With A-levels under fire, Christopher Middleton considers the main alternative.
King's College, Wimbledon Photo: JEFF GILBERT
With the virtues and value of A-levels in dispute as never before, more and more parents and students are considering the International Baccalaureate. But what is the IB? Where does it come from, and – crucially – is it any good? Here, we modestly offer a guide for the perplexed in 10 bite-sized instalments.
1 IB makes you a better person … in theory. The stated aim of the IB is "to develop intellectual, personal, social and emotional skills".
As well as the six main subjects (which include English and maths, plus at least one science and foreign language), you have to do a self-researched Extended Essay of 4,000 words, a philosophically based Theory of Knowledge project and 150 hours of CAS (Creativity Action Service), involving arts, sports and community service.
Katy Ricks, head of Sevenoaks School. says: "The IB is not about just passing exams. It's about educating people to be critical thinkers and compassionate citizens."
2 It's been around for 40 years
The IB movement was founded in 1968, by a group of teachers at the International School of Geneva. First director of the IB was Alec Peterson, former headmaster of Dover College. The first British school to adopt the IB, in 1971, was the United World College of the Atlantic, in Glamorgan.
3 It's not an EU conspiracy
This isn't something sinister that's been sent from Brussels to sabotage our education system. Yes, the IB's headquarters are in Geneva, but it's an independent, non-profit-making outfit which levies fees from member schools for performance assessment, exam-setting and marking, curriculum development and training. In fact, some 139 different countries now have IB schools. The latest to join the club is Libya. The total number of IB students worldwide is 876,000.
4 It's still small
in this country only 222 schools offer the IB Diploma (for 16-19 year-olds) in Britain; 10 schools offer the IB Middle Years Programme (ages 11-16), and 12 the Primary Years Programme (ages 3-11).
5 It's not just a private-school fad
"It's not true that IB is just for privileged, private schools," says Steve Holdup, head of Dallam School, in Milnthorpe, Cumbria, a 1,000-pupil state day and boarding school. In fact, nearly twice as many govenment-maintained schools as private ones offer the programme.
In America, the IB has even been introduced in failing urban schools, resulting in increased levels of aspiration and achievement.
6 You don't have to be brilliant at every subject
Although you have to study six subjects for the IB, you choose your best three to take at Higher level (240 hours of teaching over the two years) and your weaker three at Standard level (150).
In recognition of the horrors that maths holds for many, there is even a special, even-easier-than-Standard option, called Maths Studies, which still carries the same potential maximum score as other subjects (seven points).
The head of King's College, Wimbledon, Andrew Halls, says: "You don't have to be brainy to do the IB, but you do have to be diligent and organised. What you discover, though, is that you become organised by being diligent."
7 Some schools offer both IB and A-levels
And it's clear which students work harder. "Over the two years, IB students will get up to half as much teaching again, as their A-level counterparts," Holdup says. "On top of which, they have to adopt a more inquiring approach than A-level students."
However, it's often suggested that as IB students can only do two sciences, they have less chance of getting into medical school than an A-level student, who can do three. Not so, says Halls. "We've had more people accepted for medicine since we've been doing the IB. The curriculum lets you do biology and chemistry, which you must have for medicine, plus maths; it's not the problem people think."
8 We lead the world
Of the 96 students who achieved the maximum IB Diploma score of 45 (seven times six plus three for the extended-essay-creative-community bit) in 2010, 47 were from Britain, of whom 11 were from King's College, Wimbledon. Rallying point for those who champion IB is the fact that the percentage of candidates achieving this maximum worldwide has remained roughly constant (0.2 per cent) for 20 years.
9 You can retake a subject
Often a university will make you an offer of a place on the basis of you getting 35 IB points overall, including a 6 or 7 in the subject you're applying to read. If you've only got a 5, say, you can retake just that subject in November or May.
As a rough rule of thumb, an IB score of 7 earns 130 UCAS points, while an A* grade at A-level is worth 140 points, and an A-grade 120.
10 But it's not for everyone
In fact, a lot of schools have said they have no intention of introducing the IB. Their principal objection is that it lumbers students with subjects for which they may have no aptitude and even less affection. The A-level system lets pupils who struggle with maths, or hate languages, abandon their bugbears once GCSEs are over, but the IB makes them undergo two more years of torture.
In addition, many schools feel uneasy about the overt way in which the IB addresses the students' emotional and social development. They prefer character-building to be a by-product of education, rather than a target.
