This can be done either as an (I)GCSE* as a single subject or as part of the double science award. If done as part of a double award there is ⅓ less content, as you cover physics and chemistry as well so are awarded 2 (I)GCSEs at the end of the course.
Biology (I)GCSE is needed to study A Level biology, although this can be as the component in the double science award. The (I)GCSE gives a really good grounding in understanding the biological processes needed to maintain life.
You will need some maths skills, and the ability to answer longer questions about practicals.
Different exam boards have slightly different content although they all cover the same ‘core’ content:
Structure and functions within living organisms
The nature and variety of living organisms
Reproduction, inheritance and variation
Ecology and the environment
Biological Resources
Let us know which exam board you are using and we can ensure that the content taught covers all that is needed for that (I)GCSE. Or talk to us and we can try and help!
If you are coming at this from a home education background a consideration is the practical aspect of a biology GCSE - this needs to be signed off by a registered school or assessment centre. The IGCSE offered either by Edexcel or Cambridge does not need to have a practical signed off, although knowledge of the practicals will be tested in the exams.
Biology (I)GCSE has some overlap with the following subjects:
Marine Science
Environmental Management
Chemistry
Geography
Global Citizenship
Good places for extra info as a home educator are:
https://he-exams.fandom.com/wiki/HE_Exams_Wiki
https://www.facebook.com/groups/HELinksUK.IGCSE/?locale=en_GB
* The ‘I’ in IGCSE stands for International, they are held in the same regard as GCSEs and treated the same by higher and further education establishments.
×This can be done either as an (I)GCSE* as a single subject or as part of the double science award. If done as part of a double award there is ⅓ less content, as you cover physics and biology as well so are awarded 2 (I)GCSEs at the end of the course.
Chemistry (I)GCSE is needed to study A Level Chemistry, although this can be as the component in the double science award. The (I)GCSE gives a really good grounding in understanding the chemical processes that take place at all levels.
You will need some maths skills, and the ability to answer longer questions about practicals.
Different exam boards have slightly different content although they all cover the same ‘core’ content:
Atomic structure
Energy changes
Organic and inorganic chemistry.
If you are coming at this from a home education background a consideration is the practical aspect of a chemistry GCSE - this needs to be signed off by a registered school or assessment centre. The IGCSE offered either by Edexcel or Cambridge does not need to have a practical signed off, although knowledge of the practicals will be tested in the exams.
Chemistry (I)GCSE has some overlap with the following subjects:
Marine Science
Environmental Management
Biology
Physics
Good places for extra info as a home educator are:
https://he-exams.fandom.com/wiki/HE_Exams_Wiki
https://www.facebook.com/groups/HELinksUK.IGCSE/?locale=en_GB
* The ‘I’ in IGCSE stands for International, they are held in the same regard as GCSEs and treated the same by higher and further education establishments.
×This (I)GCSE* is not needed to study A Level economics, but is a good (I)GCSE to do if you are interested in how the decisions we make on a daily basis affect the wider choices of society and government through a market perspective.
You will need some maths skills, and there are a variety of shorter and longer answers in all exams.
All exam boards have slightly different focuses over the course, however the same ‘core’ content is common to all:
The economic problem
Resource allocation
Micro and macro economics
Governments
International trade
Let us know which exam board you are using and we can ensure that the content taught covers all that is needed for that (I)GCSE. Or talk to us and we can try and help!
From a home education background all (that we’ve come across so far) exam boards offer 100% exam so are all easy to take as a home ed student. However the exam structure of each exam board is slightly different so it is worth looking at that to see which exams the student is happiest with.
Economics (I)GCSE has some overlap with the following subjects:
Business Studies
Global Citizenship
Environmental Management
Marine Science
Good places for extra info as a home educator are:
https://he-exams.fandom.com/wiki/HE_Exams_Wiki
https://www.facebook.com/groups/HELinksUK.IGCSE/?locale=en_GB
* The ‘I’ in IGCSE stands for International, they are held in the same regard as GCSEs and treated the same by higher and further education establishments.
×This (I)GCSE* is a requirement for progression to most A Levels, but more than that it give you insight into how language can be used to communicate ideas and opinions and how they affect us as readers. It also gives you the chance to understand how you can use these effects, not only to pass an exam but to win arguments in real actual everyday life!
All exam boards ask that you are able to analyse language and structural devices as well as to use them in your own writing, these basic techniques are the same across the board. But, the exams themselves are structured very differently. The way the questions are asked is also different, so each exam board may play more into the strengths and weaknesses of different students.
