Explaination about IB system

[anasraza]

Well i am an o-level student. I will be done with my levels in June but instead of going for A-levels i am considering IB diploma course as an alternative.

Guys i need advice on this and i would really appreciate if someone would be kind enough to explain the details of IB diploma course, as how many subject combinations? how does grading work? and some basic information which one should know about.

If anyone is from The International School in Karachi, please tell me how it really is.
Thanks guys:>

 

[dragonheartstring]

Hi! I'm doing IB currently right now so I can give you a brief explanation on how it works So it's basically a two year course and you have to do six subjects, which you're examined on at the end of the two years. They're basically split into six groups. Group 1 is your main A1 language (it's usually the language you do most of your subjects in). You can do two courses, either English Literature A1 or English Literature & Language. You take an exam at the end of the two years for your A1 Literature course but you also do a series of internal assessments throughout the two years which involve an IOC (Individual Oral Commentary), IOP (Individual Oral Presentation) and one or two World Literature essays. For the Language and Literature course, you also do an Oral Commentary and an IOP but you don't do WL essays; instead you do textual analysis and written tasks. Your Group 2 subject is then a language and the IB offers lots. For example, I'm doing Spanish Ab Initio. Your Group 3 subjects are then things like Business and Management, Economics, Geography, History, Psychology e.t.c. Group 4 is then the sciences and you can take either Chemistry, Biology, Physics or Environmental Systems & Societies. Group 5 is mathematics. For your Group 6 subject, you can either take another Group 3 or Group 4 subject or you can take something like Computer Science, Visual Arts, Music e.t.c.
You then have the option of taking your chosen subject as an SL or HL subject, with a maximum of 4 subjects at HL and a minimum of 3 at HL. Basically, with a HL subject you're taught about 240 hours and with an SL subject it's 150 (I think, not sure about the SL number of hours... but I think it's something around that). Usually you also get an extra examination paper to do if you take a subject at HL (for example, if you take a Group 4 subject at HL, you have an 'Options' paper to do which isn't available at SL). Some subjects are only available at SL (for example, any language ab initio course or Math Studies).
Besides the exams you do at the end of the two years, you do internal assessments which are internally moderated by your school (internal assessments are kind of like coursework) and then a sample is sent off to an IB moderator at the end of the two years to make sure that the grading isn't too lenient or too fair. For each of your subjects, you're scored on a scale of 1 to 7 and the maximum score you can attain at IB is a 45.
To get your IB diploma, you also have to complete the IB core requirements which means you have to take a course in Theory of Knowledge, write a 4000 word Extended Essay and complete CAS (Creativity, Action and Service). Theory of Knowledge is basically a supplement to the IB and it follows the IB aims in trying to get you to be an independent learner and think outside of the box; you also have to write a 1500 word essay which is externally marked. You also have to submit the Extended Essay which can be written in any of the subjects that are provided by the IB. Provided you get a score of A on both essays, you get 3 'bonus' points which are added to your IB score (that is, the maximum you could get without the bonus points would be 42/45). For CAS, you have to do a variety of activities and community service projects to complete 8 outcomes (i.e. Learning New Skills, Working Collaboratively With Others). You have to do the three components mentioned.


Sorry if this was too long and if I already said stuff you already know! If you'd like to know anything else, please don't hesitate to ask !

 

[anasraza]

Hi! I'm doing IB currently right now so I can give you a brief explanation on how it works So it's basically a two year course and you have to do six subjects, which you're examined on at the end of the two years. They're basically split into six groups. Group 1 is your main A1 language (it's usually the language you do most of your subjects in). You can do two courses, either English Literature A1 or English Literature & Language. You take an exam at the end of the two years for your A1 Literature course but you also do a series of internal assessments throughout the two years which involve an IOC (Individual Oral Commentary), IOP (Individual Oral Presentation) and one or two World Literature essays. For the Language and Literature course, you also do an Oral Commentary and an IOP but you don't do WL essays; instead you do textual analysis and written tasks. Your Group 2 subject is then a language and the IB offers lots. For example, I'm doing Spanish Ab Initio. Your Group 3 subjects are then things like Business and Management, Economics, Geography, History, Psychology e.t.c. Group 4 is then the sciences and you can take either Chemistry, Biology, Physics or Environmental Systems & Societies. Group 5 is mathematics. For your Group 6 subject, you can either take another Group 3 or Group 4 subject or you can take something like Computer Science, Visual Arts, Music e.t.c.
You then have the option of taking your chosen subject as an SL or HL subject, with a maximum of 4 subjects at HL and a minimum of 3 at HL. Basically, with a HL subject you're taught about 240 hours and with an SL subject it's 150 (I think, not sure about the SL number of hours... but I think it's something around that). Usually you also get an extra examination paper to do if you take a subject at HL (for example, if you take a Group 4 subject at HL, you have an 'Options' paper to do which isn't available at SL). Some subjects are only available at SL (for example, any language ab initio course or Math Studies).
Besides the exams you do at the end of the two years, you do internal assessments which are internally moderated by your school (internal assessments are kind of like coursework) and then a sample is sent off to an IB moderator at the end of the two years to make sure that the grading isn't too lenient or too fair. For each of your subjects, you're scored on a scale of 1 to 7 and the maximum score you can attain at IB is a 45.
To get your IB diploma, you also have to complete the IB core requirements which means you have to take a course in Theory of Knowledge, write a 4000 word Extended Essay and complete CAS (Creativity, Action and Service). Theory of Knowledge is basically a supplement to the IB and it follows the IB aims in trying to get you to be an independent learner and think outside of the box; you also have to write a 1500 word essay which is externally marked. You also have to submit the Extended Essay which can be written in any of the subjects that are provided by the IB. Provided you get a score of A on both essays, you get 3 'bonus' points which are added to your IB score (that is, the maximum you could get without the bonus points would be 42/45). For CAS, you have to do a variety of activities and community service projects to complete 8 outcomes (i.e. Learning New Skills, Working Collaboratively With Others). You have to do the three components mentioned.


Sorry if this was too long and if I already said stuff you already know! If you'd like to know anything else, please don't hesitate to ask !

Thank you this was helpful but I have one other query because i have know this one guy who was saying that his course teacher had not prepared him well enough for the externals despite giving him him excellent grades during the term, when he sat for his externals he messed up. So how far is this true? and which school are u in, country?