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Which program is better for self-study IB DP or A-levels with additional subjects?

Hi, I am currently preparing self-taught for my matura exams.

I finished some of the subjects this summer. Now I'm thinking about extending them with an international degree.

For the IB I would choose

1. english language SL
2. chinese ab initio or russian ab initio SL
3. geography SL
4. physics HL
5th/6th mathematics AA and mathematics AI, both HL
7. music HL

At A-Levels

English, mathematics, further mathematics, physics, biology, chemistry, geography, music and at most Chinese or Russian.

my aim is to study astronomy and astrophysics. with chinese or russian, i hope to increase my future opportunities.

What would you recommend?
Original post by Timshal
Hi, I am currently preparing self-taught for my matura exams.

I finished some of the subjects this summer. Now I'm thinking about extending them with an international degree.

For the IB I would choose

1. english language SL
2. chinese ab initio or russian ab initio SL
3. geography SL
4. physics HL
5th/6th mathematics AA and mathematics AI, both HL
7. music HL

At A-Levels

English, mathematics, further mathematics, physics, biology, chemistry, geography, music and at most Chinese or Russian.

my aim is to study astronomy and astrophysics. with chinese or russian, i hope to increase my future opportunities.

What would you recommend?

You can't self-study for the IBDP. You need to study it in an IB school, as there are a lot of requirements (teaching hours, supervision, CAS etc) that need to be fulfilled for your diploma to be awarded.
Reply 2
Original post by emilyalexandria
You can't self-study for the IBDP. You need to study it in an IB school, as there are a lot of requirements (teaching hours, supervision, CAS etc) that need to be fulfilled for your diploma to be awarded.

Thank you very much for your answer. We have different information. I read that you have to find a school that accepts you as a private candidate to write the exams. Then it should be possible to write without a course. I am not 18 anymore. Due to problems caused by autism, the classical way to study was not possible for me. In the last few years, I have learned that it is very easy to achieve autodidactically what others do at school. As already written, I would like to do either the A-levels or the IB DP as a supplement to the Swiss Matura examination. The Matura includes 12 subjects and a paper similar to the EE in the case of autodidactic preparation.
If you want to self study A levels then you should be considering 3 subjects maximum (or 4 including maths and FM) not 10.

Most international universities will accept the swiss matura though so I don’t know what you expect to gain from taking additional qualifications
(edited 7 months ago)
Original post by Timshal
Thank you very much for your answer. We have different information. I read that you have to find a school that accepts you as a private candidate to write the exams. Then it should be possible to write without a course. I am not 18 anymore. Due to problems caused by autism, the classical way to study was not possible for me. In the last few years, I have learned that it is very easy to achieve autodidactically what others do at school. As already written, I would like to do either the A-levels or the IB DP as a supplement to the Swiss Matura examination. The Matura includes 12 subjects and a paper similar to the EE in the case of autodidactic preparation.

That's true for A levels, and it's quite common for people to do, especially with the support of private tuition. The IBDP is a lot stricter in this regard, though.

Firstly, to receive the diploma, you need to have completed CAS. This requires a CAS supervisor to be monitoring you throughout the two years and signing off on your reflections. There is a similar requirement for IAs, as the teacher needs to supervise you through the process of coming up with your IA and writing it. You can't just submit a finished IA to a teacher at a school you don't attend for approval, as they can't guarantee its authenticity. You could've just paid someone else to do it. This restriction also applies to the EE and TOK. Finally, there are minimum teaching hours required for each subject. If you self-taught the entire diploma, you would have zero teaching hours and this would be invalid.

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