The Student Room Group

Why IB Students get such high offers

Scroll to see replies

Original post by ILovePancakes
This isn't true.

At all.

IB HLs go into more depth than A Level. Not only do we go into more depth in class, but we also have to read massively around our subjects. I mean, ffs, in English we study FIFTEEN texts word for word, consider contextually etc. In A-Level you do four I believe. In history I have to know pretty much everything that happened in the world during the 20th Century. Not modular things like A-Level. We do literature in French as well as speaking, listening and reading papers. I do SL geography and my teacher said that she thinks the IB course goes into more depth than A Level. I can't really talk for sciences, as I'm humanities.

As well as this, we have to do CAS, TOK and the EE. Offers are basically "hai, pls get A*A*AAA and do 150 hours of extracurriculars and two extra essays thnx" (this is Cambridge - offer of 41 points with 776 at HL, but A*AA for same course).


What you have written is not based on fact, but on your personal belief. IB Hl's do not go into more depth, they are 80% - 90% of an A level (depending on which exam board).
An A* in A level is worth 140 points, whereas a 7 is 130. A score of 6 is a low A/ high B, and a 4 is an E at A level.
A 7 in an SL is the same as a C at A level (but SL's are harder than AS levels).
In English A level students study at least 12.
IB history has more breath, but far less depth.
IB Geography is about 80 - 90% of A level Geography, and doesn't include the harder skills that A level does at the end of A2.

HL maths is harder than A level maths. that's about it.
Original post by Paralove
The extended essay prepares you for the longer dissertations you may do at university. The heavier workload helps with time management which is essential in life regardless. There are also a lot of opportunities offered through IB that aren't for those doing A-Levels, at least at my sixth form, hence making it more enticing. My friend said she loved it and is glad she did that rather than A-Levels, she just wished she had been at a different school to do it.

A lot of people don't necessarily want to limit the subjects they take. I didn't do IB, if you had read my post correctly, and I'm glad I didn't. But I guarantee that the average IB student would do a lot better in A-Levels than your average A-Level student would in the IB.

Also, as mentioned above, I agree that they get higher offers due to a lack of evidence of any academic ability or progress between GCSE and applying to university, but sometimes the greater difficulty does need a bit more consideration.


Extended essay is not unique to IB. A level students can do EPQ - which is the same.
IB doesn't keep your option open though. You have 3 subjects that are almost, but not quite as indepth as A level, and then 3 subjects which you gain superficial knowledge in, which no University thinks is acceptable for entry to a course. Try and apply for a Chemistry degree with SL chemistry for example.
Original post by cheeriosarenice
Extended essay is not unique to IB. A level students can do EPQ - which is the same.
IB doesn't keep your option open though. You have 3 subjects that are almost, but not quite as indepth as A level, and then 3 subjects which you gain superficial knowledge in, which no University thinks is acceptable for entry to a course. Try and apply for a Chemistry degree with SL chemistry for example.


Yet it is compulsory so you do get that little bit of extra preparation in doing IB whereas EPQ is optional for A-Level students.

I would say the SL is equivalent if not just a little bit harder than AS, having looked at and trying to help my IB friend over the past two years, so I'm fairly familiar with the content for some of the subjects. Yet it is studied over two years rather than the one for AS.

Obviously the SL subjects aren't in depth enough for entry but then choosing your HL subjects is the same as choosing A-Levels - you pick the ones that are going to get you onto the course. Nor will having only AS Chemistry get you onto a Chemistry degree. I don't quite get the point you're trying to make with that really.
Original post by Paralove
Yet it is compulsory so you do get that little bit of extra preparation in doing IB whereas EPQ is optional for A-Level students.

I would say the SL is equivalent if not just a little bit harder than AS, having looked at and trying to help my IB friend over the past two years, so I'm fairly familiar with the content for some of the subjects. Yet it is studied over two years rather than the one for AS.

Obviously the SL subjects aren't in depth enough for entry but then choosing your HL subjects is the same as choosing A-Levels - you pick the ones that are going to get you onto the course. Nor will having only AS Chemistry get you onto a Chemistry degree. I don't quite get the point you're trying to make with that really.



IB is also advertised by people saying "It keeps my options open". No it doesn't, I thought my point was fairly obvious.
bump
I am currently doing A levels and my twin sister is doing IB at the school I went to for my IGCSEs, so a lot of my friends are also doing IB.

My sister gets more work than me. There is no question about it. The amount of coursework she has to do for the IB is immense. But is it harder? I'm not so sure.

I'd say there's definitely more work, but this doesn't mean its harder. (Though maths HL is DEFINITELY harder than A level maths.)

I also think my sister will be more prepared for uni than me. She's learnt how to reference properly, come up with her own scientific experiments and carry them out, write a super long paper... (speaking of which, the EPQ is definitely not equivalent to the EE). You only need to read the IB learner's profile (BS as students might say it is) to realise that the IB has a completely different approach to education than A levels.

