IBac and Alevels

I teach IB Maths Higher Level, and it is far more demanding than A' Level maths (contray to what HereIam stated), so I would back up cake's response.

I would also like to observe that the students that have returned to visit the school whist at Uni have all stated that studying the IBDip has given them an advantage over other students in terms of time management and handling their workload. Not a single student has told me that they felt their IB courses lacked depth .

But it is not for the feint hearted, I personally would have made a right mess of it at age 18

DS's school offer both and anyone doing anything which requires maths are advised to do A levels because it is very difficult to get the top grade for IB maths at higher level. If you don't need maths it as seen as a good option because maths studies is much easier. There Is a huge difference in the workload of the 6th form students and IB students are always telling the younger ones to do A levels! His school was 100% IB until 2 years ago but this has dropped to only 28% since they introduced A levels and this is despite being one of the best IB schools in the world with an average score of just under 42.

Also like Noitsnot's DS mine would rather die than ever have to analyse a poem again.

My eldest ds did IB last year - his school does both A-levels and IB and ds was struggling to make a decision on 3 or 4 subjects so opted for IB. It was full-on and there were times when we wondered if he'd made the right decision but he's a true all-rounder and enjoyed the global aspect of the curriculum. It didn't seem to affect his university applications - a few years ago IB candidates were given ridiculously high offers, equivalent to 4A**s, but most university admissions teams now are much more clued up about the equivalent A-level and IB grades - ds's offers ranged from equivalent to AAA and AAB. He ended up doing much better than his offers (much to his surprise!) He's finding first year at university fairly easy and thinks it was a better preparation for his course than A-levels would have been and he's able to keep up his language as well

IB would be completely wrong for ds2 who's much more oriented to STEM subjects and would rather have his arm chewed off by crocodiles than keep English going past GCSE

A levels are more in depth and if the student knows how they want to specialise in future (ie. for their career) it would mean they get a better grounding in specific subjects.

A quick google will answer your questions.
I work in a school offering both, IB students have virtually no spare time, but it is only recommended to those able to cope with the extra workload and better all-rounders.