IMO it's important to feel comfortable with the Head. You need to broadly agree with his/her approach to discipline, sport, drama, music, art etc as well as the academic side.

It's also worth thinking about how you would relate to him/her if it were YOUR DS who had messed up all his GCSEs/been bullying/caught with drugs etc. I hope you'd never be in that situation, but even the best child can have a crazy spell (or be unjustly accused or fenced) and a 'zero tolerance' policy doesn't seem quite so appealing then.

Well after visit to first one , dh still has some misgivings about its transition to IB. The head has implemented such a programme before at another school but there does n't seem to be much encouragement to broaden language experience, for example, any sooner that 6th form. I'm worried that the mental shift in approach from traditional GCSE to IB could be difficult without preparation earlier - anyone any experience ? However they have a proportion of foreign students for whom that could be less of an issue anyway and it would be right for the school ethos to do IB but suspect short term there could be teething problems.

This is one fo the least academic of the schools we will look at, offers good SEN support, but I am worried it could set the bar too low for ds to do as well academically as he could. Also it is a good half an hour away so it could mean a long day plus homework.

When the structure of the subject specifications change, there is often very little notice from the QCA and exam boards. For example, Edexcel Physics A-level was only finalised last week, and they are still working on Biology and Chemistry. The course starts in September.

So the answer to how long do they plan for changes: answer - not long, and no more than a year.

When the structure of the subject specifications change, there is often very little notice from the QCA and exam boards. For example, Edexcel Physics A-level was only finalised last week, and they are still working on Biology and Chemistry. The course starts in September.

So the answer to how long do they plan for changes: answer - not long, and no more than a year.

Ahh, I see I misinterpreted your orig post as to when best for him to transfer schools instead of when the school would have to start planning to switch exam courses!

Don't know is the answer, but I suspect they would keep quite close lipped about a possible change until they were certain of it and maybe after that too.

If a school is still openly saying they don't like IB or think it's the right way to go, then I suspect you'd be safe to assume they wouldn't change until after the latest intake does A levels at least.

Thank you . One has only recently moved towards IB so definitely questions to ask about it

Liz, we have just struggled with that very dilemma - ie to choose a school for our 10 year old son with IB or A levels. I discussed it quite opennly with the headmasters of the two school we had in mind. The IB results of school A are spectacular, but we eventually decided for School B which still does A levels, as we think our son is more likely to want to spectialise in specific subjects _ hard to know eight years ahead, but he really does not like lanuguages and is very science and maths-minded. If you go for an IB school quiz them very carefuly in thier committmnt to it becuae it does require them to truly buy inot the ethos - it is not something a school can just opt for and do well without an enormoaus amount of effort time and commitment.

He'd probably enter at Year 9/13+, unless there is suddenly a pressing reason to do so sooner. He attends a prep atm (Year 5) and we are being guided towards certain schools. Looking Surrey/Kent/West Sussex borders, maybe inner M25.

If they were to change the structure of GCSE or equivalent in the intervening 4/5 years how far in advance of that would the school be working on planning it ? Would they know already or as late as the year before ?

At what age do you want him to transfer? What part of the country? Is he in a state or prep school at the moment?

Lots of ind. schools have an entry point at years 7 and 9 so those might be the most sensible times to switch. It's always easier to start at a new schoolif there are other new people starting at the same time. Year 10 would be the absolute latest though as that's when they start GCSE/iGCSE work in earnest (though increasingly schools start covering the syllabus in year 9 so that might be something to ask).

On IB vs A level, I think IB suits very good all-rounders well whereas A-levels are better for those who want to specialise.

Just about to start the tours of potential schools for ds(10) in a few years' time, really to hone down the options. Any specific questions worth asking ? Some do IB , some A levels , some both, some GCSE, some IGCSE - at what point would they have to be planning to change over in order to take effect in time for him ?