Co-ordinating Grade Increases (Co-ordination Group Publications)

Member Name: zoe_page_1

Product:	Co-ordination Group Publications
Date:	02/10/01 (103 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: in op

Disadvantages: in op

Although at times I’m told I look like a 16 year old, believe it or not I’m not one. And, being a 19 year old 2nd year uni student, you might think I’d have no use for text books aimed at GCSE students… but you’d be wrong.

The Co-ordination group was set up a few years ago just before I sat my GCSEs. Our Biology department bought a bunch of their books for us as additional texts, and I thought they were so good (and cheap at about £3 each) that I went out and bought the lot. Now in those days they only had Chemistry, Physics and Maths versions (plus Biology of course) but still, to get me to buy 3 new text books for exams that would be over in less than a year, and in subjects I would not be taking in the 6th form, has to be an indication of their worth.


Info You Need To Know


Levels Available :

Although they started off for GCSE students, the group have expanded to include Key Stages 1, 2 and 3, and most recently, A Level as well. Within GCSE they do (although not always – it depends on the subject) higher, intermediate and foundation levels. All they need now is degree level versions and I’ll be happy :-)


Subjects Available :

The subjects available depend on the level, but overall books about Maths, Science (as a single subject), Chemistry, Physics, Biology, English, ICT, French, German, Spanish, History, PE, Geograph and Business Studies are available. Within some subjects there are extra sub-divisions, such as English in which you can home in on Shakespeare (different books for a number of plays) or Grammar. Books are available in Welsh, and answer books can also be bought, as can workbooks which include questions in exam-format to test your knowledge.


Why These Books are The Best

(1) They have a wonderfully unique style and layout – they’re very colourful and full of text in different fonts and sizes to make them more
appealing.
(2) They really are entertaining – sure, some of the jokes and puns may make you cringe, but the age groups at which they are aimed loved them. I leanrt more because I actually *wanted* to read these books.
(3) They contain all the facts you will ever need and are constantly being updated to suit syllabus changes so you can be sure you / your kids are learning the relevant things.
(4) They really are cheap – average price is still only £3.50 per copy, and none are more than £5


Stats n Stuff

According to their website, 95% of secondary schools buy their books, and they have over 3 000 000 customers – so they must be doing something right.


Availability

Although when they started they were only available through mail order, they have now expanded into bookshops nationwide, making them nice and easy for you to get your hands on. If you don’t fancy a trip down to Waterstones though, they are available through schools and colleges, or you can order as a private individual by phone, fax, in writing or over the phone (all with free p&p). Spoilt for choice really, aren’t you?


Why I Use Them

Theoretically, after a year studying German at uni and 3 months in Vienna, my German should be perfect, and theoretically, being a native speaker and having studied linguistics as well at degree level, my English should be faultless. Neither of these facts is true though. Sure, my German is good enough to get by, and until you start quizzing me on parts of speech more complex than verbs and nouns, you’d not be able to find anything wrong with my English. Still, I can use help with both sometimes, so along with my lovely Prolog and Natural Language Processing text books, sitting on my shelf you will find GCSE German and GCSE English Grammar books from this series. They explain stuff in a really easy to understand way which is exactly what I need after a day sp
ent programming. As I already said, they are colourfull. They are well laid out and (maybe it’s me with my teenage sense of humour) they make me laugh. Best of all – they help me remember things.

They are sooooooooo cheap you really have no excuse not to get a copy of any relevant edition for your kids.

Warning Note – I would NOT recommend these books as the only text book to be used - basically they are good at explaining concepts that have already been taught, and at helping the reader to remember facts, but they are not ideal as a primary text book, for lack of detail if nothing else. Relying on these alone I would not expect anyone to come out with an A*. That being said, using these as an additional source might well bump you up a few grades.

More Info? Official website is :

www.cgpbooks.co.uk

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