IB or A-levels. Which is harder?

3

I do IB so I'm more convinced to think that IB is harder but obviously there are going to be varying opinions. It just seems that there are so many people out there with three perfect As and fewer IB students with 7s in their higher level subjects.

Reply 1

mysticalfluffy

20

depends what subjects and how many you study at a level...

Reply 2

sncars123

OP

3

Well, for Maths, chem and Physics

Reply 3

maxfire

14

From what I've heard, IB is much harder than A Levels. Don't quote me on that, though, I haven't had any experience with the IB.

Reply 4

HiBear

4

Please use the search engine there have been countless discussions on this, mostly ending with a heated argument rather than a discussion.

You will also see that everyone has different views and different programmes fit different people.

Reply 5

llacerta

19

There's only one way to find out...

FIGHT!

Reply 6

swirlypop

7

Yes, IB is much harder. In A-levels you study 3 subjects (or is it 4?) but in IB you have to study 6 subjects and each subject is hard as hell. The past papers nearly killed me. But apparently, IB is more international and more colleges approve and prefer of it

Reply 7

CocoPop

18

For maths, chem and physics:

IB is WAYYYYYY harder to get 7s in all 3 of those as opposed to getting top grades at A level. Around 4-8% of students get 7s in those subjects at IB, as opposed to 30% getting As at A level. Then you get doubly screwed over in university admissions if you are offered a place on the condition of achieving 7s in all of those subjects.

Reply 8

SuicidalLemming

16

As someone who's done both..definitely IB.

Reply 9

tiny hobbit

15

sncars123

Well, for Maths, chem and Physics

Many people who want to study these subjects would also want to study either Further Maths or Biology. Since it is not possible to do either 3 sciences or Further Maths and 2 sciences within the 6 subjects of IB, those people would choose to do A levels rather than IB.

Reply 10

Roundabout

11

The content of IB courses is not necessarily any harder than the content of A-levels, but the difficulty comes from A-level students being given a lot more teaching hours. I had 3 hours a week of Maths, and I did it at HL. I've heard that A-level students taking for instance A-level Maths + AS FM (roughly equivalent in content to IB HL Maths) had nearly 10 hours of Maths a week.

Reply 11

ByronicHero

20

neither.

Reply 12

Lrilol

1

I would say IB allows students to stretch further(7's) but as far as I know 7's generally aren't expected by uni's so that's pointless except for the most competitive of courses. from a small bit of research it seems for the equivalent of an A uni's accept a 6. Don't expect 100% accuracy but it seems roughly right for the few I checked.

Reply 13

SpiritedAway

17

I've never personally done IB, but I have heard that the IB is more demanding.

Reply 14

muhammadayubi

2

well

Reply 15

muhammadayubi

2

alevel is much harder

Reply 16

muhammadayubi

2

alevel subjects are in more depth well u cannot say IB is that easy but comparatively alevel is much harder u can compare any particular alevel subjects with IB subjects like alevel futher math or chemistry with ib math or chemistry. case is not that students give more subjects in IB if one is arguing that more giving more subjects make an examination board harder so u can also say that olevel or igcse are much more harder than alevel truly thats not a valid point which u all are making.alevel students give more time towards studies rather than IB students Conclusively alevel is very much harder tha IB

Reply 17

seaholme

19

Original post

by muhammadayubi

alevel subjects are in more depth well u cannot say IB is that easy but comparatively alevel is much harder u can compare any particular alevel subjects with IB subjects like alevel futher math or chemistry with ib math or chemistry. case is not that students give more subjects in IB if one is arguing that more giving more subjects make an examination board harder so u can also say that olevel or igcse are much more harder than alevel truly thats not a valid point which u all are making.alevel students give more time towards studies rather than IB students Conclusively alevel is very much harder tha IB

I don't think what you're saying is entirely correct. HL Maths has more advanced content than A Level Further Maths does. HL Chemistry has very similar content to A Level Chemistry, but the questions are more challenging because they are not given to you step by step, as they are in A Levels. The 'depth' of higher level subjects is generally equivalent to A levels - the depth of standard level subjects generally a little less.

Having gone to a school where it was IB and A Levels being run simultaneously I don't think there's anybody who didn't feel the IB was tougher. The workload is certainly much higher and also includes a whole extra-curricular workload with volunteering, the extended essay and so on. My friends who did A Levels had loads of free periods in a week to do their work in, whereas on the IB side we often had lessons during lunchtime in order to squeeze in 6 subjects worth of lessons plus TOK. They spent their weekends relaxing, whereas I spent my weekend folding smelly clothes in the charity shop for 'service' and then going running for 'action' and after school I had to do even more stuff for 'creativity' to get my hours. It was exhausting and quite miserable.

Reply 18

medreams

13

IB is way harder bc of all the extra s**t you have to do (EE <3). Wouldn't change it for A -levels tho

Reply 19

Tolgash

21

According to UCAS, a grade 7 in the IB is currently equivalent to an A* in A-level (they are both the same number of tariff points). I do believe, according to UCAS once again, that a top score of 45 points is equivalent to 5 A*s at A-level, and merely passing the diploma by meeting the threshold of 24 points is equivalent to 5 Ds at A-level (take this one with a pinch of salt though).

They both seem relatively similar in demand if we use the UCAS tariff points system as a metric.

IB or A-levels. Which is harder?

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