaik they don't add to the points for UCAS. Has anyone's dc done them in relation to an IB and would it give an advantage to take an igcse than a regular gcse as preparation ?

DS is only doing them because he's Home Ed / Internet School and it means they don't have to worry about getting coursework validated. I don't know what he'll do after them - possibly Highers at college up here, or A levels through a correspondence course, or even go back to school....

My DS did his Maths yesterday. The most noticeable difference is no coursework, and the work is far more rigorous.

IGCSEs don't have coursework which is a bonus for the kids and teachers!
However as a teacher we were told it was more academic. The course is, but now we've looked at the actual papers they seem very easy. Too many short answers needed, as they are easier to mark electronically and don't require a science teacher to do it.

However I do know for sure that "science for the 21st century" GCSEs are as non-academic as you can get and aren't worthy the paper they're written on

So, can I safely say that going on to do A levels in the subjects you have got good grades in at IGCSE is probably not going to be as big a jump as from a normal GCSE. I'm talking about biology and english specifically.

The City of London School switched to IGCSE about two years ago. Their explanation is that they see IGCSE as being a better preparation for A Levels than the GCSE.

(City School, while being run by a public Body, the City of London, is an independent school, charging fees and running its own admissions)

DS1's old school has changed to IGCSE Maths because it is a better preparation for Maths at A Level and beyond. It used to put students in for GCSE Maths in Y10 if they were likely to get A* or A and then did the Free Standing Maths Qualification in Y11. I believe that the government doesn't recognise IGCSE as far as the league tables are concerned, so many very good schools now appear low down in the GCSE league tables.

The IGCSE is a more rigorous and traditional course. There is no coursework and they are far better preparation for A levels in those subjects that they are taken in. They don't count in league tables so state schools don't tend to take them. In chemistry (my subject) there is far more of what I would call real science, less discussion of the impact of science in society than in the new GCSEs that state schools are now taking.

There's no coursework & the syllabus is far more traditional knowledge based - it's a much better preparation for A levels (particularly the more rigorous subjects - maths & sciences). They are much closer to old 'O' levels (or the level of A1s).