From a home ed perspective, AQA requires a spoken component (that doesn’t affect the final grade at all) to be signed off by a teacher or other assessor. Edexcel also have a spoken component but this is completely optional, and also does not affect the final grade.
You will need to answer longer ‘essay’ questions as well as writing your own transactional and creative responses to questions.
All exam boards assess the student's ability to analyse texts, as well as the student's skill at using language. However the texts studied are different, as is the ‘style’ of exam, so it’s worth looking at past papers to see which the student feels most comfortable with.
Let us know which exam board you are using and we can ensure that the content taught covers all that is needed for that (I)GCSE. Or talk to us and we can try and help!
English Language (I)GCSE has some overlap with the following subjects:
Classical Civilisation
English Literature
Good places for extra info as a home educator are:
https://he-exams.fandom.com/wiki/HE_Exams_Wiki
https://www.facebook.com/groups/HELinksUK.IGCSE/?locale=en_GB
* The ‘I’ in IGCSE stands for International, they are held in the same regard as GCSEs and treated the same by higher and further education establishments.
×This (I)GCSE* is required to study English at A Level, and offering the chance to analyse literature. Different exams boards have different set texts, it is very worth looking through and seeing what appeals to you as a student. But they all offer the opportunity to explore themes within literature and how concepts are communicated through written language.
From a home education perspective all exam boards (that we’ve come across) offer 100% exam so they are all accessible to home ed candidates.
You will need to be able to answer longer ‘essay’ style questions.
All exam boards assess the students ability to analyse texts, however the texts studied are different, it is really worth looking as which texts are offered and seeing which the student most connects with.
Let us know which exam board you are using and we can ensure that the content taught covers all that is needed for that (I)GCSE. Or talk to us and we can try and help!
English Literature (I)GCSE has some overlap with the following subjects:
Classical Civilisation
English Language
Good places for extra info as a home educator are:
https://he-exams.fandom.com/wiki/HE_Exams_Wiki
https://www.facebook.com/groups/HELinksUK.IGCSE/?locale=en_GB
* The ‘I’ in IGCSE stands for International, they are held in the same regard as GCSEs and treated the same by higher and further education establishments.
×Many people find this a nice IGCSE* to start their GCSE journey with. The exam is not too intimidating and there are not a lot of long questions to answer. Although the questions do require subject specific knowledge, there are not a lot of scary new concepts to learn. We really liked this IGCSE and would recommend it to anyone interested in learning a bit about the environment we live in.
From a home educating perspective we have only come across one exam board (Cambridge) that offers this IGCSE, and it is 100% exam based.
Environmental Management IGCSE has some overlap with the following subjects:
Global Citizenship
Geography
Marine Science
Biology
Economics
Good places for extra info as a home educator are:
https://he-exams.fandom.com/wiki/HE_Exams_Wiki
https://www.facebook.com/groups/HELinksUK.IGCSE/?locale=en_GB
* The ‘I’ in IGCSE stands for International, they are held in the same regard as GCSEs and treated the same by higher and further education establishments.
×The (I)GCSE* covers earth processes with both aspects of physical geography (the rocks and rivers, get your welly boots on and splash in rock pools, type) and human geography (the ‘how do populations interact’ sort). This is a good grounding in working out what interests the student. There are case studies that need to be learnt for the exams as students will be expected to use examples in their exam answers. The exams are a mixture of short and long answers, and depending on the exam board there may be three exams students need to sit.
For home educators, a consideration of WJEC is that this exam board has a field work practical component that need to be assessed.
All exam boards have a slightly different focus in areas of the specification. However they all cover the same ‘core material’:
Physical process in the environment.
Humans in the physical environment.
Development/Economic growth of human populations.
Field work / practical skills.
Geography (I)GCSE has some overlap with the following subjects:
Global Citizenship
Marine Science
Biology
Economics
Let us know which exam board you are using and we can ensure that the content taught covers all that is needed for that (I)GCSE. Or talk to us and we can try and help!
Good places for extra info as a home educator are:
https://he-exams.fandom.com/wiki/HE_Exams_Wiki
https://www.facebook.com/groups/HELinksUK.IGCSE/?locale=en_GB
* The ‘I’ in IGCSE stands for International, they are held in the same regard as GCSEs and treated the same by higher and further education establishments.
