I don't have a good idea for the past few days to go back and I am not a big fan and the

This post has been edited by shadowmorning: Aug 26 2015, 11:25 PM

I don't think there are many people who took both exams so a good way to compare is to look through the syllabus of each. Since you already know the SPM syllabus, you can find the CIE IGCSE syllabus at http://www.cie.org.uk/qualifications/acade.../igcse/subjects

thanks, but it still doesnt explain the FORMAT of the (Bio,Chem,Physics,Addmaths) subjects under O-levels. i mean,when u check addmaths for sample tests, there are paper 1 and paper 2. but when i chk under bio-chem-physic, there's like until paper 6? but no paper 1 sample provided? can u help explain?

http://www.cie.org.uk/qualifications/acade...t?assdef_id=840

http://www.cie.org.uk/qualifications/acade...t?assdef_id=879

http://www.cie.org.uk/qualifications/acade...t?assdef_id=837

I don't really have any idea about SPM, but I'm going to be doing O levels.
Paper 5 is practical which is not offered for private candidates here, so you do paper 6 which is the alternative to practical.
Paper 1 is objective, paper 2 is short answer, paper 3 is long answer.

And then again, the links you gave up there are IGSCE. IGSCE is different than GCE O.

woah thks man that was close...hey do you think if u can supply me with some links having some o-level format material and syllabus etc? thks alot.

ok u were saying that "Paper 1 is objective, paper 2 is short answer, paper 3 is long answer." and " Paper 5 is practical which is not offered for private candidates here, so you do paper 6 which is the alternative to practical."

question - p2 short answer meaning short subjective answers?
p3 LONG answer u mean by essay?
what is paper 6 compromise of?


if u can help god bless u.

I don't have online stuff. I have hard copy stuff.

Short answer is like one word or two word or one sentence answer. Very straightforward.
Long answer is not exactly an essay. They may ask you to describe an experiment. Explain something.
Hm paper 6 you can look at the sample paper? It's just like those done at school too. I'm not sure how it is at spm level since I'm only taking pmr this year. But it's very similar to those. Observation, hypothesis, conclusion, reason for using a specific substance.

about the paper 6 thing... so basically u must THINK up an experiment for paper 6?
one more thing if u dont mind me asking, how do you know bout this spm/o-lvl thing? and y are u taking pmr(a msian government exam) and then know nothing bout spm? sorry if im intruding on a personal matter.

No you don't have to think up an experiment. They give you an experiment. But you need to know the results and you must have very good visualisation skills.

Hehe I'm taking pmr because I'm form 3 and attend government school. But well I just find it too boring so my parents are letting me do O level.

O lvls should be easier since they dont have the oh-so-hated rigid marking scheme like spm.

hey luckykid u must really be a intelligent if ur simply doing o'lvls when ur still in form 3... yeah in spm paper 3, they will GIVE questions with experiments and they readings and they will ask things like variables ,hypothesis based on given diagrams or info. what im talking bout is that last question in paper 3,usually labeled as QUESTION 3 and either they will give 2 situations(can choose one) and ask u to make an experiment with ur own thinking.theres an example of spm p2 and p3 attached below.SO...is it like that in O-lvl? chk it out. thks

and C=Note, can u explain a bit more of spm's "oh-so-hated rigid marking scheme"? how is o lvl marking better than spm? i really wanna know

I can't find the attachment?

Past papers for IGCSE.
http://freeexampapers.com/Dndex.php?d=SUdDU0U=

I did both and from what I can see in O level, add. maths it is harder but the rest of the science subject it is abit easier I also took 2nd time from SPM to O lvl because my spm like shit "B's" then after 2 months of O lvl = A** haha

But O Level's doesn't have low grading margin like SPM.

There were several articles written by teachers to The Star, complaining that subjects like Add Maths & Physics have ridiculously low passing marks.

Cheers.

Of course O-Levels is harder


In O-Levels, you can't take dozens of small subjects like in SPM

O-Levels is way deeper..
That's why lesser subjects.
My O-Level Add-maths book was thicker than several SPM books combined.



I took Cambridge IGCSE in 2003. (I came from International School..I never attended government school.)
When I took A-Levels after that, it really showed in the class.. the difference between the people who took O-Levels and SPM. It shows in their understanding.

By the way, only a handful of people actually took O-Levels in Malaysia because of that government policy on International Schools at that time. And some took as external candidates


If you have some money or scholarship, please don't even think about SPM.
Take OL and AL.. and go oversea

This post has been edited by prolog: Aug 18 2009, 08:25 PM

of coz O-LEVEL tougher.
SPM, i wonder how i pass i add math,what i did, was only 2 questions,and i got a D8!!
what kind of standard??

O-level is tougher i think.

SPM are more simple, teachers at gomen school feed you with anything that you need for the exam. but the most important thing is you have to study. No matter how easy it is.

spm's malay is hard~ haha!
but overseas' o-level english paper is even difficult.
Olvl standards on language subjects is way too high ah =O

btw, i would say spm's passing mark is low

o-level.

spm close one eye can do

Of course O-levels is better, because it's the colonial country-that-came-to-make-war-and-stole-our-resources-to-make-their-country-more-advanced's Exam, duh.

