A-Level Courses
International General Certificate of Secondary Education
Introduction to IGCSE courses
IGCSE, the General Certificate of General Secondary Education programme, is currently the world’s most popular international programme for 14- to 16-year-olds. Students with IGCSE qualifications authorised by the Cambridge University International Examinations Board will be well prepared for future A and AS Level studies and employment, while also developing the necessary skills for future employment. IGCSE is widely recognized by academic institutions and employers around the world and is now widely available in more than 100 countries.
IGCSE offers a wide range of disciplines. Throughout the course, practical applications and theoretical knowledge are well balanced and complementary. Due to its extensive and core subject settings, IGCSE is suitable for students of different abilities. The teaching content of the IGCSE curriculum is allowed and adapted to localize, combining it with the teaching content in different regions. It is also suitable for non-English speakers whose entire examination process is recognized.
Why IGCSE?
The IGCSE is equivalent to the first two years of high school in the country (equivalent to these two grades, not the same as the depth of the two grades). This course is a pre-preparation course before taking the international college entrance examination, which means that you can continue with the A-Level course after completing the IGCSE course. After completing the A-Level course, you can go directly abroad to a university without having to take a prep course. If parents decide to send their children abroad to go to university, but because they are too young to send their children out too early, they can focus on their IGCSE courses as early as possible.
What most people know now is SAT, because SAT is essential to entering American universities. Few people in China know about IGCSE, or think that taking this course can only connect to A-Level, only to British universities such as Cambridge and Oxford. This understanding is biased. The IGCSE course is an international secondary school diploma course that can be connected to both A-Level and IB or AP. Whether it’s going to be a British school or an American university, IGCSE is a very good course as a basic course.
IGCSE is a course with many years of teaching experience, complete system, rich knowledge, and teaching in english, for children to lay a good foundation of secondary school knowledge and English foundation. If parents have decided to send their children abroad to go to university in the future, and their age is suitable for the course, they can choose to study IGCSE to lay the groundwork for further education in the future.
IGCSE Course Advantages
1. Lay the foundation for A-Level study and university applications.
2. Better adaptivity to the learning environment in English.
3. The selection of courses is wide and you can learn more about different subject areas.
4. Its certification scope is wide and one of important reference to apply for university.
General Certificate of Education Advanced Level
Introduction to A-Level Courses
A-Level, the General Certificate of General Education, is the UK’s national education programme and the main test for British students before they enter university, roughly equivalent to China’s senior three to junior year. A-Level courses are a higher-level course directly linked to general secondary education (known in the UK as GCSEs, roughly equivalent to China’s senior one to high school two), and their results are equivalent to China’s “high school entrance examination”, so in the UK, students go directly to university with A-Level results.
The A-Level curriculum, which was officially launched in 1951, has been in existence for more than 50 years. The main subjects include: English Chinese, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Business, Economics, Accounting, Computer, History, Geography, Art and Design, Food Science, Music, Modern Foreign Languages, Theology, Film and Television Media, Law, Psychology, Sociology and Thinking Technology. A-Level is a two – year study, and since 2000, A-Level has been divided into two stages. The first year is the first stage, called the AS-level and the second year is called the A2-level.
In the AS phase, the first year of A-Level, each student is generally required to choose three courses, and excellent students can choose one more (i.e., four courses); Cambridge International A-Level does not have compulsory courses, while individual courses in important subjects are open, i.e. students can choose from the direction of subjects they are interested in.
The A-Level International Examinations are administered by the Cambridge University International Examinations Board (CIE) and are held twice a year, with one in June and one in November. Students and schools can apply for as-of-the-day AS and A2-stage applications according to their own teaching progress, or as AS and A2. If one exam is not playing well, the next time you can retake the exam, two college entrance examination in the high score. A-Level has a grade of A, B, C, D, and E, and u (Unclassified) if the exam requirements are not passed.
The admission criteria for British universities are mainly in terms of A-Level results. Current admission criteria still require only three A-Level results, but university admissions officers often refer to the subjects and grades of the pre-student period. To get a Grade A-Level D, you can enter a degree course at a general university, if you get a B in three subjects, you can get a good level of scientific research than the universities of Peking University and Tsinghua University in China, and if you get three or four A, you will have the basic qualifications to go to the world’s top universities in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and Australia, including Oxford and Cambridge.
Why A-Level?
