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bradfield for sixth form?

my school offers a sixth form and i'm 95% sure that i want to stay at my current school. However I really want to go to medschool and i heard that IB is better for medicine (idk how tru that is that is just what my mom has said). My school doesn't offer IB but i know Bradfield College does. they also offer RS which i really like. Bascially if anyone has any advice about sixth form, IB vs. A level, or if anyone has been to or knows anyone that went to Bradfield College than some advice would be apprevicates

thanks xx

Reply 1

yellowdrummer123

Original post by twopoundcoin

hey, I just finished my IBDP exams and I would say that IB is definitely more work than A-levels, even if you are comparing it with 4 A-levels. I'm not doing medicine but have a few med friends who might recommend not doing it with the IB because of the entrance tests etc but obviously people had different opinions and I'm sure entrance tests are still stressful taking A-levels. I don't think you will have any advantage in getting into med school more easily with the IB (assuming you are talking about the UK) so I would base you decision on your own strengths and which programme you think would suit you best.

In the IB you do 6 subjects (as I'm sure you know) and a few are compulsory (one English course, one maths course etc) so you automatically end up with a wider breadth of knowledge than taking 3/4 A-levels which is what initially drew me to the programme. Also, you do not really lose much depth in the subjects that you like as your 3 Higher Level subjects are really not dramatically less than the equivalent A-level. Another key difference is that every single one of your subjects will have some sort of internally assessed component (so coursework) which is either a pro or a con depending on how you look at it. It can be quite stressful when you end up with a tonne of deadlines at once but some time management should get you through. The IBDP also requires you to do an Extended Essay (basically an EPQ) and take Theory of Knowledge (imo this is bs and it's not that hard). You also have to pass CAS but that's easy.

Seeing as you are also thinking of moving schools for the IB which I did, I would say you need to be ready for a dramatic leap in the difficulty of your lessons from year 11 to 12 and maybe consider whether you can manage everything along with new social life etc. For me it was definitely hard at first, but it was the right choice and I am glad I stuck with it and have no regrets now (although we haven't got results yet!!).

I hope this helped in some way, feel free to reach out if you have any more questions :smile: