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Date: 20
February 2008
Amnuay Silpa Bilingual School
Introduces
The International General
Certificate of Secondary
Education (IGCSE)
Last October the first students
from Amnuay Silpa Bilingual
School sat the IGCSE ESL
examinations. We would like to
congratulate Tri Chunsuttiwat
(M5/1), Taratorn Punsri
(M5/1), and Jadejutha
Saengboon (M4/1) on their
recent IGCSE ESL (extended)
results:
Written
Oral
Tri B 1
Taratorn B 2
Jadejutha B
1
Passing grades for IGCSE exams
range from A* to G, with A*
being the highest. The oral
assessment grades range from
one to five, with one being the
highest. It is important to
note that only 35% of all of the
students worldwide who sat the
June 2007 IGCSE ESL exam
received a B or higher.
For the IGCSE ESL (extended)
exam candidates took three
examinations at the British
Council at Siam Square: a
two-hour reading & writing exam,
a forty-five minute listening
exam, and a ten to twelve minute
oral exam. For most of the
students this was the first time
taking an international exam and
many found it challenging. “The
writing was the most difficult,”
said Tri Chunsuttiwat and
Jadejutha Saengboon, “and we
didn’t have enough time to
think.” For Taratorn Punsri the
speaking part of the exam was a
particular challenge, “The oral
exam was the most difficult for
me because I did not know what
topics I would have to speak
about.”
The International General Certificate of Secondary
Education (IGCSE)
is taken in over 100 countries
worldwide and is internationally
recognised as being equivalent
to the GCSE in the United
Kingdom.
Each year millions of candidates
sit for Cambridge examinations
in over 150 countries
worldwide. . Assessment may
include coursework, final
examination, practical and oral
tests. The qualification is
viewed by UK universities as
being the direct equivalent of
the UK GCSE at all grades.
IGCSE has grown to an annual
candidate entry of over 90,000
and over 300,000 subject
entries. Many Thai university
international programs will
accept five passes at grade C or
higher on the IGCSE as
qualification for entrance.
Grade C in IGCSE English (both
First Language and Second
Language) satisfies the
English proficiency requirements
of many universities in the UK
and other anglophone countries.
For example, the following
English universities listed
below accept the grade C in
IGCSE English for proof of
English proficiency:
University of Nottingham
University of Leicester
University of Liverpool
London School of Economics and
Political Science
The IGCSE program is also a
solid foundation for A levels
and university entrance exams
including the ANET English test
as well as the various
international program exams
including TOEFL, IELT, CU TEP,
and TU GET. Yet without a
foundation students would have
difficulty passing IGCSE exams.
In Mathayom 1 and Mathayom 2
students develop essential
skills and a core body of
knowledge in the Cambridge
Lower Secondary Program,
which, used in conjunction with
the Key Stage 3
curriculum of the British
National Curriculum,
provides a firm foundation for
the IGCSE. At the end of
Mathayom 2 students take the
Cambridge Checkpoint Exam
which provides a diagnostic
profile about student
competencies in English, maths,
and science.
Eventually Amnuay Silpa will
offer IGCSE exams in information
& communication technology,
maths, combined science,
geography, Thai, as well as
English ESL, English language,
and English literature. The
IGCSE program, according to
Martin Clarke, the Head of
Mathayom, will “give students
new ways of working and studying
that can change their way of
thinking and their way of
looking at
the world for the better.”
With the addition of the IGCSE
program students at Amnuay Silpa
will enjoy the best of both the
Thai curriculum as well as an
international curriculum.
Mark Moran
Head of Key Stage 4/IGCSE
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