IGCSE Courses | Home Education Courses

An Introduction to International GCSEs

Oxford Home Schooling’s suite of International GCSE courses has been specially designed and developed to serve the needs of homeschooling students aiming to obtain qualifications that will enable them to progress to A Level, apply for vocational courses, or enter the wider world of work. International GCSEs provide excellent preparation for the next stage in education whether taken in the UK or abroad.

The International General Certificate of Secondary Education offers a broad curriculum that develops students’ skills, thinking and knowledge.

For a long time, students have been asking ‘What is the difference between IGCSE and GCSE’. This has been an obsolete question for a long time now. You might as well ask ‘What is the difference between an AQA GCSE and an EdExcel or OCR GCSE?’. They all have slight differences, possibly studying different books or placing the emphasis in examinations slightly differently. However, they are all the same standard and they are all recognised both domestically and internationally as being equal. After 30 years of IGCSE as a qualification, the same can be said of IGCSEs and GCSEs

An internationally recognised qualification

The International GCSE is widely recognized by higher education institutions and employers around the world. As an academic qualification it is equivalent, grade for grade, to GCSE. International GCSEs offer progression to A Level, BTEC vocational courses, and other similar qualifications that are recognized internationally and by the University and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS).

International GCSEs are offered to students in over 150 countries and they have gained popularity in the UK as a qualification which is preferred to GCSEs by many prestigious independent schools. World-wide over 1.5 million students enter for exams every year. Over 300 independent schools in the UK now offer either the Cambridge IGCSE, or as we do the Edexcel International GCSE. In 2019 there were over 135,000 UK entries for Edexcels International GCSE exams.

GCSE exams were reformed in 2009/2010 with coursework being replaced by controlled assessment done under supervised conditions. Controlled assessment is impractical for students studying at home. By contrast, International GCSEs with, in most cases 100% assessment by examination, provide an up-to-date and convenient way to develop and test your skills.

For further information on International GCSEs see ‘GCSE and IGCSE: what’s the difference?’

In subjects where controlled assessment is not required, it is still possible to enrol for our GCSE home education courses e.g. Mathematics, Psychology Sociology or English.

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Online Course? Paper Based? Somewhere in between? It’s your choice!

All of our GCSE students receive:

Traditional printed learning materials
Access to our online resources with on-the-go access to all your regular lessons
Unmatched support by a fully qualified teacher online and by phone

£375 or £725

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Spanish IGCSE

designed to prepare students for the Edexcel International GCSE in Spanish (4SP1) exams

£425

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FAQs

Why should I choose Oxford Home Schooling for my GCSEs?

Oxford Home Schooling is a long-established educational trust that prides itself on
- treating every student as an individual
- customer service
- course quality.
We’re rated ‘Excellent’ on Trustpilot by students who have studied with us.
We provide online and printed resources so you can study your way – other providers do not give you that choice.
We make it easy for you to home-educate your children with our flexible schedule, tutor support, and interest-free payment plan.
Every year we help hundreds of children who have left mainstream education obtain the qualifications they need to progress and achieve their goals.
Oxford Home Schooling is part of a not-for-profit trust so you can be sure that your course fees are spent on either your child’s tuition or on improving our courses.

When can I start studying for an International GCSE?

You can enrol and start any time you like, the earlier the better. The important thing to think about is when you wish to sit your exam and to give yourself plenty of time to work through your materials and revise successfully.

The examinations for most of our IGCSEs are held twice a year, once in the Summer and once in the Autumn. Our cutoff for enrollment onto our GCSEs for the Summer sittings is mid-November and for the Autumn sittings mid-March. However, most students who start the course from scratch give themselves much more time than that to study.

Once you have enrolled, you will get access to your course online immediately and your printed course materials will arrive a few days later.

Can I complete a international GCSE in one year.

Yes

If I am leaving school in year 10, how much of the work towards the IGCSE specification will I have already done?

This is a very complicated question and will vary enormously from subject to subject and individual to individual.

For a subject like Maths, which is very closely tied to the national curriculum then all of the exam boards and indeed the IGCSE examination boards cover the same material, possibly in a different order but all the learning the student has done will be relevant.

For a subject like History, the situation is very different, even if you were studying the same examination board and specification, The individual teacher has a lot of scope to choose the period and topics which are covered. Only a detailed study of the specification will help you answer in this scenario. However, the skills required to study History are universal and you will be able to apply the skills you have learnt to reduce the study time required for any new material.

Meet Our Tutors

I have recently stepped away from the classroom, where I had been teaching English and Literature for 13 years, to be at home with my young children. I’m still fascinated by the power of language and the connection that you can find in texts and I love teaching and talking with others about it – the perfect antidote to toddlers and CBeebies!

Over the last few years, I’ve been teaching myself wood burning, knitting, sewing, and crocheting, although I’m a long way from launching my own Etsy store!

Rachel Davies

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