As for the "different" standards in offers from unis, I don't know much about this, but what I do know is that Cambridge collects a lot of data and compares IB / A level grades to succes in the uni course, and makes their offers accordingly. This seems pretty fair to me.
Reply 46
Original post by alwaysalex
I am currently doing A levels and my twin sister is doing IB at the school I went to for my IGCSEs, so a lot of my friends are also doing IB.

My sister gets more work than me. There is no question about it. The amount of coursework she has to do for the IB is immense. But is it harder? I'm not so sure.

I'd say there's definitely more work, but this doesn't mean its harder. (Though maths HL is DEFINITELY harder than A level maths.)

I also think my sister will be more prepared for uni than me. She's learnt how to reference properly, come up with her own scientific experiments and carry them out, write a super long paper... (speaking of which, the EPQ is definitely not equivalent to the EE). You only need to read the IB learner's profile (BS as students might say it is) to realise that the IB has a completely different approach to education than A levels.

As for the "different" standards in offers from unis, I don't know much about this, but what I do know is that Cambridge collects a lot of data and compares IB / A level grades to succes in the uni course, and makes their offers accordingly. This seems pretty fair to me.


Maths HL may be harder than A-Level maths but if someone wants to go and study something like mathematics/physics they're better off doing A-Levels (with Maths & Further Maths) than they are doing IB.
Original post by Noble.
Maths HL may be harder than A-Level maths but if someone wants to go and study something like mathematics/physics they're better off doing A-Levels (with Maths & Further Maths) than they are doing IB.


Maybe that's why the maths HL course is so difficult, because IB students dont have to option of taking "extra" maths like A level students do.
Reply 48
Original post by alwaysalex
Maybe that's why the maths HL course is so difficult, because IB students dont have to option of taking "extra" maths like A level students do.


What do you think is so difficult about HL maths?
Original post by Noble.
Maths HL may be harder than A-Level maths but if someone wants to go and study something like mathematics/physics they're better off doing A-Levels (with Maths & Further Maths) than they are doing IB.



You can do HL further maths now, which is harder than A2 Further Maths
Reply 50
Original post by Calllu-m
You can do HL further maths now, which is harder than A2 Further Maths


How long has that been available for?
Original post by Noble.
How long has that been available for?


It's been available since 2012 I think, I know people got results in HL further maths this year.
Original post by Noble.
What do you think is so difficult about HL maths?


From what I've heard from friends taking IB maths HL (I myself do A levels) it requires an insane amount of work, and covers a lot more than we do. An example is that they learn a lot of proofs, which we don't have to. My sister takes Maths SL and it seems like we cover about the same level / amount of material.

Also, I have quite a few friends who got A* in Maths at GCSE but are now only predicted 4s in IB. The two people in my A level maths class who got A*s are both on track to get A*s at A level.
Reply 53
Original post by alwaysalex
From what I've heard from friends taking IB maths HL (I myself do A levels) it requires an insane amount of work, and covers a lot more than we do. An example is that they learn a lot of proofs, which we don't have to. My sister takes Maths SL and it seems like we cover about the same level / amount of material.

Also, I have quite a few friends who got A* in Maths at GCSE but are now only predicted 4s in IB. The two people in my A level maths class who got A*s are both on track to get A*s at A level.


I took Maths HL and I have to say that it wasn't fun. The careers office even advised me to just take Maths SL and then A level Maths outside of school because my maths ability apparently "wasn't good enough" :frown:
Original post by cheeriosarenice
IB is also advertised by people saying "It keeps my options open". No it doesn't, I thought my point was fairly obvious.


Kept my options open, if I had done A levels I wouldn't have done French and wouldn't have met the language requirement for my course when I decided to change last minute from law to IR and Arabic
Original post by j132
I took Maths HL and I have to say that it wasn't fun. The careers office even advised me to just take Maths SL and then A level Maths outside of school because my maths ability apparently "wasn't good enough" :frown:


Ouch! I know lots of people who started in HL and dropped to SL.
Original post by Calllu-m
Kept my options open, if I had done A levels I wouldn't have done French and wouldn't have met the language requirement for my course when I decided to change last minute from law to IR and Arabic


I think what the poster meant was that if you take A levels, you can start with 4 AS and have a year to decide which to take to A2, but with IB you have to decide at the beginning what your HLs will be.
Reply 57
Original post by alwaysalex
Ouch! I know lots of people who started in HL and dropped to SL.


Aw it's alright. Managed to get a 7 in the end :smile: I had to take HL for uni requirements.
Original post by j132
Aw it's alright. Managed to get a 7 in the end :smile: I had to take HL for uni requirements.


:eek: well done! What course was it for? One of the reasons I decided to do A levels rather than IB was because I would need HL maths to apply to Cambridge and I wasn't that keen on attempting it.
Original post by j132
I took Maths HL and I have to say that it wasn't fun. The careers office even advised me to just take Maths SL and then A level Maths outside of school because my maths ability apparently "wasn't good enough" :frown:


Do unis respect that though?

Quick Reply