A Levels or IB?

[Missmissmissmiss]

DD is in Y10 and went to her first college open evening last week and was interested to find out about loads of humanities subjects as well as business, photography (she's taken it for GCSE) and biology. The biology lecturer asked about her possible course choices and predicted GCSE grades then suggested the IB might suit her as she's strong all-round student.

The head of IB made the course sound very exciting, especially the 'extras' but DD isn't keen on starting a language from scratch and isn't confident she'd cope with the maths.

Has anyone got experience of the IB? Do universities like it? And what about future employers? DD doesn't know what she'd like to do for a career yet either!

Unis really like it, it’s a fab qualification. I would definitely choose it for my own if offered locally.

Far more rounded and less restricted than 3 a levels.

Caveat, if child knows exactly what they want to study at uni then a levels MAY work better. But for those unsure it’s a fabulous option.

Re the maths she can study at standard level which should be easier

I think it’s a vg qualification, but a huge amount of work: 6 subjects, theory of knowledge, extended essay and the cas requirements. It does not suit students who ‘cram ‘ as you need to complete the cas work over 18 months and write reflections as you go along. My ds took HL chemistry, maths and biology and sl German, geography and English and achieved a 43. Some people may argue that the HL courses cannot be as detailed as a level and therefore a level is preferable for university. My ds did not study any of his IB subjects at uni and therefore I cannot comment on that, but worth checking

Not only do unis like it, unis in foreign countries like it too if she wants to study abroad I'm not sure of funding since Brexit but some German and Swedish universities teach in English.

I like the fact that it's a broader qualification than 3 A Levels, especially as she hasn't got any idea about uni courses or career yet. She's very organised with her studies, so I'm sure she'd cope with the amount of work involved too.

Excuse my ignorance - what is cas?

I did the IB myself and my daughter will start it in September.

I personally think that the key characteristic for an IBer is not necessarily to have good all-round grades but to be someone who loves to learn and think and is resilient. The IB enables you to improve beyond measure in areas you never thought possible but you must be enthusiastic and willing to dig in. It's not a qualification that you can do half-heartedly.

As a PP commented, you also need to be someone who can get themselves organised and push through. There are reflections and internal assessments to be completed and these must be done along the way.

The extended essay is quite a bit of work but you can formulate your own question so get to focus on exactly what interests you. (It doesn't have to be highbrow! A friend of mine wrote hers on sexual stereotyping in Mills & Boon novels 😂). The great thing about the EE is that it then also gives you a topic you know in detail and can talk about at uni interviews.

My DD is also not so strong in Maths so she'll be doing it at SL. She fortunately already has a second language but, if not, would opt for Spanish ab initio, which is generally considered doable.

I personally think that the IB was one of the best things I ever did. The ToK part was a struggle for me at the time but it really teaches you to think hard about and question concepts that you might otherwise take for granted (e.g. classification: how does it help or hinder our learning?). Plus, it made me so organised that my first year of uni was a breeze! And universities love it!

CAS = Creativity Action Service
i.e. the hours you spend on doing a creative activity, a sports activity and an activity that helps others in some way. You have to do a certain number of hours' worth over 18 months and write up reflections on your learning points from those activities

I also have a dc in yr10 and we are looking at the same for her. I’ve just been reading some old mn threads on this from the last couple of years and they have some good info if you do a search.

Both my younger dc want to study in Europe so IB is going to be better for them, my eldest did a levels because she knew exactly what she wanted to do at uni in the uk.

It's pointless doing an IB if you can do A levels that's just bizarre

Sexual stereotyping in Mills and Boon 🤣🤣 DD would definitely go for something feminist. She's just done a talk in English about sexism in schools and asked the new vice principal about his thoughts on why 11 out of 12 SLT in school, 11 are men! Her speech next month is about women in history - or lack of - too.

Thanks for explaining CAS too. It sounds a bit like DofE to me, so that should be doable.

The college couldn't say which language they'd offer, partly because she'd be starting in September 23 and they can't be certain of staffing. Apparently they've offered Italian, Spanish and German in the past.

why?

I did IB many years ago when I was at an international school. It was highly rated by universities even back then and I could have easily gone to uni with it anywhere in the world as many of my classmates did. I went to Scotland and skipped the first year and started in second.

I loved TOK, the CAS was fine, I did volunteering work in an orphanage and helped out with the elementary school. I also did DoE so that counted for the A element.

The extended essay was full on but we could chose anything we liked so it was actually really interesting to do.

