Edexcel and Cambridge are two of the biggest examination boards in the UK. Edexcel and Cambridge (along with is subsidiary OCR) are two respected grading boards with both of them of equal importance. When choosing your GCSE/IGCSE examination boards, you may be given a choice to choose your examination board. The examination board´s duty is to awards students their pursued qualifications, as well as producing the examination papers. It is therefore imperative for you to be certain of which examination board you will be taking, as the examinations are a crucial step that must be taken in order to advance & move closer to your future. This article will inform you about the similarities and differences you must take into consideration before you make your final choice.
Generally speaking, both Pearson Edexcel and Cambridge examinations are the same when we take difficulty into account, however student´s opinions have varied on this matter. For instance, it is common for students to claim that Cambridge CIE English exams are much more easy to prepare for than their Edexcel counterparts. Mathematics and Math relative subjects tend to be easier to study for through Edexcel in comparison however. That is not to say that the exams itself are easier, where in that case despite Cambridge CIE exams being easier to study for, they are actually considered a lot harder than the Edexcel counterparts. This is understandable because Cambridge exams tend to be focused more in the international aspect of their English exams because of Cambridge examination´s grading system being focused more internationally , whereas Edexcel exams tend to focus mainly with UK´s grading standards.
There is definitely a difference in the topics covered by the two examination systems depending on the course chosen. For example, Cambridge Physics include the Young Modulus as a compulsory topic whereas Edexcel makes this a chosen topic. Perhaps the most controversial differences between CIE and Edexcel are the topics covered in Mathmatics, where CIE Math examinations are noticeably more difficult than Edexcel Math examinations. This is true since CIE Math exams have questions that are trickier and harder than their Edexcel counterparts who are more straightforward with their Math questions. However, generally speaking they are the same difficulty-wise, the key is to be able to decipher the tricky questions in CIE Math exams, where you will see that they are actually not that different to their Edexcel counterparts.
Chemistry is another subject that has its differences among the two examination boards. In CIE Chemistry courses, the syllabus does not offer choices, whereas Edexcel does give the students the options to choose. If one prefers to take the easier option, they should take the Edexcel examinations for Chemistry, however generally speaking the Cambridge CIE Chemistry course syllabus is more complete and if one wishes to make chemistry their main subject for university, CIE is definitely the better option despite the higher difficulty.
At the end of the day, its entirely up to the student to make their preferred choice for which exams to take. More ambitious students seeking for complete & challenging education in Physics, Math and Chemistry should opt for the Cambridge CIE exams, whereas students who want the more straightforward and simpler path to university should opt for the Edexcel examinations instead. At the end of the day its not the examination who decides the student´s future but the students themselves, that´s why the choices they make are a major turning point for their careers & future.
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