This is not the first time this has happened to a school making the transition. There is large overlap on syllabus, but they are not the same. Teachers carrying with business as usual is not sufficient.

The IB is more rigourous - coursework rarely counts towards grade, no endless resits, and the percentage of those getting the highest grades has not budged over the decades.

King's Wimbledon put a great presentation on their site as to why they made the switch.

However I would avoid any school making the transition - let them practice without somebody else's DC.

_________________
Exams are formidable for the best prepared. The greatest fool may ask what the wisest man cannot answer.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent guide for schools planning to introduce the IB, 24 Nov 2004
By Mr. Timothy Woffenden (Sevenoaks, Kent) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
This is an impressively thorough and intelligent guide, invaluable to both prospective and existing IB schools. The contributors are all genuine experts in their fields. Not only is there coverage of vital issues such as funding, but there are are also guides to all IB subjects. There is also an awareness of the latest developments. This book is unauthorised by the IB, which is an advantage not fully exploited, and there is room for a slightly more critical approach. Nevertheless, no IB Coordinator should be without this book.


Tim Woffenden (the IB expert) offers high quality consultancy for schools, parents and organisations who want to find out more about the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, and is a polished conference presenter.
The International Baccalaureate Diploma for 16-18 year-olds is a pre-eminent pre-university course which is being adopted by rapidly increasing numbers of schools all over the world.Since their inception IB programmes have grown at 17-19% per annum. In February 2008 there were 594,000IB students at 2,210 schools in 125 countries.

In the UK, there has, until recently, been steady growth in the popularity of the International Baccalaureate Diploma; now that growth has become spectacular. 71 maintained schools and 46 independent schools offered the Diploma in February 2008.
Increasingly, the Diploma course, which requires students to follow a balanced and rigourous academic and extra-curricular programme, confers an advantage over A level candidates for university entrance.
Schools launching the International Baccalaureate Diploma have found Tim's consultancy to be indispensible

Seems like Tim as very good at selling his services.

Similar situation with the IB at a state school in St Albans
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_a ... 735896.ece

King Edwards School in Birmingham is switching completely from A levels to IB in Sept 2010.

http://www.kes.org.uk/international-baccalaureate.html

Following the experiences above in Essex and St Albans, it will be interesting to see if this results in a significant increased proportion of KES pupils leaving the school after GCSE and moving to state 6th Form colleges or Grammars next summer.

I suspect that many parents must be worried.

I have heard that the IB results at Slough Grammar, this year, were lower than had been predicted...... although previous years have been relatively accurate on predictions.

I do not know enough about the IB to suggest why this is.....

There does seem to be a fuzzy area around how the universities relate the IB and A levels.
IB students seem to be given offers that require more 'points' than the A level equivalent.

I will certainly be keeping an eye on this before my son makes the decision between a levels and IB.

And now there will be A* available at A level, there is slightly more chance of the highest performers standing out, which is one of the reasons some people consider IB.