×This is offered by Edexcel as an IGCSE*, and is a really great basis for a lot of different aspects that affect decision making in a local and global context. There is a practical project that needs to be completed, and a section of the exam where you have to use specific examples from your project to answer the questions. This project is easily completed and can be on any issue that the students are passionate (or even curious) about. There is only one 2 hour 30 minutes exam, which is a mixture of short and medium length questions with the longest being 9 marks.
For home educated students this is a really easy format to access as there is only one exam making up 100% of the course.
The content covered:
Politics and Governance
Economic Development and the Environment
Culture and Community
Technology
Global Citizenship IGCSE has some overlap with the following subjects:
Economics.
Geography.
Environmental Management.
Good places for extra info as a home educator are:
https://he-exams.fandom.com/wiki/HE_Exams_Wiki
https://www.facebook.com/groups/HELinksUK.IGCSE/?locale=en_GB
* The ‘I’ in IGCSE stands for International, they are held in the same regard as GCSEs and treated the same by higher and further education establishments.
×This IGCSE* is a really nice one to start with as it is a fairly accessible exam with 2 papers each with a mixture of short to medium length questions. Students do need an understanding of practical skills as these are asked about in the exam but there is no practical requirement. Although students may enjoy going out and doing some ‘projects’ to put the skills into practice.
From a home educated perspective this is an acessible course to take as there are 2 exams (1 hour and 45 minutes each) that each make up 50% of the IGCSE.
The content covered:
The Earth and its oceans
Sea water
Marine organisms
Nutrients and energy
Marine ecology
Human influences on the marine environment
Marine Science IGCSE has some overlap with the following subjects:
Biology
Chemistry
Economics
Geography
Environmental Management
Global Citizenship
Good places for extra info as a home educator are:
https://he-exams.fandom.com/wiki/HE_Exams_Wiki
https://www.facebook.com/groups/HELinksUK.IGCSE/?locale=en_GB
* The ‘I’ in IGCSE stands for International, they are held in the same regard as GCSEs and treated the same by higher and further education establishments.
×Mathematics is considered a core subject at (I)GCSE*, and is a requirement to study some A Levels as well as at some University application stages. All exam boards offer this (I)GCSE and the content covered is much the same, with the core content being exactly the same. However, each exam board structures their papers differently, and the wording of questions can vary quite a lot between papers. So it is really worth looking at some past papers before starting the course to get an idea of which exam board most suits the student. It is worth noting as well that some exam boards have 2 exams that need to be taken and others have 3.
From a home education perspective this is 100% exam so all exam boards should be possible.
Core content:
Number
Algebra
Ratio, proportion and rates of change
Geometry and measures
Probability
Statistics
Let us know which exam board you are using and we can ensure that the content taught covers all that is needed for that (I)GCSE. Or talk to us and we can try and help!
Mathematics (I)GCSE has some overlap with the following subjects:
Physics
Good places for extra info as a home educator are:
https://he-exams.fandom.com/wiki/HE_Exams_Wiki
https://www.facebook.com/groups/HELinksUK.IGCSE/?locale=en_GB
* The ‘I’ in IGCSE stands for International, they are held in the same regard as GCSEs and treated the same by higher and further education establishments.
×This can be done either as an (I)GCSE* as a single subject or as part of the double science award. If done as part of a double award there is ⅓ less content, as you cover biology and chemistry as well so are awarded 2 (I)GCSEs at the end of the course.
Physics (I)GCSE is needed to study A Level Physics, although this can be as the component in the double science award. The (I)GCSE gives a really good grounding in understanding the physical phenomena that operate in our daily life as well as those that affect the stars.
You will need some maths skills, and the ability to answer longer questions about practicals.
Different exam boards have slightly different content although they all cover the same ‘core’ content:
Forces and motion
Electricity and magnetism
Astrophysics
Thermal physics
Waves
Radioactivity and particles
Let us know which exam board you are using and we can ensure that the content taught covers all that is needed for that (I)GCSE. Or talk to us and we can try and help!
If you are coming at this from a home education background a consideration is the practical aspect of a physics GCSE - this needs to be signed off by a registered school or assessment centre. The IGCSE offered either by Edexcel or Cambridge does not need to have a practical signed off, although knowledge of the practicals will be tested in the exams.
Physics (I)GCSE has some overlap with the following subjects:
Mathematics
Good places for extra info as a home educator are:
https://he-exams.fandom.com/wiki/HE_Exams_Wiki
https://www.facebook.com/groups/HELinksUK.IGCSE/?locale=en_GB
* The ‘I’ in IGCSE stands for International, they are held in the same regard as GCSEs and treated the same by higher and further education establishments.
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