# G.c.s.e



## sally-chaps (Oct 24, 2012)

Moving to spain from uk in december, son is due to set his g.c.s.e exams in feb/march is there a way he can do them in spain?


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

Try the Spain Forum.


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Your son can enter IGCSE exams through local centres situated in British and international schools. Edexcel for example has several centres in Spain.
The trouble is the difference in syllabus between IGCSE and GCSE in general and among examination boards. It may be easier to fly back to sit his exams in UK. He should be able to enter as external candidate through his old school.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

You would need to find out which examination board your son is sitting his GCSEs with and find an international school who uses the same. Also, most International schools in spain do IGCSEs which are the international versions. They're not quite the same and many dont use any course work, so you would need to discuss this with the headteacher of the school. It would be better if you or your son could hold off leaving the UK til after the exams really, altho I know it may not be possible??! Or fly back as Joppa has suggested

Heres a list of British international schools Schools in Spain | Nabss

Jo xxxx


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## amy24 (Sep 25, 2012)

I was looking into retaking a gcse and found that it's just the igcse's available for some subjects (ones that would usually have coursework, as coursework now needs to be supervised for some subjects). I also found out that these are not always considered equivalent by universities and other institutions. 
So i would suggest trying to take the gcse's in the uk if possible.


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## Madliz (Feb 4, 2011)

iGCSEs are often compared to the old O'Levels. They are very different to the 'British' ones and many independent schools in Britain now prefer them as they stretch the pupils in a way that the current GCSE exam does not. My son took them here, then A'Levels, then went to uni in England.

I would seriously suggest that you find a way for your son to remain near his school until the exams have finished with a view to starting A'Levels here with a strong set of results. Once the exams have finished he will then have time to settle in here before school starts again in September. I cannot imagine how else he could possibly manage.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

amy24 said:


> I was looking into retaking a gcse and found that it's just the igcse's available for some subjects (ones that would usually have coursework, as coursework now needs to be supervised for some subjects). I also found out that these are not always considered equivalent by universities and other institutions.
> So i would suggest trying to take the gcse's in the uk if possible.


I would agree

the chances of finding a school where they are doing the exact same course & coursework are low to zero - the schools in Spain do IGCSEs which are different to the GCSEs in the UK

tbh I think the only way would be for the OP to just wait a few months until after the exams - or for the son at least to stay there until then


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

xabiachica said:


> I would agree
> 
> the chances of finding a school where they are doing the exact same course & coursework are low to zero - the schools in Spain do IGCSEs which are different to the GCSEs in the UK
> 
> tbh I think the only way would be for the OP to just wait a few months until after the exams - or for the son at least to stay there until then



And lets not forget, you have to pay, not only the school fees, but for the actual exams too - If memory serves, they're 80€ each + books!

Jo xxx


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## bob_bob (Jan 5, 2011)

Is the Baccalaureate system in place in many of the international Schools in Spain? Sorry if a little off topic, just out of interest.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

bob_bob said:


> Is the Baccalaureate system in place in many of the international Schools in Spain? Sorry if a little off topic, just out of interest.


in some for sure - one near us does Baccalaureate I believe, alongside A levels


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

bob_bob said:


> Is the Baccalaureate system in place in many of the international Schools in Spain? Sorry if a little off topic, just out of interest.


Yes I think they are in most. They may take them instead of A levels, but they need the necessary curriculum to follow

Jo xxx


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## lynn (Sep 25, 2008)

sally-chaps said:


> Moving to spain from uk in december, son is due to set his g.c.s.e exams in feb/march is there a way he can do them in spain?


The International schools who follow the British curriculum in the Costa del Sol wouldn't be sitting any GCSEs in Feb/March... they sit them in May/June. 

As others have said, they are generally IGCSEs with little or no controlled assessment or coursework. My daughter is in year 11 and sitting her exams at the end of this school year. She has a controlled assessment for History coming up in a week or so, and I think a project in ICT to do, but everything else will be assessed by the end of year examinations. Her school sits Edexcel exams.

Your son would undoubtedly be better off doing the exams he has prepared for in the UK if at all possible. At our school, they would probably suggest he goes back into year 10 and starts the curriculum again in his circumstances, as the cohort has already got most of the way through the IGCSE curriculum.


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## bob_bob (Jan 5, 2011)

jojo said:


> Yes I think they are in most. They may take them instead of A levels, but they need the necessary curriculum to follow
> 
> Jo xxx


Interesting. I read somewhere that some of the better universities prefer them to 'A' levels due to the falling standards but higher grades dished out in the 'O' and 'A' route. I think they are looking at scrapping 'O''s completely which is no bad thing as they're all but worthless really.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

have you managed to contact an International school nearby sally-chaps?

as I say, I very much doubt it's possible for him to do them here, but I'd be interested to know if you'd had any results or if he'll have to return to the UK for the exams


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Yes, far better and less disruptive to sit these exams in the UK.

Just wondering what the next step could be for the boy....Entering the Spanish or international school system with the aim of gaining University entrance?

If the objective is to seek work as a young person in Spain, the outlook is very bleak and there would be no state support of any kind on offer...


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## Cazzy (Nov 23, 2008)

I think you should delay moving or leave your son in the UK with a family member or friend. Moving him at this stage will probably ruin his education!!!! Once he has finished his GCSE'S then put him in an international school for his further education.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Cazzy said:


> I think you should delay moving or leave your son in the UK with a family member or friend. Moving him at this stage will probably ruin his education!!!! *Once he has finished his GCSE'S then put him in an international school for his further education.*


yes, that would be the only thing he _could _do, unless there's a 'family business' he can go into


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## Calas felices (Nov 29, 2007)

Sorry bob bob but your recall of the 'something' that you read is either inaccurate or not the truth. A levels are still seen as the bench mark for higher education. O levels will change in accordance with Gove's intentions and go back to being a test of a student's knowledge and not an ability to do course work cut and pasted from the internet.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Calas felices said:


> Sorry bob bob but your recall of the 'something' that you read is either inaccurate or not the truth. A levels are still seen as the bench mark for higher education. O levels will change in accordance with Gove's intentions and go back to being a test of a student's knowledge and not an ability to do course work cut and pasted from the internet.




