Many families first meet the Cambridge name through an English language examination. English is one part of it. Cambridge is a complete school curriculum, and it begins at five.
Cambridge is a programme of study for children aged five to eighteen, administered from the United Kingdom and taught in schools in 160 countries. Pupils study English, Mathematics and Science from the beginning, and add history, geography, computing and modern languages as they progress. It is the most widely used international curriculum in the world.
The two qualifications are often confused. IGCSE is a school certificate taken at sixteen and is not sufficient on its own for university admission. A Levels, taken at eighteen, are the qualification universities assess.
More than 2,700 universities accept Cambridge qualifications, and that includes the world's top 1%. The National University of Singapore requires a good pass in at least three A Level subjects for an application to be considered. The University of Melbourne, the University of Oxford and Harvard University accept them on comparable terms.
No separate entrance examination is required, and no foundation year need be purchased beforehand. The results a pupil earns at eighteen form the basis of the application.
Elvora teaches the primary stage: Years 1 to 6, the first six years of the programme. The stages that follow are taught at school, and we say so plainly, because a family choosing a long path should be able to see all of it before they start.
The primary years are where the greatest difference is made. A child who can listen in English, count in English and follow an entire lesson in English at six is not attempting to catch up at eleven. That is the work Elvora does.