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General Certificate of Education

Overview

General Certificate of Education

The General Certificate of Education (GCE) is a subject-specific family of academic qualifications that awarding bodies in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Crown dependencies and a few Commonwealth countries.

The GCE is composed of three levels; they are, in increasing order of difficulty:

  • the Ordinary Level (“O Level”)
  • the Advanced Subsidiary Level (“AS Level”)
  • Advanced Level (“A Level”).
GCE

Course Length

A two year program

Exams are conducted by Cambridge International Examinations (CIE)

Recognition in Pakistan

O Levels

O Levels is considered by IBCC to be the equivalent to Secondary School Certificate (SSC), as long as students meet the following requirements:

  1. Students undertaking Pakistan based examinations (local exam) require eight subjects including English, Urdu, Islamiyat, Pakistan Studies, Mathematics and three electives.
  2. To qualify for the Science Group it is necessary to pass Physics, Chemistry, Biology or Computer Science/ Information and Communication Technology (ICT).
  3. Students who do not qualify for the Science Group will be placed in the Arts Group.
  4. Students with a qualification in Computer Science or ICT in place of Biology at the Cambridge O Levels stage will be granted SSC Science Group equivalence but will not be granted equivalence to HSSC (PreMedical Group), even if Physics, Chemistry and Biology subjects are passed at the Cambridge International A Levels stage.
A Levels

Universities in Pakistan recognize and welcome Cambridge international qualifications. In order to ensure the smooth transition of students who want to continue their studies in Pakistan, the Government of Pakistan provides an equivalence with the local education system.

Qualification equivalence, issued by the Government’s IBCC, is as follows:

  • Cambridge International A Levels are equated to the Higher Secondary School Certificate (HSSC).
  • To qualify for equivalence at HSSC level, IBCC provides a list of the compulsory and elective subjects that must be studied at Cambridge International A Levels.
  • To be eligible for the Pre-Engineering group, students must pass three Cambridge International A Levels in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics, along with eight Cambridge O Level/Cambridge IGCSE subjects.
  • To be eligible for the Medical group, along with eight Cambridge O Level/Cambridge IGCSE subjects, three Cambridge International A Levels in Physics, Chemistry and Biology are required.
  • For the General Science and Humanities groups, along with eight Cambridge O Levels, three Cambridge International A Levels in any subject are required to be eligible.

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