A-Levels vs IB (International Baccalaureate)

[SiD the Turtle]

So my little brother got his GCSE results today and he has the choice of places to go:

a) Stay at his school and do 4 A-Levels + some rubbish called critical thinking.
b) Go to another school and do IB, which is more subjects and points rather than grades (I don't completely understand it).

Having done A-Levels myself and never heard of anyone who has done IB (in the UK), I'd lean towards doing A-Levels. Does anyone have any experience of IB and is it as highly regarded at universities (including the top dogs) as A-Levels are?

 

[El Gringo]

I went to a large French school in London where at the age of 14 you got the choice of either staying into the French Section and doing IB or going into the British Section and doing O/A Levels. I went for the latter, but I don't looking back on it I wouldn't have any objections in doing the former. In my experience the Bac is as accepted as the British equivalent. Many of my friends got into Oxbridge with the IB and had no problems

/As a conclusion, just go with the better college.

 

[semi-pro waster]

As far as I'm aware the IB is as well thought of as A-levels generally, slightly less people here will have heard of it obviously but university admissions boards etc will be well aware of the standard involved. Critical thinking sounds a bit of a doss course really, as El Gringo says go for the best college. The people who need to know about the IB do and as long as your little brother can put up with explaining to the rest I don't see it would be a problem.

 

[b (thats it)]

I've had a lot of friends do the IB program. Wont have any problems getting into uni and they would make it much easier to get into university overseas should he want to for whatever reason I think.

 

[Hudzy]

Critical Thinking is a joke. Most people didn't bother with it at my college and most didn't enter it on uni applications.

Universities respect both qualifications as far as I know. I know people who completed both and are at universities now.

 

[Dave]

I did the IB a year ago and had no problems with universities. The only uni's that are a bit iffy on it are Oxford and Cambridge, as they demand 7,7,7 (highest grade) to be the equivalent of A,A,A; this ignores the fact that it's statistically more difficult to get a 7 in IB. (take IB Maths HL for example, which is the equivalent of A2 Maths + A2 Further Maths - my maths teacher says a mere 3 or 4 per cent get the top grade of 7)

In my opinion it makes you a lot more all rounded - I ended up doing two literature subjects (English & French Literature) whereas if I had done A levels I would've ditched all arts subjects for science ones. You have community service, philopophy and an Extended Essay as well as "core" components that broaden it a bit more too.

People who say the subjects aren't as in depth as the AS/A2 equivalent have no idea what they are talking about - from my experience at uni last year, I've done more maths, chemistry and physics in my IB subjects than those who have done it at A2 level.

 

[Dark88]

If he does decide to take the IB it's a lot heavier work load. At my secondary school at least you were timetabled a lot fewer free periods compared to students taking A levels. With IB you also have to write a 4000 word extended essay, take Theory of Knowledge classes (with a view to writing an essay and performing presentations) and also perform CAS (50 hours creativity, 50 action and 50 service) on top of taking 6 subjects. Also you are made to take certain subjects, for example maths, english, a modern language, a science...

With regards to getting into oxford or cambridge, I haven't seen them give out 7,7,7 higher level offers or though I guess it is possible. My offer (and I believe the usual) is 40 points, you can obtain a maximum of 45 points inlcuding your 3 bonus points for the 'extra' things listed above. Hope this helps. Any more questions on the IB feel free to ask.

 

[Dave]

Oxford/Cambridge were usually a 40-42, with 7,7,7 or 7,7,6 in Higher Levels when I applied. I got turned down even though I got 7 in all of my higher levels, and I did 4 subjects at HL instead of 3. (did English A1 & French A1 as my standard levels )

 

[Dark88]

Oxford/Cambridge were usually a 40-42, with 7,7,7 or 7,7,6 in Higher Levels when I applied. I got turned down even though I got 7 in all of my higher levels, and I did 4 subjects at HL instead of 3. (did English A1 & French A1 as my standard levels )

which college/subject did you apply to Dave? there could be a bit of variation between them.

On the fact that it is 'harder' to get into oxbridge with IB due to a high offer after speaking with a cambridge admissions tutor after doing a bit of admissions work I was told that due to the fact that IB can differentiate so much than just 3 A's, and pick out the really good students then they do use it in that way. If they could ask for more than 3 A's in comparison they would, but they can't due to the fact that some schools only offer 3 A's. He also said you are more likely to receive an offer if you do IB on the lines of, 'we like you' so go out and get this and prove that you're good enough. They are more likely to give out more IB places as they know some people won't make the grades. With A levels if they give out 3 A offers they can be sure most people will obtain them. So IB helps in some ways I guess, it looks good and will get you an interview and hopefully an offer but then you have to go through and get the grades.

 

[Diesel]

if I had done A levels I would've ditched all arts subjects for science ones.

Surely this can only be a good thing?

 

[Ex-RoNiN]

I did the IB, it is awesome You don't get restricted to three subjects, you have to do 6 (but you can do 7), they come from all important parts of the curriculum (native language, foreign language, mathematics, natural sciences, social sciences) so you become very all-rounded. Important is TOK, which will teach you how to write critical essays properly and it will become really useful when you go for Master's, as a lot of reasoning on epistemology etc. is based on some of the concepts taught in TOK. CAS brings some fun into school and the Extended Essay is again very useful report writing practice. Try to take History at HL for even more essay writing practice.

The IB is, by the way, considered as one of the finest secondary school programs in the world, at least it was in 2000

 

[Dave]

which college/subject did you apply to Dave? there could be a bit of variation between them.

I applied for Engineering, (Magdalen College, Oxford) and they wanted 7 in Maths & Physics and 6 in a second science subject. I got turned down after the interview stage. Incidentally, I was the very first person to be interviewed for engineering, at 8am in the morning! I had just flown over from France so needless to say I was slightly tired, but no excuses! Looking back on it now I'm glad it turned out that way, the course at Sheffield is better and so are my lecturers/professors.

CAS brings some fun into school

Your CAS was obviously a lot more organised than ours - our co-ordinator was a bit of an idiot and it made CAS more annoying than anything. I did my service hours working for Amnesty International, and that was quite an eye opener as to what's going on in the world that you don't know about. An experience I wouldn't have had if I had done A levels.

 

[Dark88]

I applied for Engineering, (Magdalen College, Oxford) and they wanted 7 in Maths & Physics and 6 in a second science subject. I got turned down after the interview stage. Incidentally, I was the very first person to be interviewed for engineering, at 8am in the morning! I had just flown over from France so needless to say I was slightly tired, but no excuses! Looking back on it now I'm glad it turned out that way, the course at Sheffield is better and so are my lecturers/professors.

I'm at Magdalen, great college

 

[Dave]

I'm at Magdalen, great college

Great college, but the Engineering professors are a bit iffy. I corrected one of them in a physics problem during my interview