The international baccalaureate (IB) is becoming increasingly popular in Britain and around the world, and more and more independent and also state secondary schools are offering this option to their students. What are the benefits of the IB, and should you choose it over the British system?
One advantage of the IB system is that it offers breadth of education slowly leading up to the IB diploma in the final two years. In contrast, in a school following the British system, students have to study for their GCSE exams not long after starting secondary school, and as soon as they finish their GCSE exams, they have to study for the A-level exams already. So in a British school, the exam preparation and focus on exam subjects starts much earlier, which means more pressure over more years and potentially less breadth of the educational experience. On the plus side, choosing A-levels enables a child to focus on their strengths, whereas in the IB a child will have to study a wide range of subjects and show many different types of skills. Because of this, the A-level is better suited for pupils who have a clear profile (for example, very strong in STEM subjects or very strong in humanities only), whereas the IB is great for the all-rounder who wants to keep their options open until university.
If a pupil is decided on going to medical school or studying sciences, for example, the A-level system would provide the freedom to focus heavily on relevant subjects and to study them in depths, whereas the IB would still require any student to choose humanities, languages subjects alongside the sciences and also work on the extended essay, which is a key component of the IB diploma. Hence, a student strong in one area but not the other might find it much easier to shine in the British system than the IB system.
Interestingly, over time it is quite possible that the British A-levels could become more similar to the IB, for example by incorporating more practical project work or if a requirement to take a minimum number of subjects was introduced. If you have a very young child, it is hard to tell what the A-level might look like 10 years from now, whereas the IB system is likely to stay relatively stable.
Of course, it is also important to choose individual schools rather than just a system, as so much depends on the implementation. If you want to opt for the IB diploma eventually, you will have a choice of international schools (ACS Cobham, Southbank School), British independent schools that offer the IB (such as Sevenoaks, King’s College Wimbledon or North London Collegiate School), and also an increasing number of British state schools (Kinghurst Academy in Birmingham, Tonbridge Grammar School and about 150 others). IB diploma schools tend to have very high entry requirements, to ensure any student can actually pass the IB, so a weak student will usually not be able to qualify for the IB diploma programme.