igcse French

tyllwyd

My daughter is quite disappointed with the gcse options offered at her school. I had the idea of enrolling her as a private candidate to do French igsce so that would give her an extra option in school. She is reasonably good at the subject but doesn't have any special background in it.

Has anyone done anything similar? What are the pros and cons? I want her to have a qualification so that it doesn't restrict her options later but she is not likely to go on to study languages at A level.

daska

If she's not doing a language at school then I'd go for it if she's agreeable to the extra work. Having a language always looks good and having the commitment to have done it outside school will also add kudos. Even if she only ever uses it for holidays it'll be worth it.

silvercar

igcse is much harder than gcse and the qualification is not any better.

Seanymph

I was going to ask why not a GCSE?

tyllwyd

The reason for going for igcse rather than gcse would be that it is much harder to do a gsce privately nowadays because of the requirements to do controlled assessments. It would be good if she could do the gsce as a private candidate through the school but they haven't been very flexible so far so although I will ask before making a decision I'm not confident they would help! How much harder would you say igcse is than gsce? If she was an A/B student at gsce, do you think she would be OK to get at least a C at igcse?

skint_chick

Have you looked at your local colleges/university for evening courses? I've done Italian and I'm now doing Spanish this way - my current class is on a Saturday morning but they usually offer classes in the evening between around 5.30 and 9 depending on the college. The controlled assessments are done in the class time and are quite straightforward to complete - I've done 2 hour long writing assessments and an 8minute speaking one. She would need the class environment to learn the grammar etc unless you are paying for a tutor in my experience. My course is costing £150 but she might get a discount for being a full time student although some colleges don't allow under 16s.

It does look good on a cv and university application to have extra curriculars but I don't know how much value French GCSE would hold for her if she doesn't intend to study languages at a later stage and she is already doing enough other GCSEs. If she progresses to university you can usually study languages as an extra curricular there - depending on the uni - I did study languages and find it useful on holiday but don't use them much workwise. To use a language in a job usually the expectation is at least A level.

It would be good for her confidence and independence to do a course outside of school but I definitely think you should look for a college course rather than trying to study privately because it will be cheaper than a private tutor and there'll be work marked and other people to practice with.

LucyLocket

Tyllwyd what a great thread! I'm really interested in this and I haven't seen / heard it discussed anywhere else.
I was looking at the igcses on the Cambridge site a few days ago.
DD doesn't take options til next year but I'm worried about how limited the choices are.
I'm curious about the idea that igcses are harder,is this because they don't rely on coursework?
Does anyone know what the fees are?
Also does anyone know if there are age limits and is it permitted to take an A level in a subject you don't have a GCSE / igcse in?

Sorry for all the questions :-(

daska

I'm assuming that if she's looking at GCSE options then she's presumably 14 so a lot of the college courses won't be open to her?

tyllwyd

She is 13 at the moment, so she isn't due to make her gsce choices at the moment, we are just looking ahead. I've tried looking into evening classes but there isn't much choice in the town where we live, and being under 16 makes it more difficult.

I was thinking about a distance learning course along the lines of
http://www.oxfordhomeschooling.co.uk/subject/french-igcse-course/ (no recommendation, just found by googling!)

As far as I can see the fees would be along the lines of £200 - £300 for the distance learning course plus the fee for the examination centre (and finding an examination centre might be a challenge). I do have a couple of friends, one who is a native French speaker and one who is a French teacher, so we might be able to organise a few additional lessons.

I'd like her to have the qualification because it is a 'good thing' generally, and because it might be needed for university applications, so I'm reluctant for her to drop French completely, but if she is forced to take it at school and drop one of her favourite arts subjects instead, I'm worried she might lose a lot of motivation.

TheConways

Just to add: I'm really surprised that the school does not offer it. I thought studying a language was compulsory now? Does the school not offer it?

My husband is fluent in French and German, and it has benefited him enormously. Good luck in finding a solution, as a second language can open many career doors.

tyllwyd

Oh yes, the school does offer French, but apart from the compulsory subjects she can only choose three options out of modern foreign languages, humanities, expressive arts and DT, so I'm trying to see if there is any way around it. French seemed the easiest subject to study outside school.

(BTW Studying a language is not compulsory, but you do need one language for the English Baccalaureate.)