Not so, Casas....Many independent schools now offer the IB instead of A Levels as they are not regarded as 'Gold Standard'.
My two grandsons both took IBs in preference to A Levels.

The 'better' universities, those in the Russell Group, will take candidates of proven academic ability.
Some of the newer universities, former polytechnics, will seemingly take anyone with a pulse or in the case of one London university, accept overseas students who fail to turn up for any courses or complete a degree.

The UK education system is imo suffering the effects of decades of operating as a tool of social engineering rather than in hekping all students but particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds to acquire the knowledge, skills and discipline essential for coping with today's changing world.


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## bob_bob (Jan 5, 2011)

Calas felices said:


> Sorry bob bob but your recall of the 'something' that you read is either inaccurate or not the truth. A levels are still seen as the bench mark for higher education. O levels will change in accordance with Gove's intentions and go back to being a test of a student's knowledge and not an ability to do course work cut and pasted from the internet.


Mary said it all really. Its been about ten years since I helped my children with 'O' level work and was shocked back then at the pee poor course content. We have a Polish friend who teaches at a local University, Chemistry and she is appalled at the level of knowledge new students who arrive clutching their 'A' level certs possess; in terms of maths she puts them on a par with a typical 15 year old Polish school student.

I myself converted from diploma to degree a few years ago and either I've got brighter as I aged or degree's just ain't what they were because while there was a lot of work, none of it 'stretched' me. 

My old school has now switched to the IB route I'm told.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

bob_bob said:


> Mary said it all really. Its been about ten years since I helped my children with 'O' level work and was shocked back then at the pee poor course content. We have a Polish friend who teaches at a local University, Chemistry and she is appalled at the level of knowledge new students who arrive clutching their 'A' level certs possess; in terms of maths she puts them on a par with a typical 15 year old Polish school student.
> 
> I myself converted from diploma to degree a few years ago and either I've got brighter as I aged or degree's just ain't what they were because while there was a lot of work, none of it 'stretched' me.
> 
> My old school has now switched to the IB route I'm told.


I think it might be more than 10 years ago............. O levels were replaced by GCSEs in 1988


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

xabiachica said:


> I think it might be more than 10 years ago............. O levels were replaced by GCSEs in 1988


They are still commonly referred to as O Levels, though...

The comments about Polish students correspond with my experience of Czech students. The general standard of education amongst people in the former Socialist bloc states is much higher than in the West. Ironically, whilst Western Socialists were pushing the education as tool of social engineering agenda those states adhered to formal knowledge-based teaching, strict exams and the transmission of national culture, all of course within a framework of Marxist-Leninist ideology..

Interesting that Michael Gove now wants to reintroduce the teaching of what he refers to as 'general knowledge' into the school curriculum from Primary upwards.
Much of this body of knowledge was thrown out of the curriculum as representing the culture of 'Dead White European Males' and texts by black and other ethnic minority writers were introduced into the 'progressive' curriculum. History was viewed as being the history of the ruling class, nothing good could be said of the British Empire and so on and soforth.

When I was working in education the National Curriculum placed more emphasis on teaching about Islam than Christianity on which our culture is partly based, whether we call ourselves Christians or not. 'Diversity' was a sacred word and Muslim, Hindu and other festivals were more energetically celebrated than Christmas or Easter, as a visiting Vicar sourly pointed out. We had few Muslims or Hindus as pupils...

I can't help feeling that this lack of teaching of our common history, a vital part of our culture, has helped erode any common culture we may once have had, however thin, that bound us together as a society whilst recognising the existence of cultural groups within that society.


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## bob_bob (Jan 5, 2011)

_"They are still commonly referred to as O Levels, though."_ indeed, and in my sons case it was eight years ago that I helped with his 'O' levels.

There is no pressure allowed on school pupils these days, none can fail, all will pass; hardly a realistic platform to prepare them for the real world.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

bob_bob said:


> _"They are still commonly referred to as O Levels, though."_ indeed, and in my sons case it was eight years ago that I helped with his 'O' levels.
> 
> There is no pressure allowed on school pupils these days, none can fail, all will pass; hardly a realistic platform to prepare them for the real world.


Sadly, that is true. An example I gave a few threads back of using green ink instead of red to mark students' work, not putting crosses against incorrect answers, using instead a point, full stop whatever...stuff like that is unhelpful in moving students on in their learning and is also, I would argue, seriously silly since, as you correctly point out, the 'real' world is more unforgiving of failure.

Another example is the abolition of competitive sport in many schools, especially at primary level. Races or similar contests with winners are replaced by 'Fun Sports' where students perform silly stunts such as running to a given point carrying a pail of water....

Melanie Philips, before she went rabid, wrote a very pertinent essay entitled 'And All Shall Win Prizes'. It's worth finding and reading.

The dumbing down of our education system seems imo to be reflected in the low standard of public manners and social behaviour, the abysmal quality of what passes for tv 'entertainment' and our elevation of people with the talents of a dead fieldmouse to the status of 'celebrities'.

Consider 'Jedward'.

I rest my case......

I do realise that perhaps I should sign myself as the Spanish equivalent of 'Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells' but frankly I couldn't give a toss.
Whatever views and opinions I held or now hold I am open about and am happy to see them criticised. After all, how do we ever learn to modify our opinions if we are not prepared to debate them openly?


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