KES meeting

[Thegodfather]

I am clearer having read about it more. It sounds ok but more challenging than A levels I am also not sure about scores and the equivalent A level grades. Is there any actual evidence that the uni offers are tougher on IB? Will see what monday brings...

[hermanmunster]

I am clearer having read about it more. It sounds ok but more challenging than A levels I am also not sure about scores and the equivalent A level grades. Is there any actual evidence that the uni offers are tougher on IB? Will see what monday brings...

I think when it gets to Uni and you spend your time browsing the student room forum it can seem that the IB results feel higher than the supposed equivalent A level offers - for example students may be asked for x in the IB and that is equivalent to y in A levels etc etc but the A level students can appear to be asked for less than y by the uni.

An A level student will only ever be asked for 3 A levels in year 13 even if they are doing more.

It could be that the nature of the IB makes it more likely that the student will get that score or maybe the uni feel that to get the depth needed in the higher level subjects they have to have a high overall IB ? Who knows?

However the student can ultimately only be offered on the exams that they are doing - same thing happens with scottish results when they are offering on highers etc

[KEScholar]

About the IB vs A-Levels, it really depends on the individual students themselves, and I strongly suggest that parents should take into consideration their child's personal learning habits and preferences before advising their child in this matter. Some of my friends were really pushed to continue at KES and go with the IB, resulting in some disappointing results. From personal experience, getting 4 A* in A-levels is easier than scoring anything above 40 in IB. If a student is aiming for top universities/subjects that have very narrow flexibility in terms of grades/scores, such as Oxbridge or Medicine/Law at very top universities, then he should think twice and be absolutely confident about himself before going for IB. IB is not for the half-hearted.

[KenR]

About the IB vs A-Levels, it really depends on the individual students themselves, and I strongly suggest that parents should take into consideration their child's personal learning habits and preferences before advising their child in this matter. Some of my friends were really pushed to continue at KES and go with the IB, resulting in some disappointing results. From personal experience, getting 4 A* in A-levels is easier than scoring anything above 40 in IB. If a student is aiming for top universities/subjects that have very narrow flexibility in terms of grades/scores, such as Oxbridge or Medicine/Law at very top universities, then he should think twice and be absolutely confident about himself before going for IB. IB is not for the half-hearted.

What really excellent advice - the moral being "don't be afraid to move away from KES after GCSE if that is right for the student"