Here is a summary of articles that will help you to understand how the Cambridge International system works and how to use it successfully, especially as a private candidate.
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It is difficult to overestimate the importance of one’s AS level results. For most students, the AS level exams provide the final school-leaving certificate which is used to gain entry into university, other tertiary study options, or perhaps to apply for a job. If one’s results are poor, one may miss life-changing opportunities such as the opportunity to study medicine or engineering, or even the opportunity to enter university at all.Apart from the formal issues like results and recognition, effective study at AS level helps to prepare a young person intellectually and personally for future studies, for the working world, and for life in general.
When selecting IG subjects, there is a lot of information that one needs to know about each subject: What is its code? When is it written? Is it available to private candidates? Is it available at core and extended levels? This article explains these issues and summarizes the information for all the subjects in a convenient table.Bookmark this page and use it as an index and quick reference for all available IG level subjects!
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!
Butterflies in the stomach! Judgement Day! Am I prepared? Will I do well enough to be accepted for my first choice at University? Or to proceed to the next level of my Cambridge studies?These are the feelings, thoughts, and questions that go through your mind (and stomach!) as exams approach. These final weeks of preparation are crucial, and can easily make a difference of 20% to 30% on your final result; but what do you do when you sit down at your desk to revise? How do you prevent your mind from wandering as you page through your text book and your notes? How do you use your time effectively so that you are not like a boxer punching the air?
Here are some guidelines to help you ensure success. They are especially applicable to subjects like mathematics and physics, but will be useful for other subjects too.
Qualifications issued by Cambridge Assessment International Education (Cambridge International) are well known for their educational quality as well as their widespread recognition, making Cambridge International an excellent choice for the final years of secondary schooling. But deciding to enrol for a Cambridge International qualification is only the beginning. The real challenge comes in mastering the various curricula and in preparing yourself for the final exams. In this regard it is important to understand what Cambridge International does and does not do.
You have enjoyed homeschooling your children, but suddenly you realize that they are needing to leave the school room and enter the world. What proof do they have that they have a solid education behind them? What will prospective employers and tertiary institutions accept as valid schooling leaving qualifications? As a friend of mine's son pointed out to her, "No university or employer is going to accept me because my mom says I can do it!"Children going to school in South Africa write the National Senior Certificate (NCS) exams at the end of their twelve years of schooling. These exams are commonly known as the 'matric' exams and they will determine whether a child can continue to study at tertiary level (either at diploma or degree level) or not. But what about homeschooled children? What certificate do they obtain at the end of their schooling?
The Cambridge International IG biology course (Code 0610) is a comprehensive course that covers many interesting and exciting topics. It is designed to be a practical and relevant study pertaining to the student's own environment and circumstances, so keep South Africa's beautiful and diverse habitats in mind when you work through the course.A student will appreciate the study much more if they have a good foundation in the study of biology built up over the earlier school years. Cambridge International recommends that students have met the requirements of the key stage 3 of the national curriculum for England or a local equivalent. Using the English key stages as a basis and my own experience in teaching the IG biology syllabus to my own children and others, I have compiled the following list as a suggestion for what students should already know before starting the IG biology of the course. Some of the material can be introduced as early as Grade R, but the material needs to be developed to at least a Grade 10 level before starting on IG.
The list is by no means exhaustive but aims to give a general idea of the subject matter that should have been dealt with before starting on IG biology. This may help some of you to know what to look for when evaluating biology textbooks and curricula for the earlier grades.
All students wanting to study at a South African university must obtain a university exemption to be admitted into tertiary studies. No university in South Africa will accept a student without this exemption. The exemption indicates that a student has met the basic requirements and conditions at secondary school level in order to be admitted to study a degree at a university or other tertiary institution. For school-going children writing the NSC (National Senior Certificate), the university exemption is issued automatically by Umalusi with their 'matric' results if they meet the necessary requirements. However, students with a foreign qualification like the Cambridge IG and AS/A Levels need to apply to Universities South Africa (USAf) and in particular to the matriculation board for exemption. USAf will issue conditional or full exemptions to students who meet certain requirements in terms of the Higher Education Act (Act 101 of 1997) no 1317 dated 5 December 2008.In this article, I discuss the USAf requirements for exemption as they relate to the homeschooler with Cambridge IG and AS/A Level subjects, and how to apply for such an exemption.
On Friday 13 October 2017, the South African Government Gazette published a Bill which aims to amend the South African Schools Act of 1996. The proposed amendments are wide-ranging, but do include some significant clauses which aim to regulate homeschooling, including homeschooling for grades 10 to 12. As it stands, the Bill requires parents who homeschool their children for grades 10 to 12 to register with an accredited service provider for a programme leading to the National Senior Certificate exam. By definition, this excludes the possibility of homeschoolers obtaining a school-leaving qualification through Cambridge International.What does this mean for you if you are seeking a Cambridge qualification, and what can you do about it?
For homeschoolers who are using or who plan to use Cambridge International as a school-leaving qualification, section 25(6) of the proposed Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill presents a problem (see here for details). The section is certainly not phrased as well as it could be, but the wording as it stands seeks to prevent homeschoolers from using any school-leaving qualification apart from the South African National Senior Certificate.There appear to be good reasons why this restriction cannot be sustained legally, but it is nevertheless important for as many people as possible to register their objections to this section of the Bill.
I have, in association with the Pestalozzi Trust, developed the following strategy for objecting to this section of the Bill.
The following is Imago Education's submission to the Department of Basic Education (DBE), presenting reasons why section 25(6) of the proposed Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill should be scrapped. (If you want to submit your own objection to the this clause of the Bill, please see here.)1 Introduction
The Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill (hereafter referred to as “the Bill”) has wide-ranging implications for public schools and for home education. Although most aspects of the Bill are of general concern, my present interest is with the manner in which the Bill seeks to regulate and restrict home education for children who have completed grade 9 (i.e. children who are in the Further Education phase leading up to a school-leaving qualification). The relevant clause of the Bill is found in section 25(6), and states:
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In the 1960s and 1970s, a revolution took place around the world in the way in which we think about teaching and learning. Its essence was a shift away from the idea that knowledge is simply given to children in favour of the idea that children create knowledge. No longer were children to be thought of as passive recipients of knowledge, but rather as active constructors of their own knowledge through their interaction with the world and society around them.