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Original poster

Does anyone know anything about the International Bachaloria qualificaton?

17 replies

idobelieveinfairies · 24/04/2009 11:50

My daughter has just been accepted on to it...it was a choice between this and A levels..but has recently heard its really hard work.

Has anyone got experience of it as it is a new thing on this island and this is the first year of it being available here.

Any experiences would be greatly appreciated,

Thanks

OP posts:
cariboo · 24/04/2009 11:59

I did year one of the IB programme (in Switzerland) but my maths wasn't up to IB standards so opted to move to London & get my A-levels in a crammer. I got 3 A-levels, no problem & was eligible to apply for the same universities that would have been open to me with an IB, which involved 2 years of intensive study of 6 subjects: 3 at higher level & 3 at standard level, with maths, English & a foreign language being obligatory.

This was in 1981 so things have changed radically since then. And doing 3 A-levels in one year was no walk in the park, either!

Original poster
idobelieveinfairies · 24/04/2009 12:11

Thanks cariboo, can i ask if you had got top marks for your... CSE's was it then?

DD has got an A for her GCSE maths(she did it a year early). She is better with all the sciences, she had to study very hard for the maths one.

OP posts:
titchy · 24/04/2009 12:20

It really depends on what she wants to do afterwards. If she intends to go to university she really needs to look at what courses she wants and what the admission requirements are. The IB is suitable for most degrees, but not all. The IB covers more subjects (6 I think) but not in as much depth as A Levels, so if she wanted to do a Mths degree for instance she would n't have covered as much Maths on the IB as someone who did maths A Level.

HTH

Original poster
idobelieveinfairies · 24/04/2009 12:28

She wants to be a doctor and she will probably be at Uni in Sydney.

She has had lots of advice from career officers, reps from New Zealand etc uni's and they have steered her towards the IB....it might be a case of cold feet but she is beginning to doubt the choice she has made.

She has just been to our local college for an interview on a health and social course as a back-up plan. The interviewer made a couple of comments to her when she mentioned she hadn't made her mind up 100% on the IB. But it was more like 'are you a bit worried with it being the first year of IB being here?' which hasn't helped.

Just wanting peoples experiences.

OP posts:
PrimulaVeris · 24/04/2009 12:47

Ummmm ... I have read somewhere recently that A levels are by far better for studying medicine.

But that's UK and UK unis - best check on entry requuirements for medical courses in Aus

titchy · 24/04/2009 12:56

Don't have experience of Aussie system - but certainlytrue in UK that you need AL for Medicine. can she check with Sydney University Admissions?

cariboo · 24/04/2009 16:03

No, I didn't get top marks. An A, a B and a C. I remember I didn't finish one of the papers (and ohhhh, it was SO HOT that June) & my tutor telling me - before, I think - that if you didn't finish, you couldn't hope for more than a C. I got straight As in mocks, which was pretty frustrating. Anyway, I digress.

I know for a fact that the IB is more highly regarded in Europe & Nth America than A-levels or whatever they're called now. But as someone pointed out, it would be a good idea to check the requirements of the uni she wants to attend. I would have thought a "basic" grounding in all subjects would be preferable at this level.

frannikin · 27/04/2009 14:49

You don't necessarily need A-levels for medicine in the UK but you do need to choose your IB subjects very carefully. Both bio and chemistry higher if possible (it is possible, my DP did it) but this means dropping the group 6 arts component. The CAS component can be extremely beneficial for medicine if she chooses her service placement carefully. I would suggest the 2 compulsory languages, either psychology or anthropology from group 3 and then bio, chem and maths at HL 4 highers would be extra work but gain extra points....

The IB is an excellent qualification - it covers pretty much the same stuff as A-levels (the board system means some things are covered in more depth by one board but not by another so 1st year uni is always catch-up for some people anyway). As long as she covers essentially the A-level requirements for medicine (bio, chem, maths A2), which she would by choosing maths, bio and chem HL she would be effectively offering 3 ASs, which would be 1 or 2 above any other applicant, one of which would be in a foreign language which could stand her in good stead if her course includes an overseas medical placement.

cimeow · 03/10/2009 20:36

think there was a story about this on the BBC couple months ago, apparently a BIG no no.

muddleduck · 05/10/2009 11:39

Tis not a "new thing on this island".

Some schools/colleges have been doing it for a very long time.

IMO it is a much better all round qualification and more comparable to the quals offered in most other countries (including aus). For the uni course that I work on we consider IB students to have a far better rounded education.

BUT:
she needs to be very careful about the specific uni requirements and there have been very serious problems in some schools/colleges in the first year of the switch to IB so you need reassurance that the staff are properly set up for the new system

llareggub · 05/10/2009 11:47

I did the IB in 1991-93. I didn't get the required grades for university but the results came out earlier than A-Levels and they took me anyway.

I did it in a state 6th form and it was the first year for the college; we ended up as a cohort of 5. I had a ball. We worked v hard and put everything into the CAS requirements.

I rate it, even though I failed it!

minervaitalica · 05/10/2009 18:11

It's not true that you need A levels for medicine/maths - plenty of my school friends did medicine in the UK/Australia/USA with the IB - if the university requires it, you can always do 4 High level subjects. The key is checking the university websites - the IB has been around for a long time and most universities are clear about the requirements for different subjects. I am not aware of any course which excludes IB candidates a priori.

Also, the voluntary work component is very valuable for future medics - we volunteered in hospitals, care homes etc...

BudaBones · 05/10/2009 18:18

muddleduck - I took it that the OP was not in UK so wasn't meaning the island of GB?

The school that DS is in here in Hungary does IB and according to the head the students who do it and go on to Uni (mostly UK) find that the work required for IB prepares them very well for Uni.

DS is only in primary though so I have no direct experience.

PVish · 05/10/2009 18:19

lol at baccaloria

ThingOne · 05/10/2009 18:30

If you want to look up more about the IB, you'll probably find it easier if you search on "Baccalaureate".

Drayford · 07/10/2009 22:30

We considered IB for DD (now in upper 6th) but as she is a musician and wishes to pursue a career in music and take a music degree we deemed it not suitable.

This www.ibo.org/site helped us with info.

Some 60% of students at DD's school take the IB and they have great success (top UK IB mark of 2009 was a pupil at her school) and several students went on to Oxford and Cambridge with good IB marks. However, in the UK, for medicine I gather from my BIL (a Teaching Doctor) that most Medical schools prefer A levels unless the IB grades achieved are very high and the IB was science specific.

I am sure that things are very different in other countries though!

Drayford · 07/10/2009 22:32

Sorry link from my post should be www.ibo.org/

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