UK schools

As a provider of international qualifications, we regularly review our offer in each country and region, and we monitor the local statutory and regulatory arrangements. Cambridge IGCSEs are aligned to the standard of GCSEs taken in England. You can read more about how we do this on our standards page.

Along with schools in England, we lobbied for the continued inclusion of Cambridge IGCSEs in performance tables. However, the Department for Education's decision to exclude IGCSEs from its performance measures, and a change in regulatory status, means that very few state schools are expected to take Cambridge IGCSEs once each subject comes out of performance measures. Independent schools will still be able to offer these qualifications.

UK performance tables

Deregulation and removal of Cambridge IGCSE syllabuses from Key Stage 4 performance tables

The Department for Education has stated that in the year in which a reformed GCSE subject is first examined, the equivalent IGCSE subject will be removed from Key Stage 4 performance tables. Therefore after careful consideration, we have concluded that we no longer require Cambridge IGCSEs to be recognised by UK exam regulators. All our regulated Cambridge IGCSEs will be deregulated by the end of 2019. After the November 2019 exam series, Cambridge IGCSEs will no longer be eligible for funding in state schools in the UK.

The timetable for the withdrawal of IGCSE subjects from Key Stage 4 performance tables is set out below.

Cambridge IGCSE syllabuses to be excluded from Key Stage 4 performance tables in 2017 and beyond 

• English Language (0522) (final exam June 2017)
• English Literature (0486)
• Mathematics (0580)
  

Cambridge IGCSE syllabuses to be excluded from Key Stage 4 performance tables in 2018 and beyond 

• Art and Design (0400)
• Biology (0610)
• Chemistry (0620)
• Computer Science (0478)
  
• Geography (0460)
• History (0470)
• Modern Foreign Languages (French, German, Spanish) (0520, 0525, 0530)
  
• Music (0410)
• Physics (0625)

Cambridge IGCSE syllabuses to be excluded from Key Stage 4 performance tables in 2019 and beyond 

• Business Studies (0450)
  
• English as a Second Language (0511)
  
• Enterprise (0454)
• ICT (0417)
• Hindi as a Second Language  (0549)
  
• Greek (0543)
• Mandarin Chinese  (0547)