Families often meet us at two different moments. The first is Grade 6, 7 or 8, when algebra, longer writing, or a science explanation has become harder than last year. The second is an exam course: IGCSE or O Level, then A Level or the IB Diploma, or the CBSE and FBISE board years. This note is about telling those moments apart.
Middle school is the school book
In Grades 6 to 8 we follow the book the class is using. The lesson slows one chapter until the student can explain it and use it in a short question. Homework is a few questions from that chapter.
In a British school this stage is usually Years 7, 8 and 9. Grade 6 is not British Year 6. Year 6 is the year before the stage we teach. If a form says Year 6, tell us the age as well. If it says Year 7, that is the usual match for the start of our middle-school work.
CBSE Classes 6 to 8 sit in the same middle band when that is the book. The chapter order is the textbook's order, not a Cambridge order with the same topic name.
There is no separate exam board for most of these years. When a school test is near, we use that test's style: short answers, a labelled diagram, a simple calculation. Exam-board papers are the work of the later courses.
Exam courses are the course that was entered
IGCSE and O Level are separate qualifications. They can share a navigation label on this website because families look for both around Grades 9 and 10. The books are not interchangeable. A student entered for one should not be taught only from the other.
A Level is a different course again, usually in the last two school years, sometimes split into a first year and a second year. The IB Diploma is not A Level. It has its own page. CBSE Classes 9 to 12 and FBISE SSC and HSSC follow their own textbooks.
None of these exam courses is "from Grade 6". The academy supports students from Grade 6 upward. The exam lesson follows the course the student is actually taking.
We do not call every British course Cambridge. Some schools use Pearson for some subjects and another board for others. The book, and the year of the exam, decide the lesson.
What to send when the label is confusing
Send the school name, the word the school uses (Grade, Year, or Class), the subject, and a photo of the book. If the school has just changed course, send the new cover and say what the old one was. We will not blend the two.
If you have a statement of entry, a sentence naming the subject is enough. You do not need to type a code. If two children in the house are on different books, book them as two lessons even when the hour of the day is the same.
How a week looks
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After the lesson, the short note says what was taught and the next step. In the middle years that next step is usually the school's own question. In an exam year it may be a past question in the style of that paper, with a look at which line earns the point.
A worked look at one change of course
A student in Grade 8 is on the school science book. The following year the school enters IGCSE Physics and Chemistry as separate subjects. The summer lesson, if you book one, stays on the Grade 8 book until the new books arrive. When the new covers are in the photo, the lesson changes. We do not start the IGCSE book in Grade 6 or Grade 8 just because the topic names look alike. Forces in middle school and forces on an exam paper are related ideas with different questions.
The same patience applies when a school moves from GCSE to IGCSE, or from one board to another, in the exam years. The new book is the lesson. The old book is context, not a second syllabus taught in the same hour.
Where to read next
Middle school, IGCSE, O Level, A Level, the IB Diploma, CBSE and FBISE each have a page. Open the one that matches the book, not the one that matches a neighbour's child. If you are unsure, the diagnostic is the place to say so.