2EC entrance exams information – 2016/17
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Dear student(s), parent(s), legal guardian(s),
For students who are not currently at the Lycée Michel Lucius, but who wish to enter the 2EC the next academic year:
Please find attached a list of the materials that the students need to prepare for the individual subjects in order to sit the entrance exams in September. They
need to sit these exams in order to pass into the 2EC.
Please note that the following pages contain a list of the materials of all the subjects and that the students only need to prepare the materials for the subjects
indicated in the offer we made.
For past exam papers, please follow the link below and click on “International GCSE” and then pick the subject you need to prepare.
http://qualifications.pearson.com/en/support/support-topics/exams/past-papers.html?Qualification-Family=International-GCSE
The Edexcel International GCSE revision guides are also excellent for additional help, as well as the BBC website:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/levels/z98jmp3
2EC entrance exams information – 2016/17
2EC ADMISSION
SUBJECTS
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ADDITIONAL EXAMS
REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE (iGCSE)
Exam
Duration
Biology
Textbook(s)
Edexcel International GCSE (IGCSE) Biology Revision Guide with Student CD
ISBN: 978-0435046767
60 min
Chapters / topics to be covered:
All topics from the biology book need to be covered. The outline of the subjects can be found here:
Specifications can be found on page 3-17 of the "Specification and Sample Assessment Material"
http://qualifications.pearson.com/content/dam/pdf/International%20GCSE/Biology/2011/Specification%20and%20sample%20assessme
nts/UG030030-International-GCSE-in-Biology-master-booklet-spec-Issue-3-SAMs-for-web-280212.pdf
Please note that the content outlined in bold in the specification will NOT be assessed.
Past Papers:
http://qualifications.pearson.com/en/support/support-topics/exams/past-papers.html?Qualification-Family=InternationalGCSE&Qualification-Subject=Biology%20(2011)&Status=Pearson-UK:Status%2FLive&Specification-Code=Pearson-UK:SpecificationCode%2Figcse11-biology#step3
Only Paper 1B (not 2B)
iGCSE / GCSE Specification:
Further information can be found here:
http://qualifications.pearson.com/content/dam/pdf/International%20GCSE/Biology/2011/Specification%20and%20sample%20assessme
nts/UG030030-International-GCSE-in-Biology-master-booklet-spec-Issue-3-SAMs-for-web-280212.pdf
Chemistry
Textbook(s
Edexcel International GCSE Chemistry Student Book with ActiveBook CD
ISBN: 9780435966898
Chapters / topics to be covered:
The topics to be covered are the following:
Section 1: Principles of chemistry (Chapters 1/2/3/4/5/22/23)*
a) States of matter
b) Atoms
60 min
2EC entrance exams information – 2016/17
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c) Atomic structure
d) Relative formula masses and molar volumes of gases
e) Chemical formulae and chemical equations
f) Ionic compounds
g) Covalent substances
h) Metallic crystals
Section 3: Organic chemistry (Chapters 18/19)*
a) Introduction
b) Alkanes
c) Alkenes
d) Ethanol
Section 4: Physical chemistry (Chapters 6/9/10/14/15/25)*
a) Acids, alkalis and salts
b) Energetics
c) Rates of reaction
d) Equilibria
Past Papers:
http://qualifications.pearson.com/en/support/support-topics/exams/past-papers.html?Qualification-Family=InternationalGCSE&Qualification-Subject=Chemistry%20(2011)&Status=Pearson-UK:Status%2FLive&Specification-Code=Pearson-UK:SpecificationCode%2Figcse11-chemistry#step3
Only Paper 1C (not 2C)
iGCSE / GCSE Specification:
Further information can be found here:
http://qualifications.pearson.com/content/dam/pdf/International%20GCSE/Chemistry/2011/Specification%20and%20sample%20assess
ments/9780997864786_INT_GCSE_CHEM_SPECSAMS_ISS5_comb.PDF
Physics
Textbook(s)
Physics Student Book
ISBN: 978-0-435966-90-4
100 min
2EC entrance exams information – 2016/17
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Chapters / topics to be covered:
Speed, acceleration, distance time graphs, velocity time graphs, Kinetic energy, potential energy, Energy conservation, Moment of a
force, electric current, voltage, resistance, Ohms Law, Magnetism, Gas laws
Past Papers:
http://qualifications.pearson.com/en/support/support-topics/exams/past-papers.html?Qualification-Family=InternationalGCSE&Qualification-Subject=Physics%20(2011)&Status=Pearson-UK:Status%2FLive&Specification-Code=Pearson-UK:SpecificationCode%2Figcse11-physics#step3
Only Paper 1P (not 2P)
iGCSE / GCSE Specification:
Further information can be found here:
http://qualifications.pearson.com/content/dam/pdf/International%20GCSE/Physics/2011/Specification%20and%20sample%20assessme
nts/UG030051_International_GCSE_in_Physics_(master_booklet)_spec_Issue_5_SAMs_for_web.pdf
English language
and Literature
For the English entrance exam for the “English language and literature” course you will be asked to analyse and answer questions about
an unknown poem or/and an unknown prose text (or extract).
