MYP vs IGCSE: Comparing How Middle and High School Students Learn and Are Assessed

At a glance: the MYP and IGCSE

Below we look in turn at how each works, and at assessment, where the difference is greatest.

What is the MYP?

The IB's MYP is for ages 11 to 16 and has eight subject groups: language and literature, language acquisition, individuals and societies, sciences, mathematics, arts, physical and health education, and design. The guide is at least 50 hours of teaching a year in each group, and in Years 4 and 5 students can narrow this to six groups.

Students in the final year must complete a personal project, which takes about 25 hours. It is an independent inquiry and is subject to external checking (moderation). If you want to show MYP results outside the school, taking part in eAssessment in the final year gives you an MYP certificate and results for each course. Most eAssessment is optional and chosen by the school, but the personal project is required of everyone.

What is IGCSE?

Cambridge IGCSE is a qualification designed for ages 14 to 16, with over 70 subjects. The school chooses the combination of subjects, and each subject is assessed through a combination of written papers, oral work, coursework and practical work.

Some schools use Pearson Edexcel International GCSE. Pearson grades from 9 to 1 and describes two approaches: exams after two years of study, and a modular approach in which students sit exams unit by unit. Even within IGCSE the exam structure differs by exam board, so ask the school which board it uses. The differences are set out in more detail in our article on IGCSE schools in Tokyo.

The biggest difference is assessment

When a student moves from the MYP to IGCSE, even in the same English or Maths, the method of assessment changes. For example, a child who achieved high grades in the MYP can be thrown by the time management and answer format of an IGCSE exam. Going the other way, from IGCSE into the MYP, the new challenge is the habit of reading the criteria and revising your own work against them.

Even where the ages overlap, they are not the same system. Compare them by looking not only at subject content but at assessment and course structure.

Even in the MYP, schools use external assessment differently

The summary "the MYP is assignment-based and IGCSE is exam-based" is a useful way in, but it is not enough to decide on a transfer. MYP assessment centres on assignments set by teachers and marking by teachers. The IB has kept marking standards aligned through moderation, in which teachers submit samples of selected students' work. In the final year, however, there is also MYP eAssessment, an external assessment marked by the IB.

eAssessment consists of on-screen exams (up to 2 hours) in subjects such as language and literature, language acquisition, individuals and societies, sciences and mathematics, and ePortfolios in arts, design and physical and health education. The IB's guidance says that the school can choose which eAssessments to register students for. For that reason, even among MYP schools, there are schools where everyone sits external exams and schools that rely mainly on internal assessment. The personal project is submitted electronically to the IB for checking.

The MYP certificate has set conditions. According to the IB's page on passing criteria, a student must sit external assessment in six designated areas, reach a minimum level in each area, complete the personal project, earn a total of at least 28 points and meet the school's expectations for community activities. The detailed criteria may be updated, so check the IB's guidance for the latest. If a school does not plan for students to work towards the MYP certificate, grades remain as the school's internal assessment.

Families who are transferring should ask the school these five questions. (1) Does this school take part in MYP eAssessment? (2) In which subjects is there external assessment? (3) Is my child working towards the MYP certificate, or only school-based grades? (4) What are the remaining requirements for the personal project? (5) How much of the assessment already completed will carry over?

IGCSE is not a single exam system either

IGCSE also differs greatly by exam board and by subject. In Cambridge IGCSE, the combination of written, oral, coursework and practical assessment is set subject by subject. Many subjects have two tiers, Core and Extended. According to Cambridge's explanation, Core is designed to target grades C to G and Extended grades A* to E, with C, D and E overlapping. In other words, studying at Core lowers the highest grade you can obtain. The school and teacher choose which tier a student follows.

Pearson Edexcel International GCSE is a qualification from a different organisation. Grades run from 9 to 1, the same system as the UK GCSE. In addition to the traditional approach of studying for two years and sitting exams at the end, there is a modular approach in which students sit exams unit by unit. The modular approach is said to have started in eight subjects including English, economics and history from September 2023, and to have spread to subjects such as maths and the sciences from September 2024, but it is not available in every subject. It is also an option available only outside the UK. Which approach is used is decided by the school.

Cambridge and Pearson are not interchangeable qualifications. The syllabuses, exam structures and past papers all differ. If you transfer in the middle of a term, even a subject with the same name may need preparation to be redone if the board is different.

You cannot decide on the MYP or IGCSE alone

Whether it is the MYP or IGCSE alone does not tell you how easy a transfer will be. In practice, you need to check which assessment method, exam board and subject structure the school actually uses. The documents to check and the questions to ask are set out in our curriculum checklist for transfers.

Even where ages are close and subject names are the same, if the assessment method and the board differ, the content of the preparation changes.

The actual structure differs by school

The words "MYP" and "IGCSE" alone do not tell you how learning actually works at a school. Even in Tokyo, the structure differs from school to school. The detailed structure of each school is set out in our school-by-school curriculum comparison and our article on IB continuum schools in Tokyo.

What comes next

Many schools move from the MYP to the DP, but whether MYP completion is required for entry to the DP depends on the school's admissions policy. After IGCSE, some schools lead on to the DP, A-levels or the school's own qualifications.

The differences between these routes are set out in our comparison of the IBDP, AP and A-levels.

What to check when transferring