I studied in the government school until I was form 2, was then homeschooled for three years and have just recently finished my o levels.

Believe me when I say O levels is harder. Its analytical. There are very few objective papers. Out of the ten papers I sat for five subjects, only one paper was objective and even so, there were two subjective papers to back it up! O levels questions are mostly a test on your understanding, ability to relate what you know in detail without going out of topic or relevance to the question, and then critically explain why so and so won the war against so and so eventhough the other party had stronger weaponary. whats more you have to back it up by both logic and fact.

No you dont have to remember long and tedious spelling of names of enzymes and the length of cat's small intestine. you have to understand how they work, function and then apply it to the question.

also, unless you are extremely confident of your english skills, I would advise against taking O levels. The ammount of essays that have to be wrtitten in such a short period of time is grewsome. I wrote nearly ten pages on five Modern World History questions for two hours and thirty minutes straight and still didnt finish the last question (because the question is never really that straight forward).

so if you are good at memorizing details, stick with SPM. If you want to delve deeper into topics and test how deeply you understand them, by all means take O levels. its a great way to strenghten thinking skills, absorption of relevant info and comprehension.


on a side note the biology CIE O levels is as follows:
Paper 1, 40 objective questions.
Paper 2, Theory.
Paper 3, Pratical test. (as in, you do the experiments then and there)
Paper 6, Alternative to Practical. (as in, you answewr questions based on the experiment given and draw your own hypothesis and conclusion.)

This post has been edited by nickellye: Dec 19 2009, 03:32 AM

i agree wif nickellye
Ol more on understanding and thinkin skill leii, In SPM, bio,chem and phy's experiment can hafal...swt...

GCE O lvls aren't difficult if u have time to study for it/ practising past yr papers.
For pure maths, i suggest you to find an excellent math tutor to guide u through the questions. the other science subjects are pretty easy. For english language exam, reduce your grammatical, punctuation and spelling mistakes, cuz for each mistake 1 mark will be deducted. that means if u make 101 mistakes, ur score will be -1 regardless of how u correctly u answer in comprehension section.

since u already studied for SPM 2 years, just revise it and work hard for it.

its harder to learn something new again compared to something u studied 2 years already

[quote=luckykid,Aug 14 2009, 02:15 PM]
I don't really have any idea about SPM, but I'm going to be doing O levels.
Paper 5 is practical which is not offered for private candidates here, so you do paper 6 which is the alternative to practical.
Paper 1 is objective, paper 2 is short answer, paper 3 is long answer.


[/B]YOur doing it in Malaysia or overseas? ow did you manage to switch?


This post has been edited by Santia Parameswaran: Aug 26 2015, 11:18 PM

im a igcse student.....well i have to say syllabus wise i think spm learn more than igcse. Example in biology spm learn about mitochondria and stuff but in igcse we learn thebasic such as cell wall and stuff.....But i have to say spm have a low passing grade...i heard that 70% is an A in spm..if passing marak was this low i would have got straight As in igcse ....but igcse have standardised marking......hence 80% would be an A....this make it harder to score....plus the more sophisticated english they are using......thats all hopes it help ...cheers

Nope, don't listen to those laymen that do not know anything. O-Levels/IGCSE/GCSE/GCE-O/USA High School Diploma ARE EASIER than SPM. BUT SPM CAN have a lower marking scheme depending on the annual results. Topics and syllabus covered in O-Levels/IGCSE/GCSE/GCE-O/USA High School Diploma are more GENERAL than SPM which is more IN DEPTH. For example Chemistry, O-Levels/IGCSE/GCSE/GCE-O/USA High School Diploma Chemistry only covers up to the General concepts for Organic Compounds chapter whereas in SPM, we learn until Alkene, Alkane, Alkyl etc for Organic Compounds chapter which are MORE IN DEPTH and are equivalent to Matriculation/A-Levels/Diploma. Don't believe me? Take A-Levels, Diploma or Matriculation after your SPM, you will literally re-learn everything that you have learned during SPM because SPM went too deep. My lecturers even told me that SPM was harder than O-Levels/IGCSE/GCSE/GCE-O/USA High School Diploma that he sent his children to do O-Levels/IGCSE/GCSE/GCE-O/USA High School Diploma instead. Then with all the notion that SPM will be fully KBAT/Critical-Thinking by 2020 and the implementation started since 2013, it makes SPM A LOT harder than it is right now.

This post has been edited by worldblues: Dec 8 2017, 01:12 PM

SPM syllabus covers concepts both in depth and in breadth, I studied triple sciences and relied heavily (and primarily) on Oxford Fajar's reference books, I then browsed O levels/GCSEs reference books and have no problem understanding the syllabus which covers everything we covered. The only reason people doubt its legitimacy is due to the weak execution. Example: the SPM exam questions are pretty straight-forward with minimal emphasis on the application of the knowledge. The grades are often lowered (drastically) following the normal distribution graph, where you'd normally need 90 marks to get an A+, the marking grade is most definitely lower than that, don't even get me started on the passing mark.