iGCSE's in Thailand. Experiences teaching/studying?

[yingyo]

I'm interested in learning about the iGCSE Certificate available in Thailand.

They are the same as the GCSE's people do in England. First question, in the UK they use the term A levels and O levels. Kind of like the M3 and M6 exams.

Is the highest one of these the GCSE's? So the final exam at the end of highschool at age 17/18 are the GCSE's?

In Thailand, one can do the iGCSE exams through two licensed companies, The British Council and International House.

http://www.britishcouncil.or.th/en/exam/igcse

http://www.ihbangkok.com/page/55-ih_bangkok_igcse_exam_preparation.html

http://www.britishcouncil.org/registration_guide_2013_for_web.pdf

The exams are surprisingly cheap. Around between 5k-7k per subject. Presumably one would do about 8 different exams. So under 60k baht total unless I am reading it wrong.

2nd Question:

How many subjects does one usually study for the GCSE's?

Do these typically only have one exam each, or may there be a different number of exams for different subjects?

3rd Question:

Are these the exams they take in International schools here?

4th Question:

It takes about 2 years of study to prepare for the exams. Courses are available from the British Council and International House.

Has anybody here got experience of either teaching or studying them, or know anything about them. I am interested in finding out the average number of lessons per week per subject. And the approx. cost.

For example: GCSE Math Course. 6 hours per week, duration 2 years. Cost, xx,xxx baht per semester.

GCSE Biology Course. 4 hours per week, etc. etc.

Does anybody know of the approx cost of a 2 year course per semester? I have just emailed both BC and IH to enquire, but would be very interested in any experiences from people here.

And finally, for a Thai national who is a native English Speaker, would it be a viable (or advisable) option to leave Thai highschool at age 15/16 in order to study these course with BC or IH in order to sit the GCSE exams 2 years later?

I believe that Thai Uni's consider 5 GCSE exam passes to be equivelent of the Thai M6 Cert.

Thanks for any insight you can give me.

[yingyo]

More information from a Thai school that seems to tutor for the exams:

http://www.aims.co.th/IGCSE/#10

The ages seem young compared to what one would expect for finishing highschool.

"International General Certificate of Secondary Education or IGCSE is usually taken
by 14 to 16 years old students to prepare for higher academic work including AS Level,
A Level, and International Baccalaureate (IB)."

It's a bit confusing understanding what exactly they are. For example in the UK do they do the GCSE's at ages 14-16 and then the final two years of highschool to get their 'A levels'??

[culicine]

You can check www.cie.org.uk

They have lots of details about the exams there.

Yes if you finish 5 (or is it 6, I don't recall), that is equivalent of M6 in Thailand. After that I guess you can gain entry to the International programs in universities here. But going back to the UK, you would need to do A-levels. many moons ago, I had a m4 student finish the IGCSE's at M4 level. She just left school and went to university, at 16 years old. I like the level of IGCSE's but I don't think that's enough prep for doing science/maths at university level, though. However, you can do 'additional maths' - I teach a lot of that at my school, in our English program.

It would help if you told us some of your background and what you want to do in the future. More advice would be forthcoming.

Do a search on 'freeexampapers.com'. You will find lots of old exam papers uploaded there. You can but some IGCSE books and do all those old exam papers. I would do that before forking out for a course. A lot of it can be self studied if you are motivated enough.

[yingyo]

Thanks for the info, it's not for me.

I would guess the subjects would be something like History, Geography, Biology, Business Studies, ICT and then I guess the non-electives: Math, English, and a 2nd Language (Thai).

If students in the UK do this and then go on to do the A-Levels, which I presume are another 2 years, is there any international option to do them, such as the iGCSE?

I presume that in the UK the GCSE's are what are called the O-Level exams. Do English universites usually accept people with only GCSE's or is it based solely on A-Level results?

[Big Guns]

In reply to some of your questions

Students at international schools in Thailand usually do 7-8 IGCSE's. In the UK students study usually up to 9 GCSE's. The main difference between the IGCSE and the GCSE is that the IGCSE has an international element and isn't UK focused as its designed for students outside of the UK. Most subjects have multiple exams for example Cambridge IGCSE Business Studies is 2 papers both 1 hour 45 minutes.

Many international schools in Thailand, in particular the British schools offer IGCSE's.

I've taught IGCSE's for 9 years at international schools and of course fees vary. In terms of the number of lessons in the case of IGCSE Business Studies it is usually four 40 minute lessons per week and this is over 5 terms as students sit the exams in the 6th term.

A student can get into a Thai university with 5 A*-C IGCSE's. However to get into a European/UK/US/Australian University students need A Levels or the International Baccalaureate.

Hope this helps

[chonabot]

Thanks for the info, it's not for me.

I would guess the subjects would be something like History, Geography, Biology, Business Studies, ICT and then I guess the non-electives: Math, English, and a 2nd Language (Thai).

If students in the UK do this and then go on to do the A-Levels, which I presume are another 2 years, is there any international option to do them, such as the iGCSE?

I presume that in the UK the GCSE's are what are called the O-Level exams. Do English universites usually accept people with only GCSE's or is it based solely on A-Level results?

O (GCE) Levels haven't been in the UK since 1988.

[yingyo]

Thanks for your good post Big Guns.

Do the international school students do the iGCSE's at the end of Year 12, as their final exams?

However to get into a European/UK/US/Australian University students need A Levels or the International Baccalaureate.

Are people able to study and sit the exams for either of these here?

[chonabot]

Thanks for your good post Big Guns.

Do the international school students do the iGCSE's at the end of Year 12, as their final exams?

However to get into a European/UK/US/Australian University students need A Levels or the International Baccalaureate.

Are people able to study and sit the exams for either of these here?

Good question, I asked a similar question last year as my son was in school in Thailand and we looked into this.

This link has a few possibilities - hope it helps

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/534665-gcse-a-level-exams-in-bangkok/

[Thai at Heart]

More information from a Thai school that seems to tutor for the exams:

http://www.aims.co.th/IGCSE/#10

The ages seem young compared to what one would expect for finishing highschool.

"International General Certificate of Secondary Education or IGCSE is usually taken

by 14 to 16 years old students to prepare for higher academic work including AS Level,

A Level, and International Baccalaureate (IB)."

It's a bit confusing understanding what exactly they are. For example in the UK do they do the GCSE's at ages 14-16 and then the final two years of highschool to get their 'A levels'??

GCSE 14 through 16. Main exams at 16 but some coursework and stuff also.

8 to 12 subjects depending on capability. Some compulsory.

A levels normally 3 or 4 taken at 16 through 18. Some coursework big exam at the end. A levels used to obtain university places.

[Thai at Heart]

Thanks for the info, it's not for me.

I would guess the subjects would be something like History, Geography, Biology, Business Studies, ICT and then I guess the non-electives: Math, English, and a 2nd Language (Thai).

If students in the UK do this and then go on to do the A-Levels, which I presume are another 2 years, is there any international option to do them, such as the iGCSE?

I presume that in the UK the GCSE's are what are called the O-Level exams. Do English universites usually accept people with only GCSE's or is it based solely on A-Level results?

A levels for university. GCSE not enough. I have heard that some units in Thailand will accept GCSE as sufficient to enter. Says a lot.