A Level or IB?

 

In a nutshell:

• A level is three subjects studied in depth, IB is six. IB also includes a compulsory core programme consisting of Theory of Knowledge, an Extended Essay and an evaluation of a student’s CAS (Creativity, Action and Service). You have to “pass”” this core as well as secure good scores in your six subjects to get a Diploma.

• A level courses are discrete, while the IB is holistic.

• A level is a pragmatic test of academic ability. IB (while highly academic) is unashamedly idealistic in its philosophy.

• A levels are graded by letters, with A* being the top grade, while IB uses a points system (the perfect score is 45 points), where 24 points and above secures an IB Diploma. The Diploma is, effectively, a worldwide qualification.

I’ve taught A level and IB in top academic schools, and done a tour of duty as Head of Oxbridge, so while I’m shooting from the hip in what I say below, the comments are based on experience as well as observation and research. The Best IB Exam Preparation books here to free download for IB Diploma students from UAE, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia etc...

What’s wrong with A levels?

• The government’s new Education White Paper (November 2010) acknowledges A levels to be “educationally inappropriate” in part because of the modules and re-sits. So the government is abolishing (to a very great extent, and maybe entirely) the offending modules and re-sits. This is big news. However, the White Paper says that even after these dramatic changes to A level, the government will decide “whether these and other recent changes are sufficient to address the concerns with A levels.” At GCSE, for example, the government is now going to introduce an English Baccalaureate made up of a specified number of core GCSEs at high grades (the soft options won’t count). Don’t be surprised if something similar happens at A level.

• Last year, eighty seven pupils in Bromsgrove’s Upper Sixth achieved three or more grade As at A level. When I was at School, three grade As got you a telegram from the Queen (or at least a picture in the local rag). Grade inflation is rampant, year on year. Top universities are now looking back at AS modules and GCSE results to distinguish between the masses of straight A candidates. Originally, many universities said they would not countenance the new A* grades, but some changed their tune very quickly when confronted by a sea of straight A grades. A*s, however, are very difficult to achieve if you are bright but not necessarily exceptional in a particular subject. A*s demand still more specialisation at 16+.

• Are three traditional, discrete old school subjects really appropriate for our children’s future? I was born into a world where Britain was the world’s second biggest car exporter and rice was in puddings rather than under a curry. Our children will be a world in which a President of the USA will probably have Spanish as a first language, where Brazil, India and Russia will be challenging China for economic supremacy and where empathetic, global cooperation will be prerequisites for any nation’s success. It’s not the jetpacks and Bacofoil space suits I was promised.