Hi, I have been living in Zurich for a little over a year, and planning to go back to the UK in another year maybe..
anyway, after my short presentation..

I wonder if anybody knows if you can do a GCSE English in this country??
I want to do a postgraduate degree in the UK when I get back but for this I need English GCSE.. (I'm Spanish with Spanish university degree) so I need that..
any ideas if you could go about getting this in this country???

Thanks so much for your help!

Can you not get an IELTS certification instead? What is the standard you need?

I ask because you seem more capable than some people who I know passed GSCE English....

well I want to do a Postgraduate in Education (to be a teacher of Spanish and French in primary or secondary school) and in the few universities I've seen, they ask for GCSE English..
I have never heard of IELTS before but will look into that..
somehow I think they will stick to their prerequisite of a GCSE as this is what normally someone in the UK has..

yes, after living in the UK for 16 years my English is pretty good but I haven't got any certification to prove that..

According to this, you need to take a GSCE exam in the U.K.

There is an IGCSE which you can take abroad but whether that will be allowed for your PGCE course is something you'll have to check.

Random Google brings up this page:
http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/registry/...ions/pgenglish

GCSE, IGCSE, GCE ‘O’ Level or equivalent
Grade B in English Language.

Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in English (CPE)
Grade B.

IELTS (Academic)
An overall score of 6.5, with 6 in the Writing and Speaking modules.

Maybe you need to check your academic institution as it should be similar.

As a former teacher from the UK....

The GCSE in English requirement for a teaching qualification has nothing to do with the applicant's level of English. It's a basic requirement for anyone wishing to teach in the UK - a grade C or above in GCSE English. Trainee teachers also have to pass 'skills tests' in maths, English and ICT before they can gain their teaching qualification.

I'm surprised the OP isn't also required to have a grade C or above in Maths and Science GCSES too. I had to, and as far as I'm aware those are still the rules.

However, OP, while I was teaching (and when I was a pupil come to that) I met several teachers from overseas, particularly in modern languages. I can't believe they all had to take GCSEs before they were allowed to teach.

I suggest you contact the institutions where you wish to study and ask them about your particular case. Modern languages teachers are hard to come by. There may be an exception, recognition of foreign equivalent qualifications, some kind of equivalence exam you can take etc.

do you know if I can do these in Zurich?? sorry to be so ignorant, I'm really lost with this..
yes I suppose after I find out what I can do in here I can ask the university in UK to ask if they would accept that..
problem is , someone could say yes, then once in there I can see somebody else saying no and it would be a waste of time.. my guess..
thank so much! I will keep investigating.

Ring the university. These are British qualifications, they don't expect international students to have studied GCSE & A-level. I think you will find they will accept your national equiverlant!

sorry , what's an OP??
yes I did apply already, before leaving the UK, to a PGCE in Worcester Uni, before knowing we were coming here!
I suppose they didn't ask for GCSE Maths as I did enough Maths at Uni with my university degree.. Science, not sure why they didn't ask..
I got Computer Science Engineering and an MBA (in business)

they only said I had to do the GCSE English, I started to study for my GCSE in UK but then my husband had to accept this position here.. so I never finished it..
and now I'm wondering if I can do something ..

ahhhh thanks, for your replies!!!

If you are planning to teach in the government school system in Switzerland at primary level then you need 5 subject areas - not just 'languages'. I'm not sure how many job there are for primary-school languages teachers in the UK - secondary may be a better choice...

OP is Original Poster I believe!

Seriously ring the Uni and see if you can get around it as an international student. If not, when do you need it by? English Language or English Literature or both? Just that you can't just rock up & do the exam, they need some study, exams are May/June and results in August! You can study distance learning and there should be an exam centre somewhere in CH http://www.icslearn.co.uk/qualifications/gcses.aspx

Sorry, OP means Original Poster... in other words you! Forum speak.... thankfully not something that will come up in an English GCSE!

I hope you manage to find a definitive answer to your question.

Our of interest, as it seems that you have previous career experience, have you thought about investigating school-based teacher training? I don't know if the entry requirements are different, but my personal opinion (shared by several headteachers I know) is that a PGCE course is not sufficient preparation for teaching in a primary environment because you just don't get the time in school, which is where most of your learning how to teach will take place.

Contact the 'British Council' in Bern ( I think) and they'll be able to tell you where you can sit the various exams. They organise various exam sessions throughout the year.
Not sure if they'll be able to tell you about the uni entrance requirements though, you probably need to contact the uni to find out fir sure what they'll accept.

thank you for the OP explanation!
yes I did look into that (School based teacher training) but friends of mine in the UK said that the schools had to invest quite a lot on you for this and usually they were not interested in this..
I even applied to some jobs when they were looking for Foreigh Language teachers suggesting this but they never replied..

ah it's a mindfield ..
thank you!

MINE field ....... don't get that wrong in GCSE exam

now I know! ta!

Hull's School in Zurich run English-system GCSE teaching and examinations. See http://www.hullschool.ch for details.

I think it would not be too difficult to do a GCSE in Switzerland. There are exam centres in several towns eg Zurich. With a bit of googling you can find much of the info. you need. You would probably be doing the IGSE (international GCSE) which all universities accept. It is exam based, which means you don't have the mindnumbingly dreary coursework assignments which schoolchildren have to do. There seem to be 2 exam authorities for this exam, Cambridge and Edexcel. They are pretty similar, but I would probably go for Cambridge as they appear to have more exam centres here and Edexcel has had some problems recently. If I were you I would get a copy of the syllabus and also copies of the last 2 or 3 years' exam papers. There are also several study books and revision guides which you can get from Amazon. Cambridge does some as well as other publishers. I would probably get something from a couple of them to widen your information base. Your English must be pretty good and my guess is that you will be able to enter yourself without much extra tuition, but if you don't feel confident there are good correspondence courses and online facilities to help you. Don't forget you don't have to get an A grade, B would be nice, but C will be perfectly fine and you can retake as many times as it takes to get the grade you need.

thanks so much Nixi, really appreciate your help!!! (and what a cute doggie)

IGCSE and A levels are also at Zurixh north,
Www.iszn.ch
They will probably take you and let you sit the exam for pay.?