International GCSEs (iGCSEs) are alternatives to GCSEs. iGCSE Maths can only be taken at Independent schools nowadays.

Examination Boards

Independent Schools can choose from 2 possible examination boards for iGCSE Maths in England and Wales:

• CIE (also known as “University of Cambridge International Examinations”).
• Edexcel.

There are 2, very different, specifications for Edexcel: A and B. I have never come across any student taking Edexcel specification B; it is very similar to the “O Level” specification from the 1970s; this only has one tier and does not offer grades below D.

iGCSE at State Schools – No Longer Possible from 2017

The Edexcel iGCSE specification “A” could, since 2011/12, be taken at state schools as an alternative to GCSE. For reasons that I’ve never fully understood, state schools which used iGCSE Maths took it under a different name – the “Level 1/Level 2 Certificate”. However, this name isn’t widely used by the general public or by schools – the exams are generally known as iGCSEs.

Similarly, the CIE iGCSE could be taken at state schools but I have never come across this exam in state schools in our area.

Many of the state schools which took Maths iGCSE were selective, but not all.

BUT from summer 2017 the iGCSE was no longer allowed to contribute to state school GCSE Maths statistics. So no state schools does iGCSE Maths nowadays.

Tiers

The commonly used “A” specification Edexcel iGCSE comes in 2 tiers – Foundation and Higher, just like GCSEs.

The wording with CIE is different but the intention is the same as for Edexcel “A” specification. There is the “core” curriculum offering grades C to G and the “extended” curriculum offering grades A* to E. CIE provide the option to include coursework as part of the iGCSE qualification but this option is rarely taken by UK-based schools/students.

 

Maths Content

iGCSEs are significantly different to GCSEs. For example, the Edexcel Higher iGCSE omits quite a lot of the harder, newer bits of the GCSE and adds in Calculus which doesn’t appear in the GCSE.

In my opinion ten years ago the iGCSE had tougher Maths in it than the GCSE. Now (2019) when both are reformed, the reformed GCSE has tougher Maths than the reformed iGCSE. This leaves independent schools in a difficult situation:- a reason (sometimes explicitly stated sometimes implicit) for doing iGCSE used to be that they were tougher (by implication better); now that this situation is reversed the reason for doing iGCSE vanishes.

Exam Timetable

• CIE iGCSE exams are available in May/June and November
• Edexcel iGCSE exams are available in May/June and, from 2023, in November.   Until 2024 the only option was “linear” – this meant there were two 2-hour exams each of which could include any on the topics on the syllabus. From summer 2025, there will also be a “modular” option; paper one (2 hours) will cover half the syllabus and paper two (2 hours) will cover the other half of the syllabus.  It will be possible from November 2025/26 to take the 2 exams at different seasons, e.g. one in November and one in Summer.   It remains to be seen at the time of writing how many schools choose this modular version.

 

Martin Procter – June 2024