International General Certificate of Secondary Education

The examination boards Edexcel, Learning Resource Network (LRN), and Oxford AQA also offer their own versions of International GCSEs.

Cambridge IGCSE exams are conducted in three sessions: February/March (India only), May/June and October/November, and the results are released in May, August and January respectively.

From the academic year starting September 2023, Edexcel International GCSE exams are conducted in June and November.

[12] At one point in time, the “A*” grade in the GCSE did not exist but was later added to recognise the very top end of achievement.

In the case of Further Mathematics, an extra A* grade was added for students that can “demonstrate sustained performance in higher-level maths skills such as reasoning, proof and problem-solving.”[14] The qualification is recognised by many institutions[quantify] in the world.

In 2013 the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) allowed more use of IGCSE subjects in state-funded schools.

Following that, the UK government announced that the 16 accredited Cambridge IGCSE syllabuses could also be funded in state-maintained schools.

[22] However, from 2017 the government decided to exclude IGCSEs from official performance tables, and consequentially entries from state schools have fallen.

According to many of these educators, the IGCSE curriculum may be more advanced than a typical North American secondary school course by at least one year.

Some Italian Universities as well accept both IGCSE and AS & A Level certifications, but a minimum of grade is often required for the admission.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, all IGCSE examinations due to take place in May/June 2020 were cancelled, along with GCSE and A-Level exams that year.

As of 31 March 2020, the CAIE had decided to guide schools to predict students' grades through evidence like mock examination results.