Why I like Cambridge (CIE)

At first it was personal, but eventually it became a trend. Let me spill the beans...

First some background. When I started teaching the GCE Advanced Level (A/L) Computing subject in 1993, we called the examining body ULEAC (University of London Examination and Assessment Council). Then the following year I began teaching the GCE Ordinary Level (O/L) as well and its examining group was called ULSEB (...School Examination Board) - I'm playing this off my cuff and I hope I've got these abbreviations right.

Then in the late '90s, BTEC joined hands with the UL folks (at Steward House, Russell Square) and they called themselves 'Edexcel'. This was (possibly), in my own opinion, one of those synergies for survival like we saw with Lotus and IBM, Siemens and Fujitsu, and HP and Compaq in the past. Anyway, the issue was that as the turn of the century approached we (teachers AND students) had quite a few hiccups with the examination boards. At first, we dealt with the Department of Examinations, Sri Lanka, as the intermediary with Edexcel and subsequently, the British Council in Colombo took over the chores.

By this time, I had already taught a few students for both the AQA and Cambridge examinations as a private tutor. I was highly impressed with the standard of the examination, the structure of the paper and most importantly the Attitude of the (CIE) examining board. I've nothing personally against either of these examination bodies, but here's a simple example.

In searching for a solution to the different issues we had back then, I one day emailed the wonderful, (late) Dr. Fred Burke of CIE (Cambridge International Examinations). I hadn't seen him and didn't know anything about him then. And I was truly amazed at his attitude when he replied within a couple of days and requested me for my (institution's) postal address to mail me syllabuses, papers and the works.

Before long, Dr. Fred was in Sri Lanka and addressed us at the British Council in Colombo. I was on a war-footing... I wanted a change. So I (tried to) convince the schools I worked with and everyone at that time had excuses for not making the switch. Finally, it turned out to become a trend, and today, most people (even reluctantly) are switching to CIE.

Once again, please be reminded that I have nothing against other examining boards. In fact, I still tutor some students for Edexcel examinations. Now, here's why I like CIE.

1. Quick response - good admin feedback.
2. The examination style is simply wonderful - at least with my subject - Computing.
3. The cost of sitting examinations is far less, particularly where the A/Ls in one shot is concerned.
4. Edexcel dropped Computing and brought in Applied ICT (which I disregard as an A/L subject).
5. Computing with CIE is available TWICE a year while Edexcel's Computing was only once a year. Of course ICT from Edexcel is also available twice every year now.

End note:
In the recent years Edexcel was 'acquired' by the Pearson Group, which is not connected to the University of London. They are a company known for online testing systems in the past.

In the mean time, two weeks back, CIE made a bad move - a really bad one. They 'down-sized' their awarding scheme to only a top few 'world class' students. As a result, almost stubbornly, some have decided to revert back to Edexcel.

Phew! What a world...