You will need to be able to answer questions about how the writer achieves their aim through:
 Use of language
 Use of literary devices
 Use of structure and form
 Use of descriptive skills
Furthermore you should be prepared to explain a writer’s attitude towards the subject matter of their writing and any other aspect that
you consider to be of importance.
Furthermore, you will need to familiarise yourself with the literary terms below.
Look at “Paper 2 – Section A” of the international GCSE “English Literature” (Exam code: 4ET0/02) paper as example. Also look at the
“Exemplar Materials” to see what kind of answers are expected.
The link to past exam papers: http://www.edexcel.com/quals/igcse/int-gcse11/eng-lit/Pages/default.aspx
You can use the “Edexcel IGCSE English Literature” book for guidance. ISBN: 978-0-435046-75-0
90 min
2EC entrance exams information – 2016/17
Literary terms
Adjective: a word that describes a noun (a person, place or thing), such as 'blue', 'huge', 'cold', etc. Adjectives (and adverbs) can have
comparative and superlative forms such as cold - colder - coldest: great - greater - greatest.
Adverb: a word that gives extra meaning to a verb, an adjective, another adverb or a whole sentence. Adverbs sometimes give us
additional detail about how, where, when or how often something occurs.
Alliteration: adjacent or closely connected words beginning with the same sound of a consonant.
Assonance: use of the same or similar vowel sounds close together.
Audience: the person or people for whom a text is intended. They may be defined by age, interest, existing knowledge, gender or any
other linking characteristic.
Blank verse: a line of five iambs (unstressed/stressed) feet, the iambic pentameter, without a rhyme (as opposed to rhyming couplets),
favoured by Shakespeare and other poets.
Caesura: a break or pause in the middle of a line of poetry.
Character: an individual whose personality can be deduced from their actions, what they say and what others say about them. Physical
description and dress can give additional clues about character.
Cliché: a hackneyed or over-used phrase such as 'a close shave'. These may also be idiomatic.
Colloquial: relating to conversation/language used in familiar, informal contexts. Contrasted with formal or literary language.
Dialogue: in a play or novel/short story, a conversation between two or more people (where one person is alone and speaking, this is a
soliloquy).
Didactic language: the language of teaching, when a speaker is trying to impart a message or lesson.
Dramatic irony: a convention whereby the reader or audience is aware of what is going to happen while the main characters are
unaware of it.
Dramatic monologue: where a single person (first person narrator) tells the events, especially in a poem, either to a single listener or to
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the reader.
Empathy: the ability to identify with a person or thing and so understand how he or she feels.
Enjambement (or enjambment): the technique of running the sense on from one line or stanza of poetry to the next without a break. Its
opposite is an end-stopped line, usually shown by a punctuation mark - a comma, semi-colon, colon or full-stop.
Epigram: a brief, witty statement, often involving a play on words or a twist to a common saying. Oscar Wilde was the supreme
epigrammatist: plays such as The Importance of Being Earnest abound in epigrams.
Exclamation: a word or words that are suddenly uttered, perhaps in joy, pain, sadness or surprise. Indicated by the use of the
exclamation mark - !
Figurative language: language used to create vivid and dramatic effects where the meaning of words is not the same as their literal
meaning, Will tend to make use of metaphor and simile; for example, ‘As a tailor, he was a cut above the rest.'
First person narrative: where the person telling the story or recounting events does so as one of the characters, using 'I'; contrasted with
the third person, or omniscient narrator.
Flashback: when the time of the action in a novel or play flashes back to an earlier time (often to help explain why the present is as it is).
Form: the kind and style of writing required for a particular purpose.
Genre and generic structure: different text types conform to certain conventions of language, layout and purpose, Texts that share the
same conventions are said to be in the same genre, Readers often recognise these patterns and use them to shape their expectations
about what may be in a certain text and how it will be written.
