mukund shyam

For those unaware, I did my 10th standard in the ICSE (Indian Certificate of Secondary Education) board, but I switched to the CIE (Cambridge International Examination) AS and A Level board.

Switching was honestly a lot tougher than I expected. As someone who was a pretty good student in 10th, I thought adapting to a new curriculum would be quite easy and would take only a month or so, especially because I expected that a lot of people in my school would be from a different curriculum moving to AS and A Levels.

That was definitely optimistic on my part.

Honestly, I think the transition process was quite difficult, but once you get the hang of the syllabus and the questions that come in the exam, it will get a lot easier. Through this post, I hope to share some insight that may help anyone transitioning from ICSE (or any other Indian board) to AS and A Levels.

1. Similarities

Although these boards are quite different, they do have some pretty key similarities.

First of all, both boards are extremely content-heavy, but in different ways. ICSE (and ISC) goes wide, with an absolute ton of chapters and topics in every subject. On the other hand, AS and AL usually has fewer chapters, but the chapters are usually more detailed. This is not a hard-and-fast rule though, and it also depends on the subjects you have chosen. But overall, I think AS and AL places a much larger emphasis on reading work than ICSE and ISC, while ISC and ICSE place a larger emphasis on mastery over a vast range of topics. Overall, though, the amount of work required for both boards are quite similar.

Secondly, both boards place a large emphasis on English (especially if you’re studying AS and AL in India, where English is in most places a compulsory subject). In ICSE and ISC, English is a compulsory subject with elements of both literature and language, and at the end of 12th, one needs to write 2 exams for English (one for literature and one for language). On the other hand, the syllabus in English varies from school-to-school in the AS and AL syllabus.

2a. Syllabus

Both boards take a different path when it comes to the syllabuses of the subjects, and this depends on the subjects you intend on taking as well.

Take history, for example. In ISC, there’s a large emphasis on Indian history, and even though world history is present, it’s only a fraction of the syllabus. On the other hand, AS and AL’s history is world history only, and your teacher will usually choose what topic you will study (i.e. Europe, USA, or Rest of World; to oversimplify).

Even psychology is vastly different. ISC places a large focus on learning psychological ideas and theories (for example, the senses and their connection to psychology), while AS and AL takes a case study approach to introduce students to the world of psychology. AS and AL psychology is a lot less “technical”, so to speak.

The greatest difference (and the one that will be most noticed by students transitioning over to AS and AL) is English. In ISC and ICSE, there’s a focus on formats and things like that for language, and certain texts for literature. On the other hand, in AS and AL, the focus is almost purely on analysing language, and analysing one’s own use of language. Just getting used to the analysis portion is quite difficult for someone who wasn’t introduced to it earlier (like in 9th grade, for example).

2b. Exams

The exam structures for both boards are also vastly different.

Before I get into that, though, I think its quite important for me to say that in India, both AS and AL exams as well as ISC exams take place at the same time. There’s no timing disadvantage when it comes to college applications if you choose to take AS and AL.

Anyway, back to the exam structures. In ISC, every subject has a single board exam at the end of the 12th grade, and that (along with projects) dictate your final grade. In AS and AL, on the other hand, there are 2 sets of exams: one at the end of the 11th grade and one at the end of the 12th grade. Your final grade will be the average of your 11th and 12th marks. Also, in each exam session, AS and AL students will have to write at least 2 exams (for example, at the end of 11th I had to write 2 papers for economics: one essay and one MCQ), with science students having to write 3 exams each at the end of 11th and 12th (two writing (structured and MCQ) and one practical).

Again, similar to how it is with the syllabus, the style of exam is also quite different (and varies quite wildly from subject to subject). Something that is somewhat common in AS and AL though (especially among the humanities) is essays. Learning how to write essays (especially for the exam) is quite crucial to a student’s success in the AS and AL exams.

3. What to expect when you switch

As everyone always says, expect to do poorly at the start of 11th.

Learning how to write essays is hard. For me, it was difficult to understand what CIE words like “analysis”, “evidence”, and “sustained judgement”. Be prepared to receive tons of feedback, especially if you choose humanities.

Also expect to do not-so-great on your 11th midterm exams.

Expect that most people will be better than you, because they have the experience of writing a CIE exam and they have been taught, from day zero, what the CIE wants. You haven’t.

Also, make sure to use your calculator to the fullest.

So that’s all for this week! I hope the article was (at least a little) helpful for people intending on switching to AS and AL from ICSE!

Thanks for reading!