IGCSE, GCSE, and Post-16 Options in Athens: Campion and St. Catherine's (2026)

For families from the UK and British-curriculum countries, the IGCSE at 16 is the natural examination milestone, followed by a post-16 qualification at 18. In Athens, the two principal British-curriculum schools — Campion School and St. Catherine's British School — both deliver the Cambridge IGCSE at Years 10–11, then both run the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma post-16. Campion replaced its A-Level programme with the IB Diploma back in 2002; St. Catherine's likewise uses the IB Diploma at sixth form. Families who specifically want Cambridge A-Levels will need to look to other British schools in the wider Athens area (see below). Understanding this shared IGCSE-to-IB pathway, and the alternatives, has long-run implications for university applications.

The IGCSE in Athens

What Is the IGCSE?

The Cambridge International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) is the international equivalent of the GCSE, set by Cambridge Assessment International Education (CAIE). It is examined at the end of Year 11 (typically at age 15–16). Students sit external examinations set and marked by Cambridge, with results issued in August. Grades run from A* to G (or 9–1 on the newer numerical scale for some syllabuses).

The IGCSE is accepted as secondary-level evidence by universities across the UK, Ireland, Australia, the US, Canada, South Africa, and most European countries. For UK UCAS applications, IGCSE grades fill the same role as GCSE grades.

IGCSE at Campion School

Campion introduces the IGCSE programme in Year 10. Students typically sit eight to eleven IGCSE subjects, sitting the external Cambridge examinations in May/June of Year 11. Core subjects taken by most students include: English language, English literature, mathematics, and at least two sciences (biology, chemistry, physics — often taken as separate IGCSEs). Students select additional subjects from humanities, modern languages, arts, and other electives.

Cambridge IGCSE results are released each August by CAIE and students receive a certificate directly from Cambridge.

IGCSE/GCSE at St. Catherine's

St. Catherine's also prepares students for IGCSE and GCSE examinations at Years 10–11, following the same Cambridge external examination timeline. St. Catherine's subject offer at IGCSE includes the standard breadth of sciences, humanities, languages, and creative subjects.

Post-16 in Athens: The IB Diploma at Both British Schools

What Is the IB Diploma?

The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) is a two-year qualification taken over Years 12–13 (typically age 16–18). Students study six subjects — three at Higher Level and three at Standard Level — drawn from six subject groups, plus the three core components: Theory of Knowledge (TOK), the 4,000-word Extended Essay, and CAS (Creativity, Activity, Service). Each subject is externally assessed, with examinations in May of Year 13. The maximum score is 45 points.

The IB Diploma is recognised by all UK universities via UCAS (which publishes an IB-to-UCAS-points conversion), and is highly valued by universities in the US, the Netherlands, and elsewhere for its breadth.

Campion's Post-16 Programme

Campion replaced its British A-Level programme with the IB Diploma in 2002 and has run the IB Diploma at sixth form ever since. Students who progress into the IB at Campion are normally expected to have achieved a solid set of IGCSE passes, including Mathematics and English. They then select their six IB subjects across the subject groups.

UCAS and university outcomes: Campion has a track record of students progressing to UK universities, including Russell Group universities, as well as universities in the US, EU, and Australia. The school's counselling office supports UCAS applications, personal statement preparation, and — where relevant — UCAT for medical applicants, SAT/ACT coaching, and US Common App preparation.

St. Catherine's Post-16 Programme

St. Catherine's also uses the IB Diploma as its post-16 qualification. Students follow the British curriculum through to IGCSE at Years 10–11, then transition into the IB framework for Years 12–13. This IGCSE-to-IB-DP combination is common in British international schools worldwide, though it requires students to adjust to the IB's broader, inquiry-driven approach after the more focused IGCSE track.

Where to Find A-Levels in the Athens Area

Families strongly committed to A-Levels — for example, because a child is targeting a UK course that specifies particular A-Level subjects and grades — should note that neither Campion nor St. Catherine's offers them. Some other British schools in the wider Athens area, such as St. Lawrence College and Byron College, do offer Cambridge A-Levels. Always confirm the current post-16 offer directly with any school before committing.

See IB schools in Athens for a full comparison of the IB Diploma options across all Athens schools.

Comparing the Two British Schools at Post-16

Both Campion and St. Catherine's now run the IB Diploma post-16, so the choice between them turns less on qualification type and more on location, fees, and school community:

University Admissions from the British Track in Athens

Both Campion and St. Catherine's IB Diploma students apply to UK universities through UCAS. The deadline for most UK courses is 15 January of the application year (for Oxford, Cambridge, and medicine/dentistry/veterinary courses, the deadline is 15 October). Both schools' counselling offices support the UCAS process.

