Hi,

Does anyone happen to know anything about it, all info seems very vague?! Kind of a last minute thought – looks interesting but I guess as well it varies between schools and teachers. Wondering what kind of student it tends to suit and how it compares to A Levels?

Thanks if you have any info or experience.

way back in eons past (early 90s) a friend at my school did it. She was one of two, the other 100+ of us did A levels. She did well enough to satisfy Clare College Cambridge though. Oddly she was more scientific/mathematical leaning than you’d normally guess an IB candidate to be. I suppose it might suit the polymaths more than the specialists, but generalisations dont really help anyone. The other guy who chose to do the IB was a wierdo though. No idea what happened to him. Probably sectioned.

IMO you are still better served in the UK by doing A levels. The IB has been a hot topic of discussion over the past few years but friends kids who did it spent the whole time trying to convince Universities it was as valuable as A levels. There is still a big undercurrent of suspicion which sees it as an easy option (not my view necessarily just repeating comments I’ve heard)

I have done the training to teach it and taught one cohort. The college i work in had 2 cohorts

I think the structure is here

http://www.ibo.org/diploma/

In brief its 6 subjects. 3 at basically A-level less content in the other 3 plus some service stuff

Compared to current A-level I thought it was rock hard. Mainly as its hugely based on final exams and you are doing so many subjects

But if you did well universities seemed to love it

But my advice would be do A-level. Inless your a hard working all A* sort of person

I did it myself in the early 90s. I was looking for an excuse to change schools and I liked the idea that I could do science and maths as main subjects but not have to drop other subjects, i.e. foreign language and having to produce longer essays (do they still mandate a longer dissertation and theory of knowledge classes?). I’m not sure about being a polymath but “jack of all trades…” is a fair description of me. I’m glad I did it and I think it’s served me well as an education.

In terms of being an easy option, the grade comparisons available at the time were that top scores in IB main subjects were harder to get than A’s at A-level (that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it). However, I did have issues with *some* uni’s not knowing what it is (e.g. “what is this one bee thing?” at interview). Interesting to hear this is still a problem 20 years later, I guess the IB never got taken up as widely as it looked like it might.

Where are you thinking of? When I was doing it there weren’t many options outside of the international schools.

Email in profile (replace the DOT and AT bits) if you want to know more or have specific questions.

Compared to current A-level I thought it was rock hard. Mainly as its hugely based on final exams and you are doing so many subjects

Current A levels are too now really. Even more so next year when as does count towards the a level grade.

I’ve supervised BSc and PhD students from abroad who have done it and they seemed quite sharp though sometimes lacking in depth in specific areas compared to UK A level educated students, who’d been able to focus on fewer subjects
That was for quite specialized molecular biology research though.

I did it in the 90s as well & thought it was great as I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, my local college offered it & I wanted to do something a bit different. Met lots of great people, including my wife, and its not restricted me in any way career wise.

Not sure what its like now but back in the day you had to do 6 subjects (3 at roughly A level, 3 at roughly AS level) inc a language, english, science and maths plus ‘theory of knowledge’ (philisophy/critical thinking (ish)), an extended essay (dissertation) & CAS (creative, active, service -think D of E).

Great grounding in various subjects & being a fair bit older now, I’d say great prep for ‘life’ – subject variety, foreign languages, maths, thinking about life, being creative & interacting with the local community.

It was pretty full on & I was busier than my A level mates but less busy than we were doing GCSEs (9 GCSEs – no-one really did more than 9 back then). After the IB in college, Uni (at least time wise) was a shock – so much spare time!

Thanks for all the comments. The course is for my son who is starting back on Monday and having a bit of a rethink. Strangely seem to be many less subjects offered at the school than the subjects via the link from ampthill (thank you) and you don’t do so many in total?! Still in discussion with the school about it-and still mulling it over! Really helpful though, thank you everyone.

I may be wrong but for some teason I seem to think Teamhurtmore has had kids do it recently. Ypu could check his profile see if it has an email.

