THE CHOICE of exams that teenagers may take at 16 and 18 is once again to be revised. The result should be more options for students who will no longer feel like square pegs wedged into round holes.
Ingatestone Anglo-European School in Essex offers A levels alongside the Inter- national Baccalaureate (IB) because, like many schools over the past few years, it acknowledges that both sets of exams have strengths that satisfy the diverse needs of today’s students.
The IB has long been cited as an example of an exam that encourages all-rounders, allowing sixth-form students to continue to study all the basic academic disciplines required at GCSE while specialising in some areas. Students take three subjects at higher level and three at standard, with maths, a science, a foreign language, a humanity, an arts subject and English all compulsory. In addition, students must study theory of know-ledge, produce an extended essay on a chosen topic and take part in community work. The system allows students to keep their options open until university, and suits the all-rounder who does not want to drop one subject in favour of another. “A levels would have restricted what I could do after school,” says Zahra Mulroy, 17, who is studying the IB at the Anglo-European. “The IB let me keep my options open.”
Advocates claim that the IB encourages more reflection than A level, producing students who are more capable of thinking about wider issues.
“The IB retains a connection to all basic strains of learning,” says Bob Reed, headmaster of the Anglo-European. “You never know in what direction life will take you, and the IB illustrates over and over again that students can have a depth of knowledge far outside their chosen career.”
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Although his school offers sixth-formers a choice, only 30 per cent opt for the IB, which indicates that it is not for everyone. Suited to academic students who can cope with a heavy workload, it offers a more formal and, in some subjects, more exigent syllabus than A level. Examined at the end of two years, it appeals to students who excel at exams, while the A levels’ modular structure benefits students who prefer coursework.
“If a student is reasonable at German but not brilliant, we find that higher German is particularly hard,” Reed explains. IB higher maths is also harder than A level, according to Sharon Ebbs, head of mathematics.
“For the academic mathematician — someone who may go to Cambridge to study maths — the IB higher maths is good, but for a lot of students A-level maths is a better choice,” she explains.
Other subjects can be simpler when studied at IB level, according to Reed. “Humanities are probably easier on the IB, because we teach humanities in Britain better than the rest of the world does at GCSE level. IB religious studies do not have the same academic rigour as A level; and art A level is more appropriate for a good student, perhaps a reflection of the fact that elsewhere art is more of an aside than it is in the UK.”
Those who choose to study A levels usually know what they want to study at univer- sity and have a preference for certain subjects. Carly Mason, 17, believes that being able to specialise is the point of the sixth form. “I think a lot of the people who have taken the IB have taken subjects because they have to,” she says. “With A levels you have chosen to do those subjects you are passionate about. At GCSE you have to do English, maths and science, but when you get to the sixth form you want to focus on what you enjoy and are good at.”
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James Cinderey, 17, an A-level student, thinks that although the IB is supposed to offer a wide range of subjects, the choice is nevertheless limited. “The subjects on offer are not diverse and the more modern and creative subjects are left out,” he says.
Those students interested in business studies or IT will not find them on the IB syllabus. “I chose A level because it offered the subjects I wanted,” says Adam Ghazalla, 16. “The IB doesn’t offer business or ICT (information, communication and technology), and I was certain I wanted to study those subjects and do accounting finance at university.”
Even the most enthusiastic supporters of the IB admit that retaining diversity and choice is crucial. “I would encourage more of our sixth-form students to follow the IB, but it is not for everyone,” Reed says.
“The key is recognising that individual students have a wide range of differing needs, and that while broader studies should be encouraged, there is nothing wrong with specialising.”