Comparison between Cambridge and Pearson Edexcel! Review

Comparison between Cambridge CIE and Pearson Edexcel

Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) offers GCSEs and A-levels etc while Edexcel is a subsidiary of the publisher Pearson, and offers IGCSEs alongside the full range of UK qualifications. They are both respected bodies with equal value for their qualification in the UK.

When a student chooses between IGCSE/International GCSE or A-level subjects, they can choose an exam board also. In this case: Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) and Pearson Edexcel.

Difficulty Level

Both the exams are considered to be of the same difficulty level over all with differences in opinion regarding subject wise difficulty.
An example being that, CIE has a reputation for being easier than Edexcel for English, and harder for maths.

But students consider CIE harder and tougher than Edexcel due to the fact that they have to maintain more of an international standard when compared to Edexcel. Edexcel is more focused on the UK, therefore their difficulty level and course and paper structure is more compliant with the UK system. Meanwhile CIE is an independent entity and have the freedom to set their own exam structure which is approved by QCA.

Curriculum

There is no major difference in the syllabus or curriculum. But there are a few major topic differences depending on the courses a student picks. For example, in CIE physics, there is more material study which are often left as a choice to students following Edexcel.

In the case of Mathematics, there are noticeable differences between Edexcel and CIE. CIE Mathematics is considerably more difficult when compared to Edexcel Maths. They usually compensate during the grading process.

CIE physics and Chemistry are both relatively different when compared against Edexcel and other UK boards. The syllabus content is not same, in CIE studnts don't get options in topics, which leads to changes in the notes that the students of both the boards follow.

Structure

Edexcel, AQA, OCR exams have 6 paper exams, but on the other hand CIE A level Chemistry, Biology and Physics have 5 paper Exams and Mathematics is a 4 paper exam.

Paper 1: for the sciences are a 40 question multiple choice paper.
Paper 2: for the Sciences is a AS core content Structured paper
Paper 3: for the sciences is the one and only practical paper lasting 2 hours.
Paper 4: for the sciences is a rather long and hard A2 content paper with the application units for each subject.
Paper 5: is a planning, analysis and evaluation paper, you may not have seen in UK boards.
In the case of Maths students have the compulsory P1 which is AS pure. Then they have an option of going for some more pure which is P2 or mechanics P4 or Stats P6 to complete an AS. So for AS you need P1 and one of P2, P4 or P6.

For A level maths students need the AS modules, and compulsory P3 and one other paper which they have not written an AS Level paper for.

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[hurricaneabi]

For sciences as well students can choose to do double awards or triple awards in Pearson. Triple awards has a few added complicated topics.

[TopG]

From my experience studying in both the University courses, Cambridge examinations are tougher than Pearson.

[Andy-squg]

Is it possible to achieve 4A* 1A in only 1 years for edexcel
In my country school are regulated to do cie, but I've decided to try on edexcel for my A levels
Do you Have any tips for me?
My subjects are Business account economics maths A levels
English iAS

[vanizahibatullah]

Hi I have choose edexcel board in year 10 and year 11 then i have changed schools and choose biology, physics and chemistry in edexcel but now my teachers are telling me to choose cambridge because there are less students in edexcel so some of them agreed to teach me edexcel and i think other will yoo but i wanted to ask is it worth choosing edexcel over cambridge because i have never done cambridge in my life i have been edexcel my whole life so if i choose cambridge will my grades become low?

[spiare]

Just got admitted to edexcel AS level and its different from the curriculum i studied before. I wanna ask memorization important for edexcel? Especially chemistry cuz topics are written in a way just for explanation to thw student to solve stuffs, not somwthint u should memorize

[defoayeshaarif._]

Does university of melbourne accept pearson edexcel? Also i dont exactly get the meaning of CAIE and IGCSE and GCSE, could you please elaborate?

[iali]

Do you think standard A levels from UK and easier then International A Levels or are they both similar in terms of marking and difficulty?

[SahrishShahi]

Does university of Gent in Belgium accept pearson Edexcel? Please guide

[justprwtieee]

Hi ..so i want an scholarship to study in a university in the uk ..so i got to know that uk University only offer scholarship for 2000 pounds from the tution fee.. actually i want a FULLY FUNDED scholarship..one of my teacher said that edexcel is most likely to offer SCHOLARSHIPS and it is more easier compared to CAMBRIDGE ALEVELs so i'm considering to switch to edexcel ...if anyone knows which of the cambridge or edexcel is most likely offer scholarships for good grades after alevels for the fully funded scholarship for a UK university...please clarify this

[abdallahalakhras]

Hi am studying chemistry as level i finished the first 9 chapters studying from cie chemistry notes but now i want to register for edexcel so os there a big difference that i have to study from the beginning or just small things and what is the best notes for edexcel chemistry.thank you and please respond as fast as possible.

[sweetyprincesssuniverse]

hello, I have given ssc exam this year from bengali medium. But now I want to shift from Bengali medium to English medium. So should I follow cambridge or edexel for a level exam? What is the exam pattern of the two boards?

[bubbt]

Hello, I’m a 10th grade student and have been taking Cambridge examinations for two years now. This year my subjects are

English
Math
Chemistry
Physics
Business studies

I had people recommend me that I take math as edexcel and English as Oxford while the rest of the subjects remain as Cambridge, is that a good idea? Would it get me in trouble trying to apply for universities? Please let me know