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.
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.
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.
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?
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 International or Pearson Edexcel's International GCSE (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.