Choosing your IGCSE subjects is an important consideration for all students as it can determine the direction a child’s future will take.
In the UK, children study normally between six and nine IGCSE subjects over two academic years. They take a broad range including English Language and English Literature, Maths, one or more Sciences (or single or double Science), one or more humanities (Geography and/or History) and a language (French, Spanish and German being the most popular). Computer Science is also popular in the digital economy.
We suggest that your child starts with a minimum of five subjects, with English Language and Maths as the first choices. Please note that for additional subject choices, students are encouraged to choose a range of subjects in which they have interest. There is no compulsory requirement regarding these.
Wolsey Hall recommends that students complete our full IGCSE courses over a standard 18 month to two-year timeline. This guidance is based on our wealth of professional and pedagogical experience and our understanding of maintaining a student’s wellbeing and motivation to study. This gives your child the necessary time to cover the syllabus content, but also the time to practise applying their new knowledge in different scenarios as well as developing the skills that they have learnt. Skills development is a vital part of IGCSE courses, and this takes time for students to refine, hence our recommendation of timeline.
To give you an idea of how long your child will need, the approximate study time for the majority of IGCSE subjects is 150 hours. (180 hours is recommended for English, Maths and Combined Science.) To this, you should add extra time time for assignment preparation (8-12 assignments per subject).
Please note that if exams are taken outside of our recommended timescale, it may be necessary to approach your homeschooling studies in a different manner in terms of additional support.
Your child’s choice of IGCSE subjects should be determined by whether they are going on to A level and from there to university. The appropriate IGCSEs may also be influenced by the intended country of university study, as requirements vary significantly around the world and should be taken into account when selecting subjects. If your child plans to take any subject at A level, then a good pass at IGCSE will be expected.
In order to ensure that the future potential university admission requirements for your child are not overlooked, you might like to consider arranging a meeting with one of our University Advisors to discuss your child’s trajectory through the IGCSE and A level programmes.
Our handy guide will explain more about the transition from Lower Secondary to IGCSE courses.
Wolsey Hall Oxford is a registered online Cambridge International School.
If you’re thinking of enrolling your child at Wolsey Hall Oxford and you’d like to know more about what we do or how to enrol, please get in touch. We’re ready to enrol new students throughout the academic year.
