Cambridge Assessment International Education (CAIE) offers many different subjects at AS and A level to suit the needs of a wide range of students as they prepare for tertiary studies or work. Although the full range of subjects is not available to private candidates, there are enough that are available to make Cambridge International AS and A levels a worthwhile choice for most private candidates. Cambridge International offers two exam sessions per year: the May/June exam session and the October/November exam session. There is also the March exam session which applies to India only. Most subjects are examined in both sessions, but again not all. In the table below, I have listed all the subjects that are offered by Cambridge International, giving their codes, when they are examined and whether they are available to private candidates.
Bookmark this page and use it as an index and quick reference for all available AS/A level subjects!
Syllabus information
It is very important that you download the syllabus for each subject which you are studying, as the syllabus has very important information that will help you with your planning and preparation for that exam. The syllabi are available on the Cambridge Assessment International Education website.
The front cover of a syllabus will give you the name of the subject as well as the course code (a four digit number). The front cover will also state when the particular syllabus will be examined. This is where you will see which exam sessions this particular syllabus will be examined in. Some syllabi are only relevant for one year, while others for two or even three years. This allows Cambridge International to keep their courses on the cutting edge of teaching/learning and assessment. All subjects are regularly reviewed to make sure that they are meeting international standards and requirements. It is very important to download the syllabus for the year that you will actually write the exam. For example, if you are planning to write Accounting (code: 9706) in 2019, then you would download the syllabus for 2019-2021, even if you are starting to prepare for the exam in 2018.
The first page of the syllabus will give you changes that have been made to the syllabus. Some of these can be minor, like a word change to make something clearer; but some changes are more significant, where content is added to or removed from the syllabus. This does mean that when you are practising past papers, you may come across some questions that are no longer relevant to the syllabus.
To find out whether a particular subject is available to private candidates, look under the heading 'Availability' which is usually a sub-heading under section 1 'Syllabus overview'.
Other important information that you will find in the syllabus includes:
- information about Cambridge International
- content to be covered in the course
- assessment
- aims and objectives
- what papers to write and a brief description of the structure, marks, time, and weighting of each paper
- what assessment objectives will be examined in each paper and to what extent
- prior knowledge needed
- useful information for each subject (such as formulae)
- a description of what is expected at the different grades
- a glossary of exam terms (where applicable)
Cambridge Assessment International Education (CAIE)
AS and A level subjects
Note:
- This information is applicable at least until the end of 2018.
- I have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this information, but please double check the information by consulting the Cambridge International website before committing yourself to a course of study or an exam.
Key:
* Indicates subjects that will be taken off soon. Where possible, I have given the date of the last exam for that subject.
# Indicates a subject that is not available in all the administrative zones, so you will have to check for your specific zone.
Subject | Code | Available to private candidates | Examined in May/June | Examined in October/November |
---|---|---|---|---|
Accounting | 9706 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Afrikaans (A level only) |
9679 | Yes | No | Yes |
Afrikaans - First language (AS level only)* |
8779 | Yes | No | Yes Last exam Oct/Nov 2018 |
Afrikaans - Language | 8679 | Yes | No | Yes |
Arabic | 9680 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Arabic - Language (AS level only) |
8680 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Art and Design* | 9704 | No | Yes | Yes Last exam Oct/Nov 2019 |
Art and design (New from 2019) |
9479 | No | Yes | Yes |
Biology | 9700 | Yes (with practical) | Yes | Yes |
Business studies | 9609 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Chemistry | 9701 | Yes (with practical) | Yes | Yes |
Chinese - Language (AS level only) |
8681 | Yes | No | Yes |
Chinese (A level only) |
9715 | Yes | No | Yes |
Classical studies | 9274 | Yes | No | Yes |
Computer science | 9608 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Design and Technology | 9705 | No | No | Yes |
Design and Textiles | 9631 | No | No | Yes Last exam Oct/Nov 2018 |
Digital Media and Design (new from 2019) |
9481 | No | Yes | Yes |
Divinity | 9011 | Yes | No | Yes |
Divinity (AS level only) |
8041 | Yes | No | Yes |
Economics | 9708 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
English - Language and Literature (AS level only) |
8695 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
English - Language | 9093 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
English - Literature | 9695 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
English General Paper (AS level only) (new from 2019) |
8021 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Environmental Management (AS level only) |
8291 | No | Yes | Yes |
Food studies* | 9336 | No | No | Yes |
French - Language (AS level only) |
8682 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
French - Literature (AS level only) |
8670 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
French (A level only) |
9716 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
General paper (AS level only)* |
8001 | Yes | Yes | Yes Last exam Oct/Nov 2018 |
General paper (AS level only)* |
8004 | Yes | Yes | Yes Last exam Oct/Nov 2018 |
Geography | 9696 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
German - Language (AS level) |
8683 | Yes | No | Yes |
German (A level) |
9717 | Yes | No | Yes |
Global perspectives and research | 9239 | No | Yes | Yes |
Hindi - Language (AS level only) |
8687 | Yes | No | Yes |
Hindi - Literature (AS level only) |
8675 | Yes | No | Yes |
Hindi (A level only) |
9687 | Yes | No | Yes |
Hinduism | 9014 | Yes | No | Yes |
Hinduism (AS level only) |
8058 | Yes | No | Yes |
History | 9389 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Information Technology (new from 2017) |
9626 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Islamic studies | 9013 | Yes | No | Yes |
Islamic studies (AS level only) |
8053 | Yes | No | Yes |
Japanese Language (AS level only) |
8281 | Yes | No | Yes |
Law | 9084 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Marine Science # | 9693 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Mathematics | 9709 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Mathematics - further | 9231 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Media studies (New from 2017) |
9607 | No | Yes | Yes |
Music * | 9703 | No | Yes | Yes Last exam Oct/Nov 2019 |
Music (new from 2019) |
9483 | No | ||
Music (AS level only)* |
8663 | No | Yes | Yes Last exam Oct/Nov 2019 |
Nepal studies (AS level only) |
8024 | Yes | Yes | No |
Physical Education | 9396 | No | No | Yes |
Physics | 9702 | Yes (with practical) | Yes | Yes |
Portuguese - Language (AS level only) |
8684 | Yes | Yes | No |
Portuguese - Literature (AS level only) |
8672 | Yes | Yes | No |
Portuguese (A level only) |
9718 | Yes | Yes | No |
Psychology* | 9698 | Yes | Yes | Yes Last exam Oct/Nov 2018 |
Psychology (new from 2018) |
9990 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Sociology | 9699 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Spanish - First language (AS level only |
8665 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Spanish - Language (AS level only) |
8685 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Spanish - Literature (AS level only) |
8673 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Spanish (A level only) |
9719 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Tamil | 9689 | Yes | No | Yes |
Tamil - Language (AS level only) |
8689 | Yes | No | Yes |
Thinking Skills | 9694 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Travel and Tourism | 9395 | No | Yes | Yes |
Urdu - Language (AS level only) |
8686 | Yes | No | Yes |
Urdu (A level only) |
9676 | Yes | No | Yes |