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Which is harder - an A level or an IB?

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They are graded qualifications so saying one is conclusively better than the other is ridiculous.
Original post by Classical Liberal
They are graded qualifications so saying one is conclusively better than the other is ridiculous.


IB is seen as the gold standard by university admissions officers.
Original post by GentlemanOfTheRoad
IB is seen as the gold standard by university admissions officers.


That is just not true.

A* - MAths
A* - F- Maths
A* - Physics
A* - Chem

Super rigorous and better than anything you can get at IB if you are applying for a natural sciences or engineering.

IB is more of a liberal arts education.
Original post by Classical Liberal
That is just not true.

A* - MAths
A* - F- Maths
A* - Physics
A* - Chem

Super rigorous and better than anything you can get at IB if you are applying for a natural sciences or engineering.

IB is more of a liberal arts education.

LMFAO

liberal arts? Tell that to someone doing HL Physics Chemistry Maths or SL Further maths. They're also bringing in HL further maths which is harder than A2 further maths.
Liberal education my arse.
I did A Levels for a week. IB is so much harder.
Reply 44
Original post by Classical Liberal
That is just not true.

A* - MAths
A* - F- Maths
A* - Physics
A* - Chem

Super rigorous and better than anything you can get at IB if you are applying for a natural sciences or engineering.

IB is more of a liberal arts education.
LOL IB HL Maths and HL Physics is definitely harder than as they are in A-Levels.
Reply 45
Original post by c.anez
LOL IB HL Maths and HL Physics is definitely harder than as they are in A-Levels.


How about if you compare IB with A-levels for Economics?
Reply 46
Original post by thats_attractive
But for HL Maths, (A level maths and half of further) individual IB subjects are (mostly) less in-depth than A level subjects.
However overall I think IB is more strenuous, and a more balanced qualification - due to TOK and EE and whatnot.


I don't do the IB, I do A-level but my friend does and the work he has to do in economics is way more in depth and harder than the A-level course and HL maths for the IB is around university level which is why not many people in England do it
Reply 47
Original post by Rkai01
How about if you compare IB with A-levels for Economics?


I tutored a boy who was doing A-level economics and his brother was doing IB economics and the A-level papers were ridiculously easy in comparison to the IB papers
I did the IB and also have 2 A-levels so I can probably compare quite well. Overall I would have to say the IB is harder because of the amount of work there is to do and the amount of depth it goes into. There is just as much coursework for an A level as for an IB suject and there also is pretty much the same amount of depth for most subjects. The real question isn't "Is IB harder than A-levels?" it's "How much harder is IB than A-levels?" and there it depends entirely on the subjects you choose. If you choose higher humanities and English and foreign languages, the only thing that makes the IB harder is having to take the maths and science subjects and do the extra TOK + EE work so it is only very slightly harder than taking 4 good solid A-levels with an extended project. However if you are taking higher maths and science subjects then the gap widens significantly. I am a university of St-Andrews chemistry and maths student and when I came into first year the difference between those having taken IB and A-levels became really stark. The A-level syllabus doesn't come anywhere near any quantum numbers, any Arhenius equations, any d-orbital splitting, whereas the IB covers all of that stuff. The A-level maths students also struggled in comparison where although they did more optional maths modules and had good knowledge of their specific interests, their general maths theory was limited and they had no idea how the concepts they knew how to use (differentiation, integration, etc.) were derived from first principles. They were taught how to do things without really being explained how they worked and although that got them A* in their exams, when they moved further up in their maths studies, they had to learn things that were considered elementary by IB students. I have heard similar stories from students of physics and biology about these differences. Now in my opinion, not only do these aspects make the IB signigicantly harder than the comparable A-level, they also make them much more useful when you go on to study them further. However if you choose to take the more in depth IB approach to sciences you must bear in mind that you are likely to get much worse grades and also perhaps have your grades pulled down by the essay subjects that you may not necessarily excel in , so although it is harder, that does not necessarily make it a good idea.
This is just my opinion but as I said I have some A-levels and an IB diploma, and I also have the direct comparison of how they help you when you move further up in the education system. I hope this helps anyone looking into the two options!
Reply 49
Simple. IB is much harder than A-levels, because of the fact that not only do ib students go through the academically rigorous process, doing 3 HL and 3 SL subjects, but also they have to finish their CAS,EE, TOK, IAs as well, which are taken to actually 'grade' the students. Whereas A-level students, although in general we do 4 AS subjects and 3 A2 subjects, don't get as much tension as ib students do as we only get assessed on the examination and small amount of coursework without any bull**** like CAS and TOK.

To be fair, though, A-level subjects can be comparable to IB. For instance, if one takes Mathematics and Further Mathematics, he or she has to take at least 12 modules or more if further modules are taken. Also, for Sciences, students are tested more extensively as they have to take 6 exams + coursework for each one. And A-level students learn more in depth topics; in Physics we learn Relativity, Astronomy, Engineering Physics, Optics compulsorily when IB students get to choose to learn only one advanced topic among 4.

The fact that IB students have to study the subjects that they don't have a flair nor interest at is frustrating and it is not something I would want to experience. I know IB is unfairly underestimated and A-level is "overestimated" in UK, but 32 or 33 equivalent to 3As in A-level is more unfair judgement. Considering the fact that if an offer for A-level is 3As, then IB offer is likely to be 36 at least. For 3A*s, IB is 42 or higher. So they're not that different as one of the 'parties' would want to believe so.

