What is an IGCSE?

An International General Certificate of Secondary Education, commonly known as an IGCSE, is an international version of the British GCSE, and is recognised in the UK as a direct equivalent. It measures a student’s attainment in a specific subject, which is usually graded by sitting exams.

IGCSE’s are usually studied from Year 10 (aged 14), with exams sat in Year 11, however, due to the popularity of home education, many younger candidates are becoming more common. IGCSEs are an essential part to your education, they offer a stepping stone to further education such as A-levels, and then potentially University or employment.

IGCSEs were originally created by University of Cambridge International Examinations (CAIE), however, Edexcel now offer their own IGCSEs, with options to sit exams at different times of the year, depending on subject.

When the first IGCSE exams were sat in 1988, it was thought that were more like the O-Levels which came before GCSEs, the exams seemed harder with more content and IGCSEs gained a reputation for being more difficult than GCSEs. However, in 2017, all awarding bodies changed the grading system on GCSEs to the newer 9-1 scale, which allowed IGCSEs to follow suit, allowing an exact equivalent between the 2 qualifications.

IGCSEs are predominantly studied by those looking for a course which has been designed to be studied at home or “outside” of the UK school system, making them a very popular choice for home education.

LearnOnline offer a range of 10 IGCSE subjects which can be studied at your own pace with the support of a qualified tutor to guide you through the qualification, please click on one of the subjects below for more information.