A-Levels or International Baccalaureate?

Hey guys.

I'm in Year 11 and this morning I received a letter from a college with an interview date and said "Thank you for applying to do A-Levels or the International Baccalaureate."

I've never considered the International Baccalaureate and this has made me think - would I be more advantaged by doing the International Baccalaureate?

My current plan for A-Levels is taking: English Lit, Philosophy, Politics/History, a science and the EPQ.

However, if I were to do the International Baccalaureate, I'd do: English Lit HL, Philosophy HL, History HL, Latin or Italian Ab Initio/SL, Maths Studies SL and Physics SL.

Is there a point in doing 2 more subjects with added pressure and more exams? Does anyone reckon I should just do A-Levels as I'd originally planned?

If it's any help, my predicted grades are 3 A* 4A 1B and 2 Dist and I'd love to study an English Literature joint honours course at a Russell Group university.

Reply 1

joostan

13

Original post by laylarose

Hey guys.

I'm in Year 11 and this morning I received a letter from a college with an interview date and said "Thank you for applying to do A-Levels or the International Baccalaureate."

I've never considered the International Baccalaureate and this has made me think - would I be more advantaged by doing the International Baccalaureate?

My current plan for A-Levels is taking: English Lit, Philosophy, Politics/History, a science and the EPQ.

However, if I were to do the International Baccalaureate, I'd do: English Lit HL, Philosophy HL, History HL, Latin or Italian Ab Initio/SL, Maths Studies SL and Physics SL.

Is there a point in doing 2 more subjects with added pressure and more exams? Does anyone reckon I should just do A-Levels as I'd originally planned?

If it's any help, my predicted grades are 3 A* 4A 1B and 2 Dist and I'd love to study an English Literature joint honours course at a Russell Group university.

You're setting yourself a lot of essay writing :tongue:

If you enjoy a variety of subjects then IB is better, moreover univesities are often more flexible with missed offers with IB. Maths studies is very casual and shouldn't pose a problem to you. The IB exams are earlier than A2 exams and only occur in the second year so exam pressure's off for a coupla years.
TOK, extended essay and CAS are really the only main differences between your choices, oh and that the government's playing with A-Levels too so you might want to look into that.

Reply 2

laylarose

OP

14

Original post by joostan

You're setting yourself a lot of essay writing :tongue:

If you enjoy a variety of subjects then IB is better, moreover univesities are often more flexible with missed offers with IB. Maths studies is very casual and shouldn't pose a problem to you. The IB exams are earlier than A2 exams and only occur in the second year so exam pressure's off for a coupla years.
TOK, extended essay and CAS are really the only main differences between your choices, oh and that the government's playing with A-Levels too so you might want to look into that.