I'm studying at Imperial, and considering the fact that although for this first term A-level students just breezed it through, IB students were catching up what we had done in A-levels and all my mates from Mathematics who did IB say that they are experiencing the knowledge gap between them and those who did A-levels. So it just really depends on you.
Reply 50
Honestly, no one can really compare the IBs to the A Levels no matter how you put it, there's an elitist bias. People are arguing for A-Levels but ignore the fact that A-Levels come in multiple systems most notably AQA, EDEXCEL, and the dreaded CIE. The CIE is considered harder subject-subject than IB by lecturers who teach both but IB requires more work across the board because of the broad base of 6 subjects and the essays. A Levels are more acclimatized for people who generally know what they are going to do in University beforehand = depth. IB ensures that you are more well-rounded and exposed to a greater base of education which is likely vital for people who don't have a clear cut plan for University just yet = breadth.

The real issue is that people might be arguing the wrong things because A Levels are largely dependent on the system they are based in. IB has standard which makes it easier to compare. If A Levels were to mimic that, then we could have an actual debate.
Reply 51
I personally would say IB is 2 times easier than Cambridge curriculum. I barely finished my freshman year at Cambridge school and i've gone through lots of obstacles. IB is more about project and practical works and if you put down together that's make a clear conclusion of IB provide more realistic guidance through experiences. Meanwhile in Cambridge, you need to deal with all paperwork and lots of paper assignment. This is when you'll find the past papers of exams would be highly reliable for studying before ur exams.
Reply 52
A Levels certainly goes in more depth hence harder however ib have a lot of coursework such as essays, projects etc which keep the student busy throughout the year. A levels is depth while IB is breadth. A levels is for those who know what they want to major in while IB Still let's you choose which is why they make a science compulsoryJust because A levels has lessee subjects does not mean it's easier, it's actually the opposite 3 subjects in a level is equal to 6 in 12th grade IB hence showing us the depth. I have a teacher as well which says a levels is harder yet ib more rigirorous throughout the year. All in all it cant be fully concluded which is harder but a levels does go in more depth. You need to find out which curriculum suits your needs to make a proper decision, choosing the
Reply 53
A Levels certainly goes in more depth hence harder however ib have a lot of coursework such as essays, projects etc which keep the student busy throughout the year. A levels is depth while IB is breadth. A levels is for those who know what they want to major in while IB Still let's you choose which is why they make a science compulsoryJust because A levels has lessee subjects does not mean it's easier, it's actually the opposite 3 subjects in a level is equal to 6 in 12th grade IB hence showing us the depth. I have a teacher as well which says a levels is harder yet ib more rigirorous throughout the year. All in all it cant be fully concluded which is harder but a levels does go in more depth. You need to find out which curriculum suits your needs to make a proper decision, choosing the "easier" one isn't the right way to think
IB IS SO FINDING HARD! If you have a very supportive school then it helps but honestly A Levels has CGP books, it's better
I think the Cambridge CAIE A-Levels are just as tough as the International Baccalaureate but they specialise and focus on different fields and breaths of Eduction so it’s difficult to come up with a conclusion. However, Universities prefer IB because of it’s all-round teaching curriculum so that’s a factor to consider. Similarly, it’s obvious that Entry Requirements demand a slight tad more for IB and a little less for A-Levels so that’s also a point to consider.

Overall, it’s just really hard to say which is harder than the other since they are like two sides of a coin. I have a classmate who has experienced both the Curriculums and he believes that IB is far more harder, so I’m thankful I’m doing CAIE A-Levels instead of IB although I think I’d prefer IB since it’s more all-round and less focused on the gritty details that CAIE is very fond of. However when the thoughts of all the subsidiary Qualifications that comes with IB along with the mandatory subjects against your will, I’m ever so thankful for picking up CAIEs.
Breezing through it...? I would like to see his results...
Stick to A Levels. One word: CGP
IB figuring out what you need to do is so much work, and we have **** reversion guides. Do A Levels and buy all the CGP books you’ll need
I did the IB at a school that offered both. It depends on the school imo. With the right support it would definitely be easier. Where I’m from, A levels is the main course so teachers were well trained. It’s easier simply because you can just do as many past year papers and mock questions as you can and you’ll be fine. But our A level friends found it pretty boring and were envious that IB students organised more fun activities because we were motivated by CAS lol. And some of the assignments were pretty interesting.

For the IB you’ll have to do lots of assignments so you really need to have good time management and on top of that you have compulsory CAS and the EE... I think it’s extremely good preparation for uni if you’re doing an especially tedious subject with lots of essays like law, history etc.
Like I said if your teachers are very good then it’s not that much harder except for managing your time well, but if they have little experience (like mine lol) who don’t have a good sense of what they’re doing then it’s really tough. We were moderated down for our assignments by 5 marks because our teachers were giving higher grades than we deserved. It was horrible and many of us failed to get into our firm choice unis because we were predicted higher (and often graded higher than our true abilities) when in truth we needed to do better but we weren’t realising that.
(edited 5 years ago)
Reply 59
Alevels is easier by a long shot by IB is most definitely more rewarding

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