I did it…

I think generally it’s better as an approach to education – it’s stupid that the English system shoves 15 year old kids into choosing to pick only 2-4 subjects which will give them neither a broad base of education nor enough knowledge in any of those subjects to be a specialist. It rewards sustained commitment and broad-based achievement, unlike people who can just smash 90 minute exams one weekend in July. It’s crazy that English-educated kids can’t speak foreign languages for the most part.

However, i dropped out because I wouldn’t put in the work, did A-levels and did really well. It’s all a question of learning style.

Also, there’s a lot of **** talked about IB that it’s “more attractive to foreign unis”. IMVHO this is bollocks – if a kid does well at A-level, they’ll be no better or worse placed to get into some fancy schmancy uni than a kid that does IB really well. It might be different if you were doing Macedonian school leaver exams or something.

A small centre will ofen offer limited sunset of subjects. But the total studies must remain the same, I think….

I teach IB, English as a foreign language and Theory of Knowledge.

Unfortunately I can’t give you any information as to how the course compares to current A Levels as I’m a long term resident in Spain and have only ever taught in the Spanish education system.

I would say that from a teaching and learning perspective the course is very intellectually challenging and encourages students to be more autonomous and critical than the Spanish equivalent (as well as the A levels I sat 18 years ago).

The big issue here is that it is not recognised by Spanish universities although I was under the impression that this wasn’t such a big problem in the UK.

My recommendation would be that your son should evaluate what he would like to study and where in two years time and based on that enquire about the admission requirements for those institutions.

Best of luck to your your son for whatever he chooses to do.

My 18 year old and lots of his friends have just done it. It’s a bit of a thing in schools locally. It’s a hell of a step up from GCSEs and as hard or harder than doing 4 As. As KB says, a lot of work. It suited his breadth of interests well. Unfortunately he got reasonable but not brilliant grades, and is going to resit some of the subjects. He’s glad he did it, or says he is!

My wife taught it at a private school in Scotland. I think most of the students take it were international ones. I think she enjoyed teaching it but it was a lot of work putting the course together, especially as she was still teaching the Scottish qualifications as well.

I went to uni with a bunch of engineering students who had to get me to write job app’s for them because they couldn’t write properly…. Similarly, i opted for languages when I should probably have been an engineer

consequently my kids are doing IB – older one is just starting with Maths, Physics and Economics at higher level, and English, French and History at lower level. I have been convinced uni’s and employers increasingly see this as broader based and more useful than A levels – I believe Oxbridge have just lowered their IB score requirement

Probably quite last minute, but I’ve just seen this: I currently teach both IB and A-level, with some oversight of both programmes. Good scores are very well regarded, but it’s a programme for students with abilities across subjects (depending on what’s offered where you are) and it needs the application of individuals who enjoy learning, not just working the mark scheme. Email is in profile if you’d like any further comments?

My cousins on one side of my family all did IB as they all lived abroad. None had any issue getting into various well regarded universities including Edinburgh and one of the American Ivy League universities (I forget which.).

Did somebbody say “International Resc…. *sigh* wrong thread”

No they chose pre-u instead. From a broader educational perspective, IB has a lot going for it but implementation has been mixed. It is not an easy option though, quite the opposite – generally harder work that A legs and even pre-u.

IMO it suits those with a broad range of interests and is recgonised globally (except in some UK admissions departments!!). But you must be sure that schools are set up to teach it properly.

Tough call IMO. Both IB and pre-Us are better but harder than A levels IMO.

IB is superior to our A-level system in every possible way.
It is better structured; better assessed; better thought-out; a better educational experience for the students.
When I taught both, the A-level syllabus teachers’ guide was 40 pages plus (a testament to never-ending interfering by politicians and educationalists).
The IB guide was 10 pages. Simplicity is genius.
But I noticed it tends to be the preserve of the independent sector.

it depends on the student, surely?