International Baccelaureate/IGCSE/PYP

[louisea]

Another question re: exams etc. I keep going back to the website for the school we are looking at overseas and I've now realised that they teach PYP followed by IGCSE and then IB in the High School. I'm a bit baffled as to why they switch to the IGCSE in the middle school instead of staying with te IB programme the whole way through. I shall be writing to them tomorrow with lots of questions.

I was wondering though whether it would be more advisable to bring the kids back to the UK to do A levels after the IGCSE or if there is any advantage to keeping them away long enough to do the IB exams. Up until this point (Year 8), they have always been in a UK curriculum school. I'm also wondering whether this will have any effect on University applications or whether the IB might serve them better than A levels. Anyone with any experience?

DD (Y4) would move to the PYP and back to UK curriculum in time for Y8. Does anyone know if this will be okay?

Ds at an international school where IGCSEs are the currency to 16, then either a choice of A levels or IB.

It depends on what your child will be good at when they reach 16 as to what the sixth form choices are. Mine could do IB (but not the subjects he wants), so has opted for A levels. As his current school the A level choice is restricted as it is a small sixth form, so we are sending him back to UK to board at state sixth form, where he has a wide choice of subjects and where the Oxbridge entry is very good.

IB is broader and will involve sciences, maths, languages, humanities and an elective, and A level is more specialised. The principal of the sixth form college ds is going to said that he has no intention of introducing IB as A level is the accepted currency at present in the UK and there are not enough IB entries in the UK to make him change a system that patently works for his college.

My advice is that kids can move any time up to the beginning of Year 9. Year 9-11 in one place helps as they have time to shake down, choose options, make friends and you still have time to move them if they are unhappy during Year 9. Once Year 10 starts, you are setting them up to fail if you move them.

Thanks for the reply. We've told the company the dates that we would need to move and they tie in with the breaks between the various stages. So we would either have to come back in 2015 or wait until 2017 at which point DD will be making GCSE choices.

Why do you need to move back for sixth form? Boarding is an option by that stage.

Have a look at Peter Symonds in Winchester - great academic rep, plus some boarding.

The only reason we would move back is because my boys are adamant that they don't want to go to boarding school. They are only 12 at the moment and have the choice of coming with us or not. They have chosen to come with as they don't want to be away from the family. Who know what they will choose in 3 years time. I won't force them to go to boarding school if they don't want to. At the moment there is enough flexibility in the project to enable us to move at those cut off dates. As we all know, things change so I can only make a choice based on what I know now and hope for the best.

Mine was 10 when we moved abroad, and he didn't want to board then, so we bought him with us. He could have stayed at prep and boarded.

He turned 16 last year. We had a discussion about what was available at sixth form here, and what was available at home. Where he is going (Symonds in Winchester) is NOT boarding school. It is a state sixth form college that happens to have two boarding houses and about 80 boarders. I went 30 years ago this September and had the best two years ever. I am sending ds because he will be going in two years time anyway for Uni, so this is a chance for him to live away from home, but still very much supported, and learn to cope with doing his own washing, managing his own money, and generally being back in the UK. I don't want him to go to uni and fall flat on his face because he can't manage!

I didn't think he'd want to go, but having heard me talk about it, and having attended an open evening and then a tour and interview, he is thoroughly looking forward to it, although is understandably a bit nervous.

They change greatly between 12 and 16 believe me, and are more willing to accept that boarding is an option when older. You will need to look long and hard at the results the school you are going to use gets at IB, and the subjects they offer. IB is not for everyone.

I would also add that you only have to pay boarding fees for state boarding and not the tuition you will be paying for an international school. It will save my husbands employer a shed load per annum if they pay for him to go to UK, and if they don't, the sum isn't so large that we can't afford it.

Boarding for sixth form isn't an option you should dismiss; it is worth doing some research so you know what is out there, and some forward planning. I didn't know when we moved that we would still be here for sixth form. We are due to move part way through sixth form, although dh could get another job here, or anywhere in UK, so ds has to be in one place.

Mine are in the American system, and may have to go back to UK when DD1 will be about to start Yr 10 (I think - age 14-15) and DD2 Yr 8 (age 12-13). Or we could stay another year, but I think that would not be advisable? Ideally we would stay 2 years and then DD1 could miss GCSEs altogether and just go straight back for 6th form and do IB. But I don't think that's going to happen.

Thanks everyone. You've given me much to think about. Looks like I have some more research to do.

Hi Mrs S not coming back this way then?

I'm a bit baffled as to why they switch to the IGCSE in the middle school instead of staying with te IB programme the whole way through.

I may be able to shed some light on this question, in addition to what the school will say when you ask.

1. MYP is a relatively new programme. The teachers have to be trained on new (excellent) grading criteria, etc. It would take some time for a school to switch over, even if that were what the school wanted to do.

1. If a school has a large proportion of students that change systems at 16+, it may prefer to stick with IGCSEs, as these may be easier for the next school to evaluate. Certainly there is a perception amongst some of the parents I know that IGCSEs are "more real" than the MYP qualification and are more flexible if someone were to be moving at 16+.

1. The real difference between MYP and IGCSE - imo - is that to get the MYP qualification, you need a certain grade in every subject; whereas for with IGCSEs, you can pass five of them and go on to A-levels even if you fail - say - science or French.

1. Another aspect of the MYP is that there are no options. Everyone does all 16 subjects up to year 11. Perhaps some schools find this aspect a bit of a disadvantage, as it means everyone has to continue studying all three sciences, both humanities (taught in an integrated way) and an MFL up to age 16.

I am not intending to knock the MYP - on the contrary, what I saw of it over a three-year period convinced me it is a great programme.

On choosing between IB and A-levels, there is much discussion around that I am reading up on for DC2, and am leaning towards the IB.

Thanks, that's interesting. I still haven't done my research. Need to settle down to it as DH needs to give an answer about the job.

I would choose iGCSE then IB rather than MYP for the reasons mentioned above pretty much. I have my own issues with the PYP but if it's a good school used to delivering the programme then it's no better or worse than any other system on average, although it has the potential to be significantly better (and worse).

MYP and GCSE are quite different. MYP differs from school to school as each school sets its own curriculum and assessment rubrics. I also found that MYP was more skills based than knowledge based. In fact out of the 4 or so assessment criteria only one counts for knowledge, what a child actually knows and therefore students can score good grades without knowing much. Some often come unstuck in the IB Diploma due to this. They find they score well at MYP but struggle with the full diploma. I guess some people would say the same for GCSE and A level. MYP assessment is internal though some schools send off between 4 - 8 pieces of student work for moderation if they choose. There are no culminating exams in MYP though this may change in the future should schools wish to validate results. I felt that although both MYP and GCSEs have issues that GCSE prepared kids far better for post 16 education. Just an opinion.

I am an IBDP/MYP teacher in an International School and in my experience students with IBDP results are at no disadvantage at when applying to UK universities. Most of our students choose the UK, and are accepted, most to top-end universities.

Many International Schools use IGCSEs rather than the MYP, tbh I think this comes mostly from the fact that IGCSE is better known. I haven't taught IGCSE, but colleagues who have often comment that it does not prepare students for the IB Diploma programme as well as the MYP does.