Iambic pentameter: a line with five metric feet consisting of two syllables, one unstressed and the second stressed - te-tum - used in
blank verse and often in rhyming couplets.
Imagery: the use of language to create pictures in the minds of the readers, often by using simile and metaphor.
Irony: a situation (situational irony) or statement (verbal irony) where what appears to be the case is not, but perhaps has the opposite
effect or sense.
Metaphor: a way of describing something by saying that it is another thing, rather than merely being like another thing. 'The sprinter was
an express train, hurtling towards the finishing line.'
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Meter: the regular rhythmic pattern of a poem, with a fixed sequence of stressed and unstressed syllables (see iambic pentameter, for
example). The basic unit of meter is the metrical foot; those commonly found in the poems in this book are: iamb (te-tum), spondee
(tum-tum), dactyl (tum-te-te), trochee (tum-te) and anapest (te-te-tum).
Mime: the use of silent movements of the body, such as hand gestures, to convey meaning, with no words spoken.
Narrative text: a text that seeks to retell a story or event, and as such may often be prose fiction. Will tend to use temporal connectives
and stress sequence and chronology of events.
Omniscient narrator: a 'third person' narrator who can stand apart from events with a complete knowledge (from the Latin for 'knowing
everything').
Onomatopoeia: words that imitate or suggest what they stand for, such as 'cuckoo', 'bang'. 'pop'.
Opinion: a belief or a judgement, which may be strongly held, but for which there is no strong evidence or proof.
Oxymoron: an expression made up of two contrasting ideas, such as 'loving hate' in Ramea and iutiet.
Pantomime: a performance where everything is carried out through mime - movement without words.
Paradox: something said or done that appears to be impossible or self-contradictory. Pathetic fallacy: attributing human feelings or
qualities to nature or to inanimate objects, as in phrases like: 'cruel weather': 'angry winds'.
Person: in speech and writing we distinguish who we are referring to by using the first, second and third person: the first person refers to
oneself (I/we): the second person refers to one's listener or reader (you); and the third person when referring to somebody or something
else (he/she/it/they).
Persona: the character assumed by a writer or actor; poems often have a persona that we should not assume is identical to the poet though, in autobiographical poems, it often is.
Personification: a way of giving things or ideas human characteristics; for example, 'Death hovered over the battlefield.'
Platitude: like a cliché; something that has been said so often that it has lost its freshness.
Pun: a playful use of language suggesting another word that sounds the same as that used: for example, 'a grave man' (spoken by
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Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet).
Rhetorical question: a question that is for effect rather than to seek an answer: for example, 'Who cares?'
Rhythm: the movement of the meter through the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables.
Simile: an image created by describing something by saying it is like something else: for example, 'She sang as sweetly as a bird.'
Slang: words or phrases that are very informal/colloquial and are used to be vivid or to show association with a particular group of
people or part of the country.
Soliloquy: a speech by one person to an audience.
Sonnet: a 14-line poem with a formal structure, consisting of a set pattern of lines. The Shakespearean sonnet has three quatrains and a
couplet (four and two lines respectively); the Petrarchan sonnet has an octave and a sestet (eight lines and six).
Standard English: Standard English is that which is most widely used and is considered the usual or accepted form of grammar and
expression. It is not specific to any region and has no connection with accent.
Symbol: a word to describe one thing that also suggests or embodies other characteristics: for example. the lion is the symbol of
courage.
Theme: the subject about which a person speaks or writes. The theme may not be explicitly stated but will be a linking idea that
connects the events and ideas in a piece of writing.
Vendetta: a long-standing quarrel, particularly between families. Witticism: clever humour, often involving word-play.
Art and Design
Students wishing to do art and who have not done IGCSE/GCSE art before must present a Sketchbook to the art teacher which contains
evidence that the student has worked with a range of different techniques (minimum 5 - such as pencil, water colours, Chinese ink,
gouaches, coloured pencil, etc.) and evidence that the student can work with a range of subjects. The work in this Sketchbook can be
past work the student has done in the context of a school setting or in private.
If the student does not have a range of 5 techniques in the sketchbook, the student should start producing works of art where they work
with the missing techniques.
Students from an IGCSE/GCSE system must present the work that they have done at their old school.
