IGCSE or IB middle years.

Discussion and advice on GCSEs

Moderators: Section Moderators, Forum Moderators

Post Reply
11 Plus Mocks - Practise the real exam experience - Book Now
Tolstoy
Posts: 2755
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2008 5:25 pm

IGCSE or IB middle years.

Post by Tolstoy »

We are having to move abroad and put our older DSs into an International School. One of my DSs would eventually like to be a Vet.

I know there are people with a vast amount of education experience here so hope you can help.

One of the schools we are considering offers IGCSEs for the more academic pupils rather than the IB middle years program and the other doesn't.

Both schools offer IB diploma as an A'level alternative or AP ( American Program along the lines of A'levels)

Which if any would be the better option to gain entry onto a Vet course in the future if this is the route he still wishes to pursue at a later date?
Belinda
Posts: 1167
Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2007 10:57 pm

Re: IGCSE or IB middle years.

Post by Belinda »

.
Last edited by Belinda on Thu Nov 01, 2012 3:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Tolstoy
Posts: 2755
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2008 5:25 pm

Re: IGCSE or IB middle years.

Post by Tolstoy »

Thanks Belinda, the two schools we are looking at are both coming in with averages of around the 32/34 mark which I think are good averages as these are not selective schools and they have both sent a number of pupils on to British Universities. I will have a look to see if there is any indication of one being better than the other in regards to Sciences.
Belinda
Posts: 1167
Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2007 10:57 pm

Re: IGCSE or IB middle years.

Post by Belinda »

.
Last edited by Belinda on Thu Nov 01, 2012 3:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Snowdrops
Posts: 4667
Joined: Wed Nov 21, 2007 5:20 pm

Re: IGCSE or IB middle years.

Post by Snowdrops »

Nothing to offer with regards to your original query Tolstoy, but do bear in mind that one or two grammar schools (Ripon :D ) offers boarding facilities. The beauty of this is you only pay for the boarding fees, the education element of it is free and works out at about half of an indie.
Image
Belinda
Posts: 1167
Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2007 10:57 pm

Re: IGCSE or IB middle years.

Post by Belinda »

.
Last edited by Belinda on Thu Nov 01, 2012 3:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Minesatea
Posts: 1234
Joined: Sat Oct 31, 2009 12:08 am

Re: IGCSE or IB middle years.

Post by Minesatea »

Colchester Royal Grammar also offers sixth form boarding but this also would be A levels.

Do I understand correctly that A levels are not an option in the International school. If that is the case I would go for IB rather than AP as it is more commonly recognised in this country.

However I looked this up for a relative recently and found the following page which explains the AP levels likely to be needed:


http://www.exeter.ac.uk/international/s ... uirements/
phaedra
Posts: 65
Joined: Wed Sep 15, 2010 4:18 pm

Re: IGCSE or IB middle years.

Post by phaedra »

is the IB/AP an alternative option to A Levels, (ie the school(s) also offer A levels) or is the choice etween IB and AP?

Unless you consider the MYP school to be much better on visiting then I suggest you go for the IGCSE route. Vet med will be looking for evidence of prior attainment and MYP doesn't give you any formal qualifications at 16 and IB doesn't have the equivalent of AS levels so the university will have nothing concrete to judge your child on in an academic sense. It is such a competitive course that you cannot afford to give them reasons for rejecting you.

MYP is not very structured and the quality of it is entirely dependent upon the school and department heads and their leadership/planning. IGCSEs are a structured course so less is dependent upon the quality of planning/teaching. If you think about the significant number of excellent schools in the UK (and many overseas) which offer IB, few, if any offer MYP. They almost all offer GCSE.

MYP is decidedly not a better preparation than IGCSE for the style of learning required at IB. IB irequires more independence than A Levels, granted, but there isn't as much difference as the media suggest and a competent GCSE student is just as well prepared. I would add that the better A Level students are also independent learners.
Tolstoy
Posts: 2755
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2008 5:25 pm

Re: IGCSE or IB middle years.

Post by Tolstoy »

Thank you for all these great replies.

Boarding isn't an option as the reason we are moving is to be together as a family. For the last two years DH has been a weekend commuter which isn't an ideal situation and we have all had enough.

Interesting what you say phaedra and it had occurred to me that this might be a reason for opting for the IGCSE school. They do seem to provide more options. It also has the smallest class size. We liked both schools but the preference was for the IB school, hence my dilemma as DS2 will have to make a decision based on a career choice that may change in the next couple of years.
Post Reply
11 Plus Mocks - Practise the real exam experience - Book Now