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Who else hates the unfairness between IB and A levels

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Reply 80

eulerwaswrong

Witness23

Treorchy, and it's pretty bad here two can't wait to get away.
What school do you go to?

OOOO-- it is pretty bad up there isnt it lol - I go to ponty high/coedylan comp

Reply 81

trm90

fredscarecrow

...and a large proportion of A-level students apply with predicted grades of AAAA, and all 270+ at AS.

Just out of interest, what draws people to the IB? Every argument for it seems to be the range of subjects etc...which to me is a complete turn off. [[The idea that I'd have to do maths for another two years :eek:

]] (I'd also like to point out that i'm not dreadful at sciences or maths..I was still an A-grade student..just not A*, i just couldn't stnad the subjects.)
I've always seen it that as you get older you specialise more and more...so you do 13-15 subjects up to year 10, cut down to 10-12, then drop to 5/6 at AS..then 3/4 at A2..then finally you can specialise in your subject at university, having narrowed down your choice and favourites. So, for example, I knew that by the end of GCSE I never wanted to look at a maths textbook again..so what's the point of me sitting through another 2 years of lessons?
Obviously it has it's attractions to some, but I certainly can't see them :redface:

I was never really attracted to it. I just kind of ended up here :s-smilie:

. My older sister took it as well as a bunch of other people so it was pretty much something I was set to do since I was 14.

The only thing I like about the IB over A-levels is the extended essay which I had loads of fun with. Other than that though I'd kill to do A-levels, I would have a really great time just doing three interesting subjects like Maths, Physics and Electronics/Computing rather than stupidly choosing Economics, French and English at higher level (admittedly they are all my weakest subjects too :p:

Reply 82

Allthewayhome

People, this whole is never ending: no one will ever denounce there own system to be inferior to another as it would therefore mean that their studies and achievements meant nothing.

Stop.Please.

It's a mark of true character to take your lot and stick with it.

Reply 83

9mm

I'm just curious, with IB are you able to resit certain exams? If my memory is right, as of next year (or the following after that) it will not be possible to resit AS exams. That will make A-levels a bit more challenging I'd think.

Reply 84

Witness23

Ah Coedylan, we alaways compete against you in quizzes and other competitions. Was with a couple of people from there (I think) in Oxford summer school and interviews.
And yes it is far from pleasant here, I'd rather be in Ponty I think!!!

Reply 85

TI-84

i would love to do the A-levels as well.

only do what im interested in as opposed to wasting my time with english+french.

math,fmath,physics and economics.
goddamnit...

Reply 86

TI-84

Aristoteles

no..
there's no resits.
the exams are not modular either.
so you are tested on all your knowledge of 2 years in one go(as opposed to every 5 months).

Reply 87

trm90

Aristoteles

You can send in exams/assessments for remoderation but that'll only increase your overall mark by like... 1 to 2% :p:

Reply 88

Allthewayhome

TI-84

no..
there's no resits.
the exams are not modular either.
so you are tested on all your knowledge of 2 years in one go(as opposed to every 5 months).

Now, this is what I like.
Alevels need this because it's clear the module system plain sucks.

Reply 89

TI-84

however ive been led to believe that not all "types" of A-levels do the modular system??

like edexel and AQA or some stuff like that idk the details thouw.
i dont see why you WOULDN;t choose the modular? :p:

Reply 90

HCD

Many A levels have a synoptic unit at the end of the 2nd year to test you on everything you should've learnt so far.

Reply 91

manderlay in flames

Payback for being wannabe middle class, you've now branded yourself as having aspirational middle class parents for life, congratulations. And don't tell me you're at a disadvantage, as if the top unis don't bother to understand what the 2nd most common qualification means. Foreigners with obscure qualifications have a right to complain not you posh boys.

Reply 92

9mm

Alright thanks for clearing that up. : )

As for your question, individuals can't choose the exam boards for their various subjects, the school/college does that.

Reply 93

Ayla Phoenix

Witness23

So what are people predicted???
Anyone predicted like a 43???

Predicted a 40/42, so hopefully I'll be able to manage those three bonus points, fingers crossed. I'd like to study overseas post-school, and in following the trend of the forum, potentially Cambridge for law.
It's a thorough course, and one I think we should be grateful to be able to take, it's looked upon quite warmly by a lot of prestigious universities, national and international. Don't take it if you're not up for the workload.

Reply 94

josepharthur

Jhawkins

I'm not being xenophobic or anything, but if you want to come to the UK and go to the best universities then you should only be the best... as they are/were primarily for people from England/the UK.

Enlightening generalisation. Go back to your GSCE revision :rolleyes:

Reply 95

ladylish

only nihilism

Is this again, another attack against us 'posh' IB-ers who all clearly go to high flying, fee paying schools and are rolling in it?

If so, I'd like to reiterate: I've gone to comps all my life. I'm going to have a great time paying for uni, let alone any of my other education. I'm not 'wannabe middle class' at all - why would I want to be a class for a start? Out dated social views - get real. If I was to be 'classed' at all it would be as working class - I'm south essex, born and bred.

And if you actually read the posts, top unis really DON'T get the IB - especially Cambridge. They're really bad for it, actually - no one has come up with a definitive way to compare A levels and IB yet, so we're expected to get insanely high marks which are far harder to achieve on the most part than AAA.

Reply 96

kjc_us

If you have such issues with the IB, you should've gone to a school which offers A-levels.

Reply 97

Allthewayhome

TI-84

Modular makes it too easy to resit and gives the candidate anonymity.
Those who resit to obtain an A grade is given the same status as anther A grade in that subject.

In Scotland, to resit a subject you have to repeat the year as the exam only takes place in may. I
If you resit the unis know you have re taken the subject.
If the resit to obtain a higher grade then allow it's a higher grade it is devalued in their eyes because it took you two years to get an A over someone who got an A in their fist sitting of that subject.

In Scotland, it's all above achieving results in your first sitting whereas such discrepancy hardly exist downsouth.

English unis also care abotu first sitting for scottish applicant yet Scottish uni, by and large, don't care about modules which have been retaken to increase the grade. Now, that's unfair.

There's no point bitchin' and crying though becase it'll never change till there's a unified educational system in place - Read this to mean "never"

Reply 98

trm90

webecomesilhouetes

Enlightening generalisation. Go back to your GSCE revision :rolleyes:

I seriously did not see that comment in this thread :eek:

Can't believe he said that though!

Just for clarification, my sister -- the OP -- didn't make this thread for the purposes of complaining about the workload of the IB, rather, the fact that on the academic side of things, there's generally a greater pressure on IB students to excel.

As I mentioned previously, I was expected to take the IB programme by my parents and wasn't exposed to any other education system, as was my sister.

Reply 99

ladylish

kjc_us

If you have such issues with the IB, you should've gone to a school which offers A-levels.

I go to a school which does both. The way they sell the IB makes it seem much more attractive than A levels, particularly to someone like me who was academic but had no idea what they wanted to do for A levels apart from History. IB makes you do certain things, so it let me avoid choosing too soon.

However, knowing what I do now about what I'd want to do, then I'd opt to do a levels hands down, because friends who have dropped out of IB say it's much easier going.

First hand experience. Can't argue with that.