New GCSE Grading

UNDERSTANDING THE NUMBERED GRADE SYSTEM

Key Stage 4 begins for all Doha College students at the start of Year 10.

Most (I)GCSE courses last for 2 years. The vast majority of (I)GCSE courses are now “linear”, meaning they are assessed at the end of Year 11.

Coursework and controlled assessments have gone in most subjects and, where it remains, its weighting in the overall subject grade has been heavily reduced.

Students’ performance is now measured against the grading system below. Exam boards now award numbered grades 9 to 1 rather than A*-G grades. There is no perfect conversion between the old and new grading systems except to say a new Grade 5 is equivalent to a high old-style ‘C’/low old-style B and a new Grade 9 is even higher than the old-style A*. Please see table below.

WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN GCSE AND IGCSE?

GCSE and IGCSE are certainly very similar. Both qualifications are at the same level: they are designed to test the completion of the UK National Curriculum’s “Key Stage 4”. They are usually sat at the end of UK Year 11, in the year a student becomes 16. They have no age restriction, though - and have been sat by many students younger and older. By most higher education institutions and employers, they are seen as equivalent qualifications. The ‘I’ in IGCSE stands for International; IGCSEs were conceived to be more relevant to students learning in an international or non-UK context. Their key differences are as follows: • IGCSEs tend to have less coursework than GCSEs. • IGCSEs generally also have fewer administrative hoops to jump through, and so are often favoured by students wishing to prepare for them online. • IGCSE marks are not recorded in UK GCSE League

Tables. • IGCSEs and GCSEs also offer different subjects.

For example, IGCSEs are not available in Latin or

Ancient Greek. Standards and expectations at Doha College are very high from the outset of KS4. We expect the best from our students. To give you the best chance of turning these high expectations into great results, the first step at KS4 is making sure you choose the best courses for you. I hope this booklet goes a long way to help you with this.

Old-style Grades Future Grades

(A**) A* / A 9 8

A A / B B / C 7 6 5

C / D 4

D / E E / F F / G U 3 2 1 U

Ofqual guidelines

Broadly the same proportion of students will achieve a Grade 7 and above, as currently achieve a Grade A and above Broadly the same proportion of students will achieve a Grade 4 and above, as achieve a Grade C and above, however Grade 5 is the new floor target

The bottom of Grade I will be aligned with the bottom of Grade G

Unclassified