What are the O and A levels?
O LEVEL
O Level stands for ordinary level. It is the first half part of the General Certificate of Education (GCE), the second part being Advanced Level (A Level) which students enter after the completion of O Level. It is an internationally recognised qualification and is considered to be the equivalent of Cambridge IGCSE and UK GCSE.
O Level is usually taken up either in the 11th year (17 years) or between the age group of 14-16. It is the final certification for secondary school and once a student has completed it, they are considered to have completed formal education.
Subjects
There are 40 subjects available to pick and choose from in any combination. Students usually take 7-9 subjects for the O Level examination. The maximum number of subjects a student can take being 14. The subjects are divided into six of the following groups-
Group I: Languages
Subjects- French, German, Spanish, etc.
Group II: Humanities and Social Sciences
Subjects- Economics, Geography, Sociology, etc.
Group III: Sciences
Subjects- Agriculture, Physics, Chemistry, etc.
Group IV: Mathematics
Subjects- Additional, Mathematics D (Calculator Version).
Group V: Business, Technical and Creative
Subjects- Business Studies, Commerce, Computer Science, etc.
Group VI: English Language and Literature.
Subjects- English Language, English Literature, etc.
Cambridge sets the syllabus but gives the teachers freedom on how to conduct classes. The course on an average takes two years to complete at the end of which the students take up the exam.
Assessment
Grades scorable are from A* to E with A* indicating the highest level of achievement and E being the minimum satisfactory performance. The grade U (Ungraded) is considered to be a fail in a given subject.
The Cambridge O Level exam is conducted twice a year during the months of June and November with the results being declared during the months of August and January respectively.
Recognition
Majority of the universities worldwide require both O Level along with A Level but some universities in the US and Canada will accept students with five O Level subjects with the minimum achieved grade being C in all five subjects. Grade C in O Level English satisfies the English proficiency standards set by many universities in English speaking countries.
A LEVEL
Advanced Level (A Level) is the second part of the General Certificate of Education (GCE), the first part being O Levels. Students between the ages of 16-18 or the 12th or 13th year of schooling take up this programme. It is a two year course and is considered as a standard assessment of students in order to determine their candidacy for college and university applications.
It is offered by education institutions primarily in the UK, but is also provided countries under the common wealth or countries previously under the common wealth. British Council considers A Levels as similar to the American Advance Placement which in turn are equal to the first year coursework of their four year bachelors degree.
Subjects
A minimum of five subjects graded between A* to C (including English and Mathematics) in either GCSE or O Levels are required in order to qualify for the A Level programme.
Students are required to choose four to six subjects for A Levels out of a total of fifty five possible subjects. This allows the school the flexibility and freedom to customise the subjects they offer to their students. These fifty five subjects fall into six groups-
Group I: Languages
Subjects- French, German, Spanish, etc.
Group II: Humanities and Social Sciences
Subjects- Economics, Geography, Sociology, etc.
Group III: Sciences
Subjects- Agriculture, Physics, Chemistry, etc.
Group IV: Mathematics
Subjects- Additional, Mathematics D (Calculator Version).
Group V: Business, Technical and Creative
Subjects- Business Studies, Commerce, Computer Science, etc.
Group VI: English Language and Literature.
Subjects- English Language, English Literature, etc.
A Levels are graded between A* to E. Students who fail to obtain the minimum marks required to obtain an E grade in any subject are awarded a compensatory AS Level for that particular subject.
Assessment
Students can choose between three options of assessment.
- The student can choose to take up the Cambridge International AS Level only. The syllabus content is half a Cambridge International A Level.
- The student can choose to take a ‘staged’ assessment route,ie, take the Cambridge International AS Level in the first examination series and complete the final Cambridge International A Level in the second series. AS Level marks can be carried forward to a full A Level twice within a 13 month period
- The student can take all papers of the Cambridge International A Level course in one examination session, generally at the end of the course.
Cambridge International AS & A Level examination series are held twice a year, in June and November. Results are issued in August and January.
Recognition
A Level course work is generally considered to be very tough and is widely accepted among various universities worldwide. Students usually apply to their preferred universtities prior to actually writing their A Level exams with their A Level results which have been predicted by the school.
But as the predicted grades are given by the student's teachers, they are considered to be unreliable. Universities will still insist on the actual A Level exam results before finalising the student's place in their courses, tho there are cases where the student is guarnteed a place in the university earlier.
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