I/GCSE
I/GCSEs are important examinations for a pupil's future. GCSEs (General Certificate of Secondary Education; IGCSE is the international version) are the external examinations taken by virtually all pupils in the English educational system at the end of the Fifths year (Year 11), usually when they are sixteen years old. A pupil's results in I/GCSE examinations provide a summary of what a pupil has achieved at the age of 16. They are something of which employers take note, particularly for those young people who do not go to university. Far more important for all Haileybury's pupils is the fact that universities use I/GCSE results as a very important indicator of an applicant's abilities. Indeed, when most people apply to university, at the beginning of their Upper Sixth year, they are usually the only evidence of actual achievement that university admissions' tutors have about applicants.
Haileybury offers a mixed diet of GCSE courses and IGCSE courses. The selection of whether to do GCSE or IGCSE is in the hands of each department. There are a number of different reasons as to why departments have chosen to follow an IGCSE course. These include better preparation for AS/A2 or IB, more stimulating content for the pupils, and to avoid Coursework or its modern replacement, Controlled Assessment.
For many years some I/GCSEs have included elements of Coursework. This was work done in class time or in prep time that was marked by teachers and, after moderation by the examination board, would make up a proportion (typically 25%) of a pupil's mark at I/GCSE. Coursework has had a bad press and so the Government has demanded that many subjects introduce Controlled Assessment in GCSEs. Controlled Assessment is designed to reduce the potential for cheating, either through use of downloaded work from the Internet or varying levels of parental assistance. In most cases the pupils are allowed to take notes and/or plans into Controlled Conditions (similar to an examination) but are not allowed to receive any further help.
The vast majority of I/GCSEs at Haileybury are assessed by terminal examinations at the end of the Fifths (Year 11). Some very able Mathematicians will sit their IGCSE Mathematics examination at the end of the Middles and then move onto study Additional Mathematics (a preparatory course for A Level Maths)in the Fifth Form. Very able or fluent linguists might also be able to sit examinations early.
