Choosing between A'levels and IB.

[PersonalAssistantParent]

I have a similar thread on Higher Education but also posting here for traffic.

DS, year 10 is starting to consider whether he will take A'levels or the IB. His school has a very good reputation for the latter. He is a good all-around student, who is very hardworking, mature, ambitious, and determined. His predicted/ working grades are very good.

At the moment he is leaning slightly towards A'levels however I think this is because the school has made the IB sound very tough and also he has said he doesn't want to do a language. That said, I believe they can take Latin as a language and this is one of his favourite and strongest subjects.

Has anyone had to consider IB versus A'levels. One of my concerns is what he wants to do in the future and if taking the IB may exclude him from some top uni's who have a preference for A'levels.

I did IB 20 years ago and it was pretty tough. My peers which would have easily have got 3 A at A level did not get high enough IB scores for their Oxbridge offers which in my opinion were unreasonably high. Some subjects were a lot harder to get full marks in than others (as it depends on the internal standard). No one in my IB class got full marks in higher maths or physics.

Having said this I was glad I did it because of the well rounded experience it offered and it does set me apart from others.

At the time my main reason for choosing it was because I could continue with 6 subjects and I didn't want to narrow my options.

*international not internal

No school would discriminate against the IB, it's an internationally renowned qualification

If you are a good all rounder and not sure what you want to take for A level or struggling with the idea of dropping subject and what to choose then go for IB.

Otherwise go for A levels.

I was one of the ones who knew exactly what A levels they wanted to do since they were about 8, and could not wait to drop maths, so IB would never have suited me, but it worked really well for one of my sisters who wasn't quite sure what she wanted to do at university and liked pretty much everything. DD is much more like me, and while she's in Y7 now, I would happily bet money on which A levels she will want to take.

Sister and I had quite a big age gap, and this was a while ago now, but we applied to a similar range of Russell group universities and none of them seemed phased by the IB.

The only person I know who did an IB 10 years ago, was hardworking etc etc.
Aced the IB

Then had a breakdown and has ME

@lightand

The only person I know who did an IB 10 years ago, was hardworking etc etc. Aced the IB

Then had a breakdown and has ME

I'm sorry, do you think the IB gave them ME??

• The only person I know who did an IB 10 years ago, was hardworking etc etc. Aced the IB

Then had a breakdown and has ME*

Uhm. 😬 ohkay.....

Can he do A Levels in his current school? I think it is quite an advantage to stay on in your current school because the 6th form is really only 18 months so you can't afford to waste any time getting used to a new school. I can't say too much about the pros and cons of the IB vs Levels. However, there are other considerations.

The person gave her all to it. 18 subjects or parts.
All too much.
Had the same attributes as the op's son, by the looks of things.
Got 18A's

My nieces are at a school which does IB.
niece 1 decided to move schools at 16 and went and did A levels
niece 2 stayed and did IB

As I remember from their conversations about it.
IB requires you to do the broader curriculum. Niece 1 is a straight-A student, but she said she would have to work hard to do the IB as it includes a language that is not her strength, or something she enjoys. She decided she wanted to focus in on her chosen subjects and went and did science A levels. (she is super clever, now at Cambridge)

niece 2 - also very clever, but prefered the broader approach, and was happy to do the language etc she also wanted to stay at her school, so chose to do IB

IB is totally accepted across the board at all unis. (I know that from a professional perspective, I have to advise families who move educational systems)

So I think it is about those subjects that he needs to do, is he able and confident across the range, or would he be better dropped the language/science/maths now?

by the way, the unis can't 'have a preference' for A levels.

They have an entry requirement eg 3 As and you can achieve that in any internationally recognised format. There is a standard conversion table they use, eg xxx score on IB is equivalent to YYY A levels

stepper

He is quietly confident across most subjects. We had real problems choosing for GCSE's. He doesn't enjoy Geography and isn't too keen on languages although is quite good at them. In the end he reluctantly dropped History, took combo Science and dropped DT which he loved as he had to choose 10 subjects. One of his favorite subjects is Latin so he can take that as the language element at IB. He will struggle to choose A' levels as there are 5 or 6 subjects he is passionate about.

Lightand, sorry about your friend. I am not concerned about my DS's MH. He works hard, has a GF and also has a lot going on outside of school making him a balanced individual. He has a very healthy dose of self esteem.

He's still got quite a bit of time though, he doesn't need to make any decisions yet (in fact he could probably still change his mind at the start of Y12). DD (Y11) is moving schools for Sixth form, and the new school offers A Levels and IB. She's decided on A Levels as she didn't want to continue with a science, and is even struggling on choosing her A Levels (she has chosen, but is now wobbling on one), it's a massive decision for them at such a young age. Especially now education seems to be all about how it will help you in your future career, and very little about the importance of education for the love of learning.

@Woodpecker22

I did IB 20 years ago and it was pretty tough. My peers which would have easily have got 3 A at A level did not get high enough IB scores for their Oxbridge offers which in my opinion were unreasonably high. Some subjects were a lot harder to get full marks in than others (as it depends on the internal standard). No one in my IB class got full marks in higher maths or physics.

Having said this I was glad I did it because of the well rounded experience it offered and it does set me apart from others.

At the time my main reason for choosing it was because I could continue with 6 subjects and I didn't want to narrow my options.

Second this, I also did IB some 20+ years ago and it was much tougher for IB kids in my school, than for those doing A levels. Academically speaking I still believe it is superior to A levels.

But, you have to take into account the circumstances:

1- Officially there is no discrimination between IB and A-levels, but the conversion by Oxbridge was far from generous at the time. In our case, IB was the great leveller as most smart kids picked it.

2- Take two kids of the same level, the IB kid will divide his attention amongst 6 subjects, whereas the A-level kid will focus on three. It goes without saying that the A-level kid will have a better chance at Oxbridge, whereas the IB will be better recognised globally.

3- You will probably not know better what you want to do in life at the age of 18 than at the age of 16 at least I didn't. My sister chose to study economics at the age of 18, only to announce that she'll want to be a medic at the age of 21. To get additional perspective at the age of 16 you'd need to change your environment e.g. new school in which case it may be worth to pick IB.

4- At the age of 16-18 there is a lot going on in a teenager's life. First love, driving license, holidays with friends, etc. It's a very good time to cut the slack and rationalise.

There are plenty of good arguments in favour of IB. It is clearly the more academical choice, and in an ideal world of no distractions and fair conversions, we should all choose that. It is better if you believe in intellectual superiority and learning is for its own sake, and one could argue it has better for prestige (in reality noone cares, as the uni will overshadow that)

If you're purely result oriented, aim for UK schools and looking to get the biggest bang for the time invested, then A-levels is the smart choice. If you like intellectualism and academics for its own sake, then IB is the better way. Both can be risky, albeit for different reasons.