Why IGCSE assessments spread risk across the year, unlike CBSE’s single high-stakes exam

Ask any parent why they picked IGCSE over CBSE or ICSE, and the answer usually comes down to one thing: exams. In the traditional Indian system, a lot rides on a single, high-stakes paper at the end of the year — if a child falls sick or has an off day, the grade reflects that one bad day, not a full year of learning.

IGCSE, short for International General Certificate of Secondary Education, spreads that risk out. Exams count for 60 percent of the grade, coursework for 25 percent and practicals for 15 percent, so a child’s full year of learning matters rather than performance on one exam day. Depending on the subject, students may be assessed through written exams, practical work, projects, coursework or oral assessments, with the format varying by subject but the underlying idea consistent: measuring learning in more than one way.

The curriculum, offered by Cambridge Assessment International Education and followed in schools across more than 160 countries, is steadily growing in Indian cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune. Children still study maths, science, languages and social sciences under IGCSE — the difference lies in how they’re taught, with more emphasis on explaining thinking and analysing situations than memorising information.

That flexibility comes at a cost, however: IGCSE schools are routinely among the priciest in the country, with annual fees in cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru running anywhere from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 14 lakh depending on the grade and facilities.