Greek-resident expat students applying to UK universities as international students will typically pay international tuition fees unless they qualify for home fee status — a complex area that depends on nationality, prior residency, and the university. See university admissions from Athens international schools for more detail on fee status.

What the IGCSE-to-IB Pathway Asks of a Student

Because both British-curriculum schools in Athens follow the same route, the practical question for most families is not which school offers which qualification but whether the route itself suits the child. It is a genuine change of shape at sixth form, and it is worth understanding before Year 11 rather than during it.

Under the IGCSE, a student takes a wide set of subjects and is assessed at the end of the course, largely through examinations, on material that has been taught. The IB Diploma keeps the breadth — six subjects across the groups, rather than the three or four a student would carry into A-Levels — and adds the core: Theory of Knowledge, the Extended Essay and CAS. Two consequences follow.

The first is that a student cannot drop a discipline they dislike. A student who has decided at sixteen that they are finished with mathematics, or with languages, or with the sciences, will still be studying all of them. For a child with genuinely broad interests this is the strength of the qualification. For a child with one clear direction and little patience for the rest, it is the reason some families look elsewhere.

The second is that the workload is distributed differently. The Extended Essay and CAS are extended pieces of independent work that run alongside taught courses over two years, and they reward students who plan and self-manage. Students who have done well at IGCSE largely by revising hard in the final months sometimes find the first year of the Diploma an uncomfortable adjustment. Schools are well aware of this; ask how they support it.

If You May Move Again Before Sixth Form

Mobility is the reason many families choose British-curriculum schooling in the first place, and the two halves of this pathway behave very differently when a family moves.

The IGCSE is portable. It is a Cambridge qualification taken at a fixed point, and a student who moves in the middle of the Years 10–11 course can usually continue the same syllabuses at another Cambridge school, though the specific syllabus codes and options offered will not always match. The Diploma is far less forgiving, and the reason is worth grasping rather than accepting: it is not a set of examinations a student turns up to but a two-year process with assessment completed along the way, so a transfer carries work already banked and expects the new school to receive it. That imposes conditions a receiving school may simply be unable to meet. Transferring out of the Diploma into an A-Level programme part-way is harder still, because the two are not merely different courses but different lengths of runway, and a student arrives with neither the first year of one nor the equivalent of the other.

The practical implication is that if a further move is likely, the point at which it happens matters more than the destination. A move before Year 10 or after Year 13 is straightforward; a move in the middle of either two-year course is not. Where a family has some control over timing, aligning a relocation with the end of a course is one of the most useful things they can do for a teenager's education.

Choosing A-Levels Means Choosing a Different School

The single line above about St. Lawrence College and Byron College carries more weight than its length suggests, and families committed to A-Levels should sit with it before going further.

In many cities, the A-Level question is settled inside a school: you choose the school, and the sixth form offers both routes. In Athens it is settled between schools. Campion and St. Catherine's, the two names a British family will hear first and the two profiled throughout this guide, both run the Diploma post-16. If A-Levels are non-negotiable, the decision is not which sixth-form pathway to take at sixteen — it is which school to join, potentially years earlier, and that changes far more than the examination at the end.

Three things move with it. Location: the two flagship schools sit in the eastern and northern suburbs respectively, and a different school means a different quadrant and a different housing search. Community: much of what makes a school right for a particular child is its size, intake and feel, none of which follows from its examination offer. And continuity: if you enter an A-Level school at eleven for the sake of a decision that takes effect at sixteen, you have committed to it for the whole of secondary.

The honest question is therefore how firm the A-Level requirement really is. Where a specific degree course specifies particular A-Level subjects and grades, it is firm and should drive the school choice. Where it reflects familiarity — a preference for the qualification a parent recognises — the Diploma reaches the same UK universities, as the section above sets out, and letting it decide the school is an expensive way to buy a familiar name.

Whichever way you lean, confirm the current post-16 offer directly with any school before committing. Provision at this level changes, and it changes without much publicity.

Where to Read Next

If the IB pathway is the deciding factor, compare it across all the Athens schools in the guide to IB schools in Athens. If the choice between the two British schools comes down to community, campus and location rather than curriculum, British schools in Athens covers each in more detail, and the full cost picture — including the examination fees that attach to both the IGCSE and Diploma years — is set out in international school fees in Athens.

How Global Investments Can Help

If your family's move to Athens is driven by or connected to a long-term residency plan — including Greece's Golden Visa — our team can help you align the property decision with the school. Families targeting Campion may favour the eastern suburbs and the Pallini access corridor; those targeting St. Catherine's will find northern suburbs such as Lykovrissi, Kifisia, or Marousi more convenient. Browse listings in Greece or contact us to discuss your plans.

This guide is for information purposes only. Qualification details, subject availability, and fees are subject to change. Always verify current information directly with schools and universities. Investment values can fall as well as rise.