I did higher Biology, Chemistry and English Language, subsid French, Geography and maths. Did Marine Biology at uni.

It is absolutely not pointless!

Ooh, CAS may have changed, when I did it was Community, activity, service

"It's pointless doing an IB if you can do A levels that's just bizarre"

Can you tell me why please? I'm really interested to hear about experiences of both.

@Missmissmissmiss
If your DD is having to start a language from scratch, I would avoid this. I’m assuming she’s not doing one for Gcse so there’s a big gap to make up. I also think being less confident in maths doesn’t help the case for IB either. A levels allow her to play to her real strengths. If she chose A levels, ask yourself, would (or could) she choose a MFL or Matjs? If the answer is “No” then the IB would be a mistake.

What are her possible grades for gcse and make sure, if she does A levels, she doesn’t do too many new subjects. Think about her known strengths and possible careers. A levels can keep lots of options open - you just need to choose the subjects that do that! Business and Photography won’t do that. However mixed in with traditional subjects, that’s fine: eg Biology and Geography work ee together.

@TizerorFizz Thank you for sharing a different perspective. She's a great all-rounder, with predicted grades of 8s and 9s across the board. As a Y10, she's interested in exploring all that's on offer, and I was quite surprised that she wanted to look into the business course when her real interests lie in the humanities. I expect that's the route she'll take in the end, probably English, history and RS at A level.

Oops. I've managed to sign into my old account!

@CalmerChamaeleon
Don't worry. I think if she enjoys humanities more than MFL or Maths, play to her strengths. IB is expensive to run and 6th forms do woo DC to do it to keep numbers up.

No university will turn her down with A levels and she can always do other activities for fun to complement her A levels and broaden out learning.,

IB undoubtedly offers a broader education in sixth form. It depends what the goal is - if the goal is this solely then it’s a great option. If the goal is entry to a top UK university, A levels are a much easier route! There is no advantage to IB at UK university level. Entry requirements are quoted as IB score requirement or A level score, so the additional work required isn’t recognised.

Local to us there is a mass exodus at sixth form away from the outstanding SS grammar that offers IB to schools that offer A levels instead.

Back in the day, DD1 was all round pretty bright. 9 A*s at gcse. However she didn’t really love maths and the sciences. Therefore IB would not have been suitable. She liked MFLs above all and did 2 at A level. She hasn't needed sciences at all since snd even the maths element in her job has been learnt and coped with without having an A level in it. Not everyone will ever be expected to be an all rounder after 18!

I did mean to add that she had time for music and many other activities during her 6th form career. That’s what made her a rounded person.

At the moment she has no idea about uni or a career but simply loves learning which is why the IB looks appealing. I'm going to show her this thread after we've been to the 6th form open evening and see if she's any clearer then!

The IB is a great qualification, and I've had students do it. The only downside I'd say was that many found the qualification much harder than A levels, but this is not necessarily reflected in the offers universities make. Many have quite high IB grade requirements, which doesn't really reflect how much harder the IB is in reality. So having one or two weak areas that pulls down your marks means lower grades compared to a student who does A level and selects their 3 best subjects. It can be a disadvantage.

Well, it's not that you have to do a language from scratch. It's an option to acquire another, for many.

Eg. Ds did igcse Arabic in year 9, igcse French in year 11 & has just completed Spanish ab initio for IB.

He's found it a hard slog, because he's a lazy git, but it's been very good for him. I'm a big fan of the TOK, EE & CAS elements.

Ds ran a village Saturday school teaching English to local kids as part of his CAS (we live in Forn Parts). He's now off to do a gap year TEFLing in Cambodia before uni.

I suspect it's also done him a power of good in terms of independence, organisation & general maturity - you do really need to keep on top of it, which was a big challenge with ds's dyspraxia - excellent life skills.

@CorvusPurpureus It sounds like your DS found it a really positive experience! I bet you're really proud.

DD would definitely rise to the challenge of being organised and seems very interested in the extended essay and TOK. She's more than capable of passing the maths at the lower level and would love to learn Spanish or German despite not taking MFL at GCSE. She does have the advantage of a German godmother who's a TA on the German and Spanish IB courses at a local private school.

There's such a lot to think about!

I think it really depends on the child. Two of mine have been very focused so A levels suit them well and dropping less favoured topics has been eagerly anticipated. They wanted/ needed high scores so made sense to go with their strengths. The youngest is more broad in their interests, a little like your dd and IB might well suit them, so I would keep an open mind and let her explore all the options.