Everything you need to know about IB!

Maddy
Mar 15, 2020
5 min read

Updated: Apr 12, 2020

There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.

– Beverly Sills

Introduction

Hi guys, welcome to study vibes.

So far, we talked about The British education system and briefly looked at A level course structure.

It is worth mentioning that, A level is not the only qualification that is accepted by universities in the UK. You can undertake, IB, foundation programmes or even a diploma from your country and still get to your dream university.

I studied A level. So, as I may not be the best person to tell you about IB programme, I decided to asked my cutest friend ‘’Damilola’’ to tell us more about it. She passed her exams with amazing grades and she is currently studying Medicine at Aston Birmingham University.

So let’s dive in.

What is IB?

The International Baccalaureate is an internationally recognised qualification. The diploma programme is for students aged 16-19 years old; this is what I will be explaining. You can choose to do 6 subjects in total. However, theory of knowledge (TOK), the extended essay (EE) and creativity, activity and service (CAS) has to be done by all students.

So you have to do 6 subjects and 3 compulsory sections.

Subjects

There are six subject groups which include:

· Studies in language and literature - this consists of literature, language and literature or literature and performance.

Those that choose this can pick from various languages to study usually what you are fluent in, for example I did English literature.

However, the only language and literature that are available are : English, Spanish and French.

· Language acquisition – this consists of various languages from either modern languages or classical languages (just Latin or Greek).

You may not be necessarily fluent in these, and there are 3 tiers to choose from, ab intio - beginner level, standard level or higher level.

As I wanted to learn French,I did French ab initio.

· Individuals and societies – this consist of geography, psychology, business an many other courses.

This is for people that are interested in the subject and it is offered at 2 levels: either higher or standard.

For example, I did higher level psychology as I have always been interested in it.

· Sciences – this consist of biology, chemistry and physics or computer science.

This is also for people to pick what part of the sciences they are interested in and it is available at 2 levels: either higher or standard.

I am very interested in science, so I chose to do both higher-level biology and chemistry.

· Mathematics – this consist of mathematics: analysis and approaches or mathematics applications and interpretation.

This is also available in 2 levels: either higher or standard. This is new within the IB so when I did IB in 2019, I chose standard level maths. However, I am not very clear about the distinction between the new maths courses, so don’t forget to ask your school about it and research it on the IB website ( https://www.ibo.org ) As it is compulsory to do maths, I suggest that you should be clear about what you are choosing to do.

· The arts – this consist of subjects such as visual arts, theatre, film and a few more topics.

If you are interested in the arts, you should choose one to do. I was more interested in science, so I choose two science related subjects instead of choosing an art one to do.

You need to pick one subject from each group however, you are allowed to pick two sciences, individuals and societies or language courses which would mean you do not have to do a subject from the arts group.

For the compulsory sections:

Tok ( theory of knowledge ): you have to do a presentation and a 1,600-word essay based on specific essay titles sent out by the IB globally. This topic is about bringing together the various topics and learning about the way to acquire knowledge in those topics. It is very interesting, and it reminded a bit of philosophy, which I thought was very interesting. The presentation and essay are chosen entirely by you and what you are interested in. The essay and presentation are marked by IB examiners.

The EE ( the extended essay ): this is a 4,000-word essay that is done entirely by you. You choose whatever topic you are interested in, do the research and then you write about the various aspects of that topic. It is an opportunity to really explore an area of interest from any of the six subjects you do. The sciences are deemed to be a little bit harder as actual investigations (i.e. research) have to be taken out.

I am very interested in the psychology, so I chose to do an essay on Schizophrenia and the various theories out therefore why it occurs. This is marked from A-E by an IB examiner.

Lastly, the CAS ( creativity, activity and service ): Over the 2 years of IB you have to accumulate around 150 hours of CAS ensuring that you do around equal amounts of hours in all 3 sections. This means, 50 hours or creativity (dancing, sewing or maybe knitting), action (a sport) and service (like volunteering, helping out at food banks, helping out at school). Then you need to do a bigger project that could showcase just creative, action or service or it may be for all 3 of the sections. For example, I did my project on creativity and my development in the arts, it was based on my role in the school show we did that year. This section is not really marked it is either a pass or fail but it has to completed to receive the IB diploma. This part is checked by your internal IB coordinator.

TOK and EE come together to provide a total of 3 points to your total IB score:

Assessment

Okay, now let’s talk about how it is all assessed. Most subjects have an internal assessment and an external assessment. For the internal assessments it varies across the different blocks, for example, in English I had to write an essay about a specific book but for biology I had to carry out an experiment and write a paper on it. The weighting of this changes. The specific weightings can be found out from your schools but when I did the IB internal assessment for biology contributed as 20% and the external examination was 80%. I do not know if this has changed so be sure to ask about the weightings of the exams when you are applying. You get a number form 7-1, with 7 being the best. You can fail the IB in various ways, by failing any of the core subjects (I.e. CAS, TOK and EE). Or by receiving less than 12 points from your higher-level subjects altogether or less than 9 in the standard level subjects altogether.

Somethings I didn’t know about the IB

· You can do 4 higher level subjects instead of 3 but you have to get a minimum of 16 to pass the IB.

· You can also request for your examination papers to come in English, French or Spanish.

· Universities respect the hard work of the IB.

· It prepares you a lot for university due to the amount of work that has to be done. Especially because it has to be done independently. Also because of things like the EE and TOK that actively make us think critically about all pieces of information which prepare us for the way work is done in University.

Conclusion

To round it all up, I thoroughly enjoyed doing the IB it provided me with exactly what I was looking for, the ability to explore various subjects I have always been interested in. I did not want to do the traditional British route of 3 subjects as I knew I was definitely interested in more, so this offered me the perfect platform to do it all.