Of the four large English-speaking countries; United States, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom, only the United Kingdom has a national curriculum system and a national curriculum assessment supervision system. As a result, A-Level is one of the most mature high school education systems in the English world, which is widely recognized worldwide. With A-Level results, in addition to being able to enroll universities in all English-speaking countries, such as the United States and Canada, you can apply to any university in the European Union, equivalent to a degree from France, Germany and other countries. Globally, A-Level courses have been widely used in international and bilingual schools around the world, as in Singapore, the A-Level exam is officially recognized as a national higher education examination.
Although originated in the UK, the Cambridge International A-Level programme is now a “golden standard” for admission to the world’s leading universities, with a certificate of admission to thousands of formal universities in 160 countries around the world. Once students pass the A-Level exam, they can open doors to thousands of universities in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and Hong Kong and Macao, including Harvard, Massachusetts, Cambridge, Oxford and other world’s top universities. Unlimited opportunities, leisurely choice.
Five characteristics of the curriculum system
History
It was launched in 1951 and has been around for more than 50 years, and another comparable IB international course was launched in 1968.
Choose wide
Since the development of A-Level, there are nearly 70 courses for students to choose from, providing a broad space for students’ personalized development.
Standardization
Of the four major English-speaking countries in the Uk, THE US, Canada and Australia, only the UK has a national curriculum system and a national curriculum assessment supervision system. Now, the Cambridge University Examinations Board has standardized it globally. Under its strict supervision and scientific management, A-Level fully reflects its public and gold content in the world.
Gold system
World-class universities such as Oxford and Cambridge usually only accept students from A-Level and IB courses.
Globally admired
It is highly recognized by more than 10,000 universities in more than 164 countries around the world.
Five advantages
First，under the A-Level curriculum, each student is less likely to take a fewer courses. Students can focus their energy on these courses and build self-confidence as a result of achieving higher grades. In the UK, learners are required to take only four in the first year, and the second year can be further reduced to three. With the diligence of Chinese students, it is not difficult to get good grades in three or four courses.
Second，the math course in the A-Level course can be taken as two or even three courses, which is in the best interests of Chinese students. Chinese students from the upper grades of primary school, are generally more stringent in mathematics, compared to western learners. Hence, mathematics is often the advantage of Chinese students. Globally, secondary schools and preparatory curriculum systems, except for pure art and music, in the final analysis, is the two pillars, the first is language, the second is mathematics. In other words, there are only two key conditions for good grades in school: either good language (Good English) or good math (plus, of course, students are willing to study), and the Uk’s A-Level courses provide a stage for Chinese students to take advantage of math. Chinese students can take two maths courses when they are above the secondary level when they are in China. Mathematics requires the lowest need for English language. The reason is simple: the language used in mathematics is the most standardized, the most accurate meaning, there is no literature of those metaphors, insinuations, formulas, equations and so on. Mathematical vocabulary is relatively small, and learners can understand the mathematical teaching materials and test papers, in their native Mandarin language. If Chinese students take two math’s, it means that in the first year of A-level, math scores account for 50 percent of the total, and the second-year accounts for two-thirds. Therefore, for those Chinese middle school students who are better at math, high marks are conveniently attainable in A-level math courses which are their gateway to the world’s leading universities. Everyone thinks: there is no simple “high school entrance examination” in the world, there are no famous universities in the world that open their doors. They are wrong, the A-Level course for China’s outstanding students, is a very “simple” “high school entrance examination”, but also the road to the world’s famous university door Pingchuan.
Third，the A-Level course is the “read by the side test”. Two years according to the teaching progress of four rounds of examination, if a round of examination, a section of a module is not good, the next round (every six months) can also be re-taken. This greatly reduces the burden of review and psychological pressure of each exam and is also conducive to students to show their normal level. Students don’t lose a great chance in life because they don’t pass an exam.
Fourth，A-Level course is two years after four rounds of examination, if a round of examination, a certain module is not good, then students re-test, fully sure to improve their grades, for those eager to read the world’s famous universities of Chinese students, in order to increase their grasp, may wish to use the holiday to expand their academic achievements in the grasp and advantages.
Fifth，the A-Level course examination in the United Kingdom is not only a kind of test-taking component of a strong knowledge course, very suitable for the examination-oriented education “growth” of Chinese students, but there will never be like the Chinese examination of the kind of special trap to let students die in the strange question. The question types that appear in the exam can be found in the textbooks. As long as you have mastered the basic concepts, principles, theorems, laws, and basic types of questions in the textbook, in the examination are sure to obtain good results.