Decisions, Decisions: Choosing IGCSE Subjects

There are many important questions that we ask ourselves over the years that shape who we are: who to befriend, what to believe in, whether pineapple belongs on pizza (it doesn't), your Hogwarts house, the best Pokémon starter - the list goes on and on. Choosing what to do in the future is one of them. Picking your subjects can be a daunting experience - trust us, we've been there! In hopes of making this process less cryptic, we've interviewed some year 11 students and asked them to give their honest opinions on a few of their IGCSE subjects. Here’s what they had to say:

Economics “Okay so economics starts off quite easy, however it gets harder as you go through the curriculum. I personally think it’s doable though if you’re good with answering long-answer questions. You’re required to have some good math skills too since there are lots of calculations and graphs in economics.” - Janna Selim (IB1)

Design and Technology “It's definitely a very demanding subject. If you're thinking of taking it, you've got to make sure that you'll be able to keep up with the heavy workload and be prepared to have to work on your time management skills. Actually going into the workshop to work on our coursework and seeing our visions come to life was fun and satisfying, however it's easy to underestimate the amount of work that actually goes into the whole process. Truthfully, it's quite difficult to score high marks (don’t underestimate the tests...trust me on this), but if you put in the time and work it's doable!” - Jana Bazeed (IB1) Psychology “Good on you! Thinking of quite possibly the most interesting subject in IGCSE. IGCSE psychology covers a wide range of topics and you'll probably end up with a favourite or two. I recommend that you listen to the teacher's instructions (that includes doing homework) and follow the textbook; it's quite simple really and you'll find yourself enjoying psychology! Plus, an important note: read your case studies! Know the strengths and weaknesses!” - Eilaf Shamekh (IB1) Art “If you want to take art, I’d suggest that you make sure that it's something you’re thinking of pursuing in the future. It’s a very time consuming subject, and to score high marks you need a lot of work because it can be very subjective. That said if it’s something you’re passionate about, go for it - it’s a lot of fun! It can also be very relaxing between other subjects because you’ll be doing what you love. It almost doesn’t feel like studying.” - Jowayreya Abdul Aziz (IB1) Physics “As someone who generally enjoys math and physics, physics IGCSE was just overall interesting to me. I enjoyed the in-depth topics we took; it was great. That said, physics does require a large portion of your time. It is a hard subject. If you are the type of person that doesn’t like to think a lot then I wouldn’t recommend taking it alongside other heavy subjects. Having said that, if you can get over the pain of formulas and seemingly endless studying, it's definitely worth it!” - Jana Kenawy (IB1) Biology “It feels like a lot at first and the syllabus is quite diverse, but it’s a lot easier than it seems. The questions are pretty repetitive, so if you do a lot of past papers you should be fine. ” - Zainab Bhavnagri (AS1) Chemistry “At first I thought I wouldn’t enjoy chemistry, however with patience and focus I actually began to like it. Keep in mind that you’ll have to solve A LOT of past papers - you’ll have to work hard for your marks. Practicals were always very interesting and full of surprises. Overall, you probably won’t regret it.” - Anastasia Sedky (IB1)

Computer Science

“The theory is very simple, and as for programming you just need to pay attention in class because it can be rather challenging to catch up on on your own. But once you get the hang of it, it's super simple and fun. ” - Reem Zahran (AS3)

Geography “Geography seems like a great filler subject to take to complete your six subject selection to get an “easy A*”, (or simply if you’ve always liked it), and it truly is if you’ve already picked all your preferred science and other humanities. However, it is a subject that requires memorization of key terms, case studies and processes like the water cycle or rock cycle. You will also need to write for case study questions and analyze data in the fieldwork paper, and you’ll learn to develop map skills for your map paper. All in all a great subject as long as you study your course material well and practice lots of exam papers!” - Habiba Elsayed (IB1)

History “History is a subject all to do with learning factual content and making your own opinion and arguments on it. It’ll require lots and lots of writing, especially when it comes to practice papers, but it was always interesting and made fun by the class. If you want a subject where you can learn and form opinions about the past and argue well, history is the choice to go with. It requires medium memorization and is mostly knowing the general story of things and making arguments about it, so don’t worry about intense memorization like biology. Make sure to have fun with it like I did!” - Habiba Elsayed (IB1) Now that you’ve seen what we have to say, we hope that this helped you consider your choices better. It's all up to you now - what do YOU want to do? Good luck!