Government Changes to GCSEs

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If you select two separate Sciences (i.e. two from Biology, Chemistry and Physics), you have four options available If you select the single award combined Science course, you have five options available

Of your options, one must be a language (either a modern foreign language or a classical language) and one must be a humanity (History, Geography, Classical Civilisation and Religious Studies & Philosophy). The remaining options can be used to select from any of the subjects listed in this booklet.

Government Changes to GCSEs

As you will no doubt be aware, the Government has made significant changes to A Level and GCSE qualifications in recent years. September 2015 saw the first changes to A Level courses and September 2016 saw the first changes to the way GCSE and IGCSE courses are structured and taught.

The changes affect both GCSE and IGCSE subjects, including a major change to the grading of examinations. Rather than the traditional A* - G grading system, GCSE and IGCSE courses are now graded 9 – 1 (with 9 as the highest grade and 1 as the lowest grade available). The Government believes that this will allow for greater differentiation between pupils of varying abilities, especially between the middle and highest achieving pupils.

The following graphic, from the Department for Education, illustrates the comparability between the 9 – 1 grading regime versus A* - G grades.