Manx Gaelic GCSE Equivalent

This is a course leading to the award of Teisht Chadjin Ghaelgagh (TCG), that is, the General Certificate in Manx. This qualification is equivalent to a British General Certificate in Secondary Education (GCSE). Awards of TCG are monitored by a Validation Committee administered by the Isle of Man Government’s Education Department.

The syllabus followed is intended primarily for students who have already followed a Manx course of about 80 hours, but those without such a background should be able to take the course and gain an award if they have sufficient motivation.
The course is intended for adults as well as school pupils and is designed to to be taken in as flexible a way as possible, whether you are in a formal class or whether you are studying on your own at home, possibly in a country far removed from the Isle of Man. In the Isle of Man, we can arrange tutorial meetings at appropriate times and venues for those who cannot attend regular classes.

There are five modules, as follows:

Module 1: Myself and My Environment
Module 2: The Isle of Man
Module 3: Leisure
Module 4: Learning and Work
Module 5: Services

If you are in a formal class, each module should take about one school term - say, ten weeks per module with one to two hours classroom contact per week. This means that, in a formal class, you can complete the the course in five school terms (under two years).

In any case, you can take up to five years to complete the five modules and gain your TCG. The grade of TCG you get depends on how many points you gain in ‘tasks’ or assessments set for each module. These tasks are in the four skills of Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing. Tasks are set at four ‘tiers’ of difficulty, with Tier 1 being the easiest and Tier 4 the most difficult. Completion of tasks at Tier 4 can give most points.

You may be asked to sign an undertaking that all work to complete tasks is your own.

Costs incurred should be modest in almost all cases, involving paying for duplicated course material, a dictionary and some audio-cassettes if you are attending a formal class. If you are studying at home, there will be an additional cost for postage, which will generally not be significant. If you are studying at home, it may well help if you have e-mail, but don’t worry if you haven’t. Also, you will need to be able to listen to audio-cassettes and make recordings on audio-cassettes. There is a course video which you will find helpful.

If you are interested, please contact Rosemary Derbyshire or Brian Stowell:

Remove GAELG from address before sending email.

Rosemary Derbyshire
Manx Language Officer,
Bunscoill Ghaelgagh,
Main Road,
St Johns,
Isle of Man.
IM4 3NA

Brian Stowell, 16 Hilary Road, Douglas, Isle of Man, British Isles.
Phone: +44-1624 62 38 21
e-mail: [email protected]