Can I take the IB and an A Level?

Hi guys, I really want to take History at IB but my school is not letting me and a few of my unis require it. Do you think I would be way in over my head if I took the IB and an A Level?

You should change the thread title to 'What quickest way to die on the inside (and possibly on the outside)?'

IB is highly highly demanding, and I assume it is the same for A-levels. I could barely make it alive doing it without A-levels.

I would ask your school, as the above poster said, but I highly do not advise it.

Hi,

Taking the IB and doing A Levels simultaneously is a death sentence haha. But it could be possible to do just one IB course alongside your A Levels -- check with your school to see whether they would accommodate this.

On the other hand, you could simply do the IB and study some of the subjects you planned to do at A Levels, plus history. Be warned that the IB is more difficult and more stressful than the A Levels, though -- and unis don't seem to care which you've done for admissions so long as you've met their prerequisites.

Any specific reason as to why you want to do IB History specifically though?

I would not recommend doing both, is there a different sixth form/college you could go to to take history? I'm a history undergrad and definitely recommend studying history at A-level (or as part of the IB) before doing it as a degree, not sure how I would have managed to jump up otherwise and it would help your application hugely for university.

Hey! Thanks for replying. There's only two schools on the island I live on that offer higher learning and they're both solely IB schools and the other one does not offer History because they use Comoja, that's why I was going to go forth with my IB and do only the A Level History on the side. My school isn't allowing me to take History at IB because not enough students choose that course, so I'm not really sure what to do rn.

Ah I see how frustrating. I don't know the IB system- is it possible to take the history part privately? Failing that you could absolutely do the degree without having done the a-level, if its the degree for you go for it!

Hey! Thank you so much for responding. My school only offers the IB because we're an international school plus our cohort is small. So I was thinking of doing the DP and the A Level History on the side with a tutor and then work through summer 2021 in hopes of sitting the exam in Nov 2021, so I'd still have a few months to solely focus on the DP. I was planning on doing the DP and then doing History in the Group 4 section but there's not enough people that picked History so my school isn't allowing us to take that course this year bc the class would be to small.

I want to take IB History because well my school only offers IB and I want to study History in Uni and some unis need it as a prereq.

That's so frustrating! With others' comments in mind, I can only suggest you do one of the following:

1) Seriously pester your school into teaching History despite the small class size.
I mean seriously do it. If you need to, get your parents involved etc etc. This is the best option imo, as all the other options I can suggest are less than ideal.

2) Second-best option is to simply not do History at the IB or A Levels and consider the uni options you have otherwise.
I'm currently studying the IB and I can't imagine having to do another completely separate subject (and come out alive!). The IB is tough and sufficiently challenging without doing an A Level qualification on the side.

3) Study IB Courses and A Level History alongside
Rather than completing the entire diploma, the IB also allows students to only do certain courses. This way you'll be able to drop one or two IB subjects and take up A Level History. Keep in mind that not completing the entire diploma is likely to reflect poorly on you as a uni applicant in the future and might make your application less competitive.

4) The least recommended option is to do both the entire IB diploma as well as A Level History. I would seriously advise against doing this, but if you have no other options and are desperate to study high school History, this might be an option.

Hope this helps.

Hi,

Taking the IB and doing A Levels simultaneously is a death sentence haha. But it could be possible to do just one IB course alongside your A Levels -- check with your school to see whether they would accommodate this.

On the other hand, you could simply do the IB and study some of the subjects you planned to do at A Levels, plus history. Be warned that the IB is more difficult and more stressful than the A Levels, though -- and unis don't seem to care which you've done for admissions so long as you've met their prerequisites.

Any specific reason as to why you want to do IB History specifically though?

Hi guys, I really want to take History at IB but my school is not letting me and a few of my unis require it. Do you think I would be way in over my head if I took the IB and an A Level?