International Baccalaureate

The International Baccalaureate is available in the United Kingdom

A number of private schools in the UK offer the International Baccalaureate, and are in the forefront of schools offering the IB as the curriculum of choice.

The IB is an international qualification taught at 2853 schools in 138 countries under the supervision of The International Baccalaureate Organisation.  In 2010 there are more than 789,000 IB students around the world.

The IB is divided into three programmes covering the following age ranges:

  1. Primary Years Programme (PYP) ages 3-12
  2. Middle Years Programme (MYP) ages 11-16
  3. Diploma Programme (DP) ages 16-18

The DP lasts 2 years and is a broad and balanced curriculum; all students study languages, a social science, an experimental science, mathematics and an arts subject. There is an element of choice, but essentially the IB is a broad-based qualification demonstrating the all-round academic ability of its graduates. It is important to mention that students aiming for a very specific degree and career (e.g. medicine) may be better advised to concentrate on specific A-levels designed to qualify them for that degree course’s entry into a specific university. However, the great advantage of the IB is that it is an international qualification recognised in many countries and indeed IB schools frequently liaise with other international schools. IB student numbers have increased by between 10% and 20% each year for the past ten years.

The six IB subject groups are:

  • Language A1 (studying literature in the student's first language)
  • Second language (three levels of second language study are available)
  • Individuals and societies (including business, economics, geography, history, IT, philosophy, psychology, social and cultural anthropology)
  • Experimental sciences (including biology, chemistry, physics and design technology)
  • Mathematics and computer science
  • The arts (including film, music, theatre, visual arts) - students may decide to include an additional subject from Groups 1 to 5 instead of one from the arts group

Full information may be obtained from the International Baccalaureate Organisation.