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Original poster

Impact of changes to the A level on IB uptake

85 replies

Figmentofmyimagination · 17/11/2015 09:02

DD is currently deciding between the IB and A levels. She is lucky that both are offered at her school - they have maintained a dual sixth form successfully for several years now (single sex independent) although up until now, A level students have significantly outnumbered IBers.

I am wondering whether the change - and the resulting uncertainty - over A levels for the sept 2016 intake - may push more children - and schools - generally across the uk - in the direction of IB where it is offered. Obviously the choice has to be right for the child, but in DD's case, her school has decided that it will no longer be offering AS exams, and anyway with the Gove changes, one of the key attractions of the A level for some children - partial completion after year 1 - will fall away. Also IB has a coursework component, which is interesting.

It would be good to have an AS score, to show universities at Ucas time, but the more schools that stop offering AS exams at all, the less useful it will be as an indicator - rather like the EPQ. I wonder what others think.

OP posts:
Needmoresleep · 17/11/2015 14:28

Do you mean Further Maths? Additonal is something different. I would be surprised if IB Higher Maths is harder than Further, given the time devoted to maths if you do the double A level, though could accept that the two have different syllabi.

There has been quite a lot of what maths Universities want for economics students. Safe to say, I think, that for top Unis a child at a school that can teach further maths well, is very well advised to take the double. Minimum requirements, and what Universities expect from candidates at good schools, are two different things.

cakeisalwaystheanswer · 17/11/2015 14:09

DS's school was all IB and recently converted to offering A levels as well, the first lot just finished. When DS started only IB was on offer and I was a little bit surprised about what I learnt about IB at the recent information evening.

Higher level IB maths is very hard, harder than A level additional maths. This was confirmed by an external maths tutor who has tutored it. It is extremely difficult to get a "7", top grade, in higher level maths and very few boys do so. If DS wants to study economics at Uni, many insist on a "7" at higher level although they are only asking for normal A level maths without additional maths. So, obviously if Economics or anything with similar requirements is an option A levels are a much better bet unless your DS is a mathematical genius.

Apparently at lower level maths it is also hard to get a "7", but Maths Studies is very easy and everyone gets the top grade.

DS's school is selective and has an excellent record at IB, average points last year were 41.97, and 67% of passes were at "7". If they can't get boys the top grade at Maths it's a problem.

And to answer your question the take up for IB this year has dropped to below 30% after only 3 years of introducing A levels. So IBs looking a lot less popular at his school.

talkinpeace · 17/11/2015 13:26

The numbers of schools offering the Pre U is barely in double figures.
The number of schools offering the IB is in low triple figures.

Schools will stick with A levels because they are what the main UK system is geared around.

When even massive colleges like DDs see no benefit from other than A levels it shows that A levels will revert to what they were back in the stone age.

TheDrsDocMartens · 17/11/2015 13:24

Dd1 is sixth form from next year. I'd prefer IB as she's v divided about where to specialise. She's v academic so either way will suit her. I'm more bothered about dd2 going through Goves GCSEs and whatever mess is made with P16 by then.

Noitsnotteatimeyet · 17/11/2015 13:21

Ds1 finished the IB this summer - the vast majority of his cohort comfortably exceeded their uni offers and his school thinks admissions officers are now much more familiar with the diploma so are giving offers which are on a par with A-level offers. I think it's only Cambridge now which still has a standard points offer of 42 which is ludicrously high

It suited ds as he's a genuine all-rounder who's good at applying skills and knowledge and who was pretty busy with extra-curricular stuff but .... It was a shed load of work - the biology coursework in particular seemed to be never-ending

Ds2 will be going into sixth form next year and he's an A-level student through and through (complete maths/science geek) and IB would be a disaster for him

Original poster
Figmentofmyimagination · 17/11/2015 10:12

I don't know about this point on IB offers being harder to achieve. That definitely wasn't DD's school's experience this year. IB offers were on the whole reasonable. I wonder if there are any subject specific statistics on this.

OP posts:
anneblake20 · 17/11/2015 10:09

I stumbled across the following blog this morning and found it really helpful. My son is also approaching A Level age and we're struggling to decide what to do.

kingstutors.co.uk/top-marks-for-the-international-baccalaureate/

Original poster
Figmentofmyimagination · 17/11/2015 09:59

That's interesting disquisitiones - the other thing I had been wondering was whether most schools will decide not to enter children for AS exams like my DD's school.

Does this also mean that they are more likely to teach only three subjects rather than four from the start of year 12? My DD's school are talking about offering a fourth A level which you drop if you want to, but this sounds rather unstructured and more like e.g. You drop it if you can't cope with it, as opposed to dropping it because the curriculum aimed for some extra breadth in y12 (which I think the AS 4 subject model did achieve).

OP posts:
disquisitiones · 17/11/2015 09:21

IB is too expensive for most state schools to offer, particularly at a time when funding to sixth form colleges is being cut. Both IB and pre-U are considered hard, relative to A levels, with university offers for IB being particularly hard. I don't think that the uptake of IB and pre-U will increase particularly, even in private schools.

I think most schools will simply go back to the old system of no public exams at the end of year 12. For almost all university courses it makes no difference, as offers are given primarily on predicted A level results (and decided by administrators according to standard rules, rather than by academics). Those universities which select students will do so by combining predicted A level grades with interviews and pretests.

Needmoresleep · 17/11/2015 09:09

Losing the AS certainly levels the playing field between A levels and IB. I would also expect more schools will look at pre-U, not least because of the level of certainty an established course will provide.