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2EC entrance exams information – 2016/17
Mathematics
Textbook(s)
Edexcel Student Book 1 and 2
Edexcel International GCSE Mathematics A
Edexcel Certificate in Mathematics A
D A Turner, I A Potts, W R J Waite, B V Hony
ISBN: 978 0 435966 91 1 and 978 0 435966 92 8
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120 min
Chapters / topics to be covered:
Student Book 1 : Units 1 to 5 (Number, Algebra, Graphs and Sequences, Space and Space, Sets and Handling Data)
Student Book 2 : Units 1 to 4 (Number, Algebra, Graphs, Space and Space, Handling Data)
Past Papers:
http://qualifications.pearson.com/en/support/support-topics/exams/past-papers.html?Qualification-Family=InternationalGCSE&Qualification-Subject=Mathematics%20A%20(2009)&Status=Pearson-UK:Status%2FLive&Specification-Code=PearsonUK:Specification-Code%2Figcse-mathsA&Specification-Code=Pearson-UK:Specification-Code%2Figcse-mathsa#step3
The students need to obtain an A (about 60 %) in the Higher Papers (3H and 4H)
iGCSE / GCSE Specification:
Further information can be found here:
http://qualifications.pearson.com/content/dam/pdf/International%20GCSE/Mathematics%20A/2009/Specification%20and%20sample%
20assessments/UG022527-International-GCSE-in-Mathematics-Spec-A-for-web.pdf
Music
Textbook(s)
 Use the GCSE-book (listed below) or other valid sources about music theory and history
New Edexcel GCSE Music Student Book
ISBN: 9781846904035
Testing:
Students will be interviewed. At this interview the students have to perform their musical instrument(s) and have to present a
composition (at GCSE-level) that they have composed themselves or at least show some harmonic (cadencial) or counterpoint
exercises/progression in SATB-form that they wrote themselves (e.g. exercises from "cours d'harmonie").
Interview
2EC entrance exams information – 2016/17
Theoretical topics to be covered and required skills:
 - Reading fluently treble and bass clef. Basic knowledge of C clef reading
 - identifying and constructing all intervals
 - identifying and constructing the following chords: major, minor, diminished, augmented, dominant 7th
 - scales: understanding, identifying and constructing all major and minor scales (harmonic, natural, melodic) of the circle of fifth
 - scales: knowledge about pentatonic, chromatic and full tone scale
 - cadences: knowing the basic cadences (perfect, plagal, interrupted) cadences. Being able to construct them in all scales (both
major and minor) up to 3 accidentals
 - Basic knowledge about modulations
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- textures: being able to define and recognize (by listening and/or analyzing a score) homo-, poly, mono- and heterophonic
texture
- instruments: basic knowledge about the common orchestra- and pop/jazz instruments
- knowledge of the basic music vocabulary (e.g. dynamics ( pp, mf...), tempi (andante, presto...), expressions (accents, sforzato,
rubato...), techniques (arco, pizz....)
Knowledge about the key features about the most common periodes/eras (such as: baroque, classical, romantic, impressionism,
expressionism, dodecaphony...)
Finding the notes on a piano and ability to play simple melodies/chords on a piano (for all kind of instrumentalists)
Being able to analyze compositions and write an essay of 1-2 pages using musical vocabulary
Instrumental level: minimum 4-5 years of serious instrumental lessons, being able to play/sing from a score
Composition: having succeeded to compose on GCSE-level or equivalent: level of 1er cycle (better: 2e mention) in the
conservatory subject "harmonie"
Basic knowledge in musical dictation /hearing intervals (if not: determination to learn it by self-studying e.g. using specific
computer programs/apps for dictation
N.B. not being able to quite fluently read BOTH treble and bass clef is an excluding criteria which can't be compensated by other
points
N.B. : Compulsory need to have instrumental lessons during the full school year (lesson once per week). Private, music school
and conservatory lessons are to be arranged by the student. Whenever not possible, the school's instrumental lessons have to
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be chosen even if the school can only offer a small range of instrumental lessons.
Past Papers:
Check link to past papers
http://qualifications.pearson.com/en/support/support-topics/exams/past-papers.html?Qualification-Family=GCSE&QualificationSubject=Music%20(2009)&Status=Pearson-UK:Status%2FLive&Specification-Code=Pearson-UK:SpecificationCode%2F2MU01&Specification-Code=Pearson-UK:Specification-Code%2F2mu01#step3
iGCSE / GCSE Specification:
Check link to specification
Further information can be found here:
http://qualifications.pearson.com/content/dam/pdf/GCSE/Music/2009/Specification%20and%20sample%20assessments/GCSE_Music_S
pec_2012.pdf
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