From GCSEs to A levels
- Maddy
- Feb 9, 2020
- 3 min read
Updated: Apr 12, 2020
It always seems impossible until it's done!
Introduction
I believe if someone wants to move abroad for studying, knowing about the education system in that country should be at top of their list, because it may not be the same as where they live, and lack of knowledge in this field will result in so much confusion.
From where I'm coming from ,Iran, we have to study 12 subjects till we are getting to University, which is certainly not the case in the UK, and as I didn't know about it, encountering a different education system was so challenging for me.
In this post I want to briefly talk about the British education system from GCSEs to A levels and the steps that you may go through before getting to University, so lets dive in.
GCSEs
What is it?
General Certificate of secondary Education ,GCSE, is a qualification that is designed for students aged 14 to 16 in England, Wales ( independent sector ) , Northern Ireland ( in some situations ), and it has an aim to provide a strong foundation for A levels and IB qualifications.
Grades and subjects?
The grading system in GCSEs is from 1 to 9 with the pass mark of 4 which is equivalent to C. You are required to take at least 5 subjects which should include; Maths , English and Sciences.
Sciences can be either double science ( awarded two grades ) or triple science ( awarded three grades Biology, Chemistry, Physics individually ).
It is worth mentioning that in certain subjects such as maths you can do foundation papers as same as higher, where the foundation cap at 5 and higher cap at 9.
There are also different exam boards for GCSEs, which basically offer same basic concepts with some differences in details, so even though it is not something to worry about I still encourage you to ask your school what their exams boards are so you can get the books in advance.
University?
In terms of University, I always advise you to check UCAS website:
where you can find out more about GCSEs and University's requirements.
If you already have diploma from your country, check with your school if you require any GCSEs before starting your University. For instance, my school advised me to take Maths GCSEs , in addition to my Iranian diploma.
Pre A levels
What is it?
Pre A level is a one year course that prepares international students to feel more competent during their A levels in future. This course also includes some English trainings which is beneficial for IELTS preparation.
The content, however, depends on schools and students , so if you are eligible they can allow you to attend A level classes and take the internal exams at the end of the year but the grades are not considered.
To talk about my experience, I moved to England mid February 2017, so I wasn't prepared enough to get the required grades, so I started pre A level course for a term. As much as it sound crazy, If I was going back I would do the same thing. I would come in the middle of the year and study pre A levels beforehand.
A levels
What is it?
I know we briefly talked about A levels in previous blogs. Not to get confused I encourage you to read it before moving onto this part.
Grades and exam boards?
There are different exam boards for A levels and the most common ones are AQA, OCR and Edexcel. Please, don't get confused.
If you want to know more you can take a look at:
Keep in mind that the grade boundaries vary from year to year based on the difficulty of the papers.
Conclusion
I hope you enjoyed this blog, found it helpful and got a taste of how it feels like to study abroad.
If you are planning to move to the UK never forget it might be challenging to understand and enter a new system as a whole, but it's not impossible. Always remember that , if others can do it why can't you?
XOXO
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