IB vs A-levels - pros and cons!

[DominoRules]

DS1 is Year 11 and we’re starting to look at colleges for sixth form. One near us does IB which really appeals to him. We know a bit about IB as most of his primary and up to partway through year 8 we were overseas and although at a British school it had a lot of IB elements and was approx 50/50 split for 6th form.

He’s hard working, good all rounder and doesn’t have a clear plan of what he wants to do yet so IB seems great in that respect. But I don’t know anyone else who is doing it or has done it here.

Is anyone’s child currently doing IB or done it recently? What are your opinions on that route rather than A-levels?

The pros are that it brings British kids much more in line with their European counterparts, most of whom have to study more subjects right up to school leaving age and at a higher level than many A level subjects. Makes them more attractive to universities and employers.

The cons are that GCSEs haven't prepared them well for that level of study usually so many find it tough.

An academically bright, ambitious kid? I'd say go for it.

IB suits an all rounder. Having to do a bit of everything won't suit every kid.

Am never really sure about forcing such a wide range of subjects either. What if your dc wants to do engineering/medicine- can the IB accommodate 2 or 3 sciences to higher level?

Of the people I know who've done it, a lot have found the workload pretty heavy. There's a lot of course work and then a lot of exams.

On the plus side - they finish Y13 super early (mid May I think?) and get the results similarly early, meaning that often their uni place and accommodation is sorted well before the A level bunfight...

@TJsAunt I’ve been checking out universities and so far all accept IB and for medicine/engineering there are certain subjects you need at higher level all
of which are an option at the college he’s looking at. To be honest he’s super squeamish so I very much doubt medicine would be a consideration anyway!

I do worry about the workload, especially when he compares it to what all his friends will be doing……

I guess worst case he does it for a year and if it’s too much switches to A-levels then? He’s a summer born anyway so even if he did that would only be just 19 when he went to university.

@TheLongGloriesOfTheWinterMoon thanks for your reply too. He was so enthusiastic when chatting about it

If DC are good all rounders and equally happy doing maths/sciences as they are humanities, and don't have a clear idea what they want to do then they are ideally suited to the IB (remembers weird sibling sobbing over giving up maths after GCSE).

If DC are the kind of child who has been dreaming since Reception of being able to study Maths, Further Maths and Physics and the thought of writing another essay fills them with dread (or they just want to do Latin, Ancient History and English and forget quadratic equations exist) then they will detest the IB and be far better suited to A Levels.

@OhCrumbsWhereNow definitely an all rounder, when talking about A-levels he can go from Maths/Chem/physics one day to History/Philosophy/English the next!! Similar grades too so it’s been stressing him out really

Sounds like the perfect match then!

IB might suit an all-rounder like your DS, who doesn't wish to specialise too much at this age. A Levels remain the better choice for those who wish to drop a number of subjects to concentrate on their preferences.

Two of my DDs couldn't wait to drop maths and the sciences to concentrate on arts and modern languages. So A Levels it was for them, even though their school did offer IB.

Interestingly, that school no longer offers IB after years of very low uptake. The governors were forced to pull the funding.

@DominoRules The syllabus for IB highers doesn't tally exactly with the A level ones - if he doesn't like IB after a year then pretty sure he'd have to restart Y12?

My point about medicine/engineering/science was more that (although universities do accept the IB) if you have a kid whose strengths and interests are very one sided, am not sure the IB can allow for that. DS has friends who did 3 science A levels. The IB routinely only allows one science subject?

DD is doing it (in Spain) much harder than A levels, but so much better IMO for future opportunities and for 16 year olds who could easily change their mind as to what they want to do/study at uni. She is also an all rounder but with an interest in languages so is happy (and loves) the latin now included.

You do have to pass everything though, it is tough. No denying you have to be clever.

Universities on the continent cost a fraction of the price of the UK. It could open up a whole world for him..

I am almost certain you can do more than one science subject.
I will check with DD later.

Yes, two HL sciences are possible. My DD is doing it and has Biology, Chemistry and Latin as her Highers.

@TJsAunt yes I meant start year 12 again so it’d be 3 years overall.

You’ve given me questions to ask the college re science, we’re going in a couple of weeks for a more detailed evening so I can check then. They gave us examples of previous students and what they’d gone onto and some definitely had more than one science at Higher level

@Gulbekian and @adriftabroad thank you!

He is bright, is probably about half grade 7, half grade 8 and is working hard but definitely not crazy amounts so I’d hope he would be suitable.

He loved our time overseas and that is the one thing he definitely wants to do in his future.

