Introduction

The International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) is globally recognised as an excellent foundation for further education. The IGCSE programme is your gateway to higher education or professional studies in Malaysia and overseas. 

The curriculum is designed to develop learner knowledge, understanding and skills in:

Subject
content

Applying knowledge and understanding to new as well as unfamiliar situations

Intellectual enquiry

Flexibility and responsiveness to change

Working and communicating in English

It also teaches skills in:

IGCSE assessment takes place at the end of the course and can include written, oral, coursework and practical assessment. This broadens opportunities for students to demonstrate their learning, particularly when their first language is not English. In some subjects there is a choice between core and extended curricula, making IGCSE suitable for a wide range of abilities.

Influencing
outcomes

Cultural
awareness

The Uplands IGCSE Philosophy

Uplands is proud of our academic record at IGCSE where we consistently achieve exceptional results that far exceed the global average. Though we value the prestige that the IGCSE qualification carries, we also take great pride in how we make the IGCSE programme reflect our own values and core beliefs, especially in our international setting.

Uplands’ IGCSE programme advocates for student choice

We offer a programme that is built around student choice. We build a timetable that allows students to study a diverse range of subjects of their choosing, where they can have the option to select two or more subjects from Language and Literature, Sciences, Arts, Language Acquisition, and Individuals and Societies. Students can choose to take the maximum number of subjects available or they can choose to focus on fewer subjects. The choice is theirs.

Uplands’ IGCSE programme provides a flexible framework

We offer a programme that can be adapted to suit the needs of our diverse student body. Students can study the IGCSE curriculum without the requirement to take examinations in every subject studied. The Non-Certification course supports students to learn the IGCSE curriculum and on completion of each year of learning students will achieve an Uplands High School Credit, which is accredited by the Council of International Schools (CIS). Students taking the Non-Certification course do not need to take the external exam at the end of Year 11.

Uplands’ IGCSE programme fosters critical thinking and reflection

We offer a programme which fully prepares students for the International Baccalaureate Diploma programme and its the core elements of Theory of Knowledge, Extended Essay, and Creativity, Activity, and Service (CAS). We offer our own Core course that runs alongside the IGCSE programme and is compulsory for all IGCSE students. The Uplands Knowldge Perspective course focuses on the essential skills of: Critical Thinking; Synthesis; Analysis; Questioning; Source Analysis; and Creative thinking.

Curriculum

In Year 10 and 11, students undertake a two-year programme leading to external examinations, taught by our experienced international teachers. Uplands offers qualifications from two examination boards: IGCSE with Cambridge International Education (CIE) and GCSE/International GCSE with Pearson Edexcel. The IGCSE/GCSE programme of study is designed to prepare and challenge students across a range of subjects. It is a broad programme that offers students experiences in Science, Mathematics, Language Acquisition, Individuals and Societies, Physical Education and the Arts.

Subject Selection

(Visual for Core + Optional Subjects)

Most students select 7 or 8 subjects to study in Year 10 and 11 including at least one from each of the groups shown on the image. In addition, students will take core physical education for two lessons per week alongside one lesson of knowledge perspectives, a course designed to introduce students to key aspects of the IBDP called “the core” including Theory of Knowledge and Creativity, Activity and Service (CAS).

01

English

  • English Language and Literature
  • English as a Second Language

02

Mathematics

  • Accelerated Pathway with Additional Mathematics
  • Extended Pathway
  • Core Pathway (Year 11)

03

Languages other than English

  • Bahasa First or Foreign Language
  • Chinese First, Second or Foreign Language*
  • French Foreign Language
  • German Foreign Language
  • Spanish Foreign Language

04
05

Science
(select 2)

  • Biology
  • Chemistry
  • Physics
  • Coordinated Science (2 credits)
  • Computer Science

06

Individuals
and Societies

  • Geography
  • History
  • Psychology
  • Economics

07

The Arts

  • Drama
  • Music
  • Visual Art
  • Design and Technology
(Graphics/ Ressistant Materials)

08

Elective

  • IGCSE Physical Education
  • Study Hall
  • Select one additional subject from above

Student Life/Achievement (within IGCSE)

  • KP
  • Value of the programme
  • A Day in the Life of a student