His school haven’t had anyone go on to do IB so not had much information from them so I do appreciate everyones views

I really rate the IB. DD is doing it and I also did it myself. There is an element of needing to be a decentish all-rounder but you do have some room to tailor your subject levels around your abilities (both DD and I have/had maths at standard level for example because neither of us is strong at it.)

What I really liked about the IB was the way certain overarching questions are looked at across all subjects - maths, sciences, humanities, languages, arts, e.g. Classifying and structuring things. How far does this help or hinder knowledge? What DD currently likes is that her final marks will partly be based on course work and partly on examinations. She feels this takes some pressure off the exams. She's also really enjoying the freedom of writing her Extended Essay.

Many people talk about the workload but it is doable is you are organised and persistent - and that's one of the things the IB is intended to teach you.

I did IB, albeit a long time ago. I loved it. It gave me a really well rounded education at the end which meant I sailed through the first two years of my degree with almost no work and got a first. Then when I decided to change direction for my MSc it allowed me to do that because I had a more varied experience.

Thanks for all the replies, great to see so much positivity! He’s been reading up on it and is full of enthusiasm so I’m really happy we’ve found it’s an option

DD is doing the IB. She's Y12, so she hasn't been doing it very long, but she likes it so far. College she's at offer IB and A Levels - she chose IB because she didn't want to give anything up at this stage, and she thought it seemed more holistic/varied/challenging. She's hoping to do medicine, and as such has selected science-heavy options: HL Chem, Biol, Maths, SL Eng, Spanish, Psychology.

It's early days, but her/my initial impressions are good BUT it's lots of work. Her timetable is packed - especially when compared with friends who are doing 3 A Levels and are enjoying a few late starts/early finishes over the week - and there's the expectation of a reasonable amount of independent work on top.

The kids doing it seem like a friendly, outgoing, bright bunch of people (the idea of a smaller group within the big college was another plus for DD). Just over 10% of the cohort that started it have switched to A Levels though - it really does feel like a heavy workload and one that requires a lot of organisation (not that I'm saying A Levels are for the lazy and disorganised, obviously!).

It seems like a really good thing to me - for a certain type of bright, self-motivated all-rounder and/or someone who might want to have more options internationally further down the line.

I disagree that IB is anywhere near at a higher level than A level. One reason stem departments at universities like a-levels is because a levels teach to a much higher level than IB simply because they can due to only teaching 3-4 subjects. IB standard level is only marginally harder than GCSEs and the higher level are lower than a-levels. Good if you are an all rounder. Not as good if you know which direction you want to go in and are a specialist with subject areas you are better moving away from. IB is more rounded though. I give you that.

Universities on the continent cost a fraction of the price of the UK. It could open up a whole world for him
Depends on the country of course, but there are 300 people in my dd’s law lectures. So many that during the heat of early September, the lecturer had to ask half of them to leave. Medecine is an absolute nightmare.
British / Irish unis are hard to beat.

Hi, just picking up this thread fro last year as my DS is currently sitting his final IB exams. I would be interested to know @DominoRules what your DS and you decided on in the end. My DS isn't particularly academically gifted but he has worked hard at a school which has won awards over the last 10 years for their IB results so the pressure has been on for two years. He hopes to get the points to get to his chosen Uni but the mock results were disappointing (to him) and he went through a stage of wanting to leave Education after his exams and get a job, which I think was just a blip or nerves and just fed up with the pressure of studying (I get that as I left school at 16!). What I will say is that the points system seems fairer than the high AAB grades he would have needed to do the same course at most Uni's and they sit the exams before A levels, and get their results 2 weeks before. It seems so far that the Uni's come back quicker with conditional acceptances for IB students for those who I know doing A levels.

@bringoutthebranston good luck to your DS, I really hope things work out how he wants them too. I think a blip is very understandable after how hard he will have been working!

My DS decided he definitely wants to do IB so that’s what the plan is. He had a great open day at the college and lots of good chats with the staff. Interview went well so he got his offer which we were really pleased about as they had record numbers of applications this year.

GCSEs start next week so fingers crossed!

Thanks for your kind response. Ahh that's great, glad your DS has his offer. I really think the IB style education is something for the Government to consider nationally for those who would find it difficult to decide on 3 A level subjects, or one college course. Also, maybe an IB version for students who aren't particularly academic and can try different trades in a two year period without deciding on a career or college course in one thing at 16. Anyway that's for another thread!!
Best of luck with the GCSE's next week, at least the summer hols start earlier for them :-)

@bringoutthebranston
Very best of luck to your son!
My DD is also currently doing her IB exams. Her subject choices mean that they are all a bit on top of each other - 14 papers in 10 days - but I guess that's just luck of the draw.
Fingers tightly crossed for them both!
No doubt our paths will cross again in the run up to 6 July 😂.