When choosing an international school, many parents often face such a problem, that is, the choice of curriculum. Among the parents who have come into contact with many inquiries, especially those who have transferred from public schools to international schools, they are often not so clear about the choice of courses.
So what courses should you choose for the first time in an international school? What kind of grades do I need to apply to the world's top universities?
Today, Xiaobangmei will take you to interpret A-level, one of the three major international curriculum systems, hoping to help parents.
What is Alevel?
A-levels are the equivalent of the UK high school curriculum, usually preceded by IGCSE courses, which are the lower secondary school curriculum. After completing the course, students can well connect to A levels, and even IB and AP courses. A-Level is 2 years, Year 12 is AS and Year 13 is A2. Suitable for students whose goal is to apply to top universities around the world.
A-Level is divided into two years: AS and A2, and the successful application is based on the estimated results of AS, and the A2 score determines whether you can actually enter the university of your choice.
However, most of the academic system is three-year, and the first year is called PRE, which is similar to the preparation for the next two years of A-level study.
A-Level courses are mostly offered in science courses in China, which are suitable for students who are good at science. At the same time, the type of A-level subjects is similar to that of Chinese subjects, and you are allowed to choose the subjects you are good at, but the difficulty of a single course is more difficult than that of an IB single course. Therefore, this curriculum system is more suitable for children in the Chinese system, and students will adapt faster.
Study planning
First-year PREP students
As mentioned earlier, PRE is similar to a preparatory course, so some people will wonder, since it is a preparatory course, is it not so important? The answer, of course, is no!
Language issues: Learning English well is not just about IELTS or TOEFL enough. If your first year is relatively stressful, it's a good time to learn the language, and once you've mastered English, the next two years of A-level courses will be much easier.
Professional courses: Although we may not have exam pressure in the first year, and the IGCSE exams are not as important as A-level, this does not mean that you can mix this year, if you learn well in the foundation courses in the first year, you will be more confident in the later A-level exams; Secondly, during the year of IGCSE course, you will also be exposed to different courses to help you better understand which subjects you are better at. Finally, to put it bluntly, you can't learn the IGCSE courses well, so why guarantee that the later courses can be learned well, the later courses will only become more and more difficult.
Preparing for the study abroad application: Many people think that I am only in my first year, and it is too early to apply.
In fact, whether it is an A-level score, IELTS or TOEFL score, no matter how high it is, it is only an intermediate process.
In addition to grades, universities also value many other aspects, such as the practice of related majors, sufficient social practice, volunteers who embody the spirit of social dedication, etc., which need to be prepared for a rainy day, and can also leave a strong mark on the study abroad paperwork.
Students in the second year of AS
Students who have officially entered the AS stage mean that this is a busy year, from the beginning of school in September to the global examination in May of the following year, except for the winter vacation or something, in fact, there is not much time for real study, especially for students who study 5 courses.
Some students will think that the A2 content is easier than the AS, and that many things complement each other, and if the AS is not learned well, the content will only be more difficult in the second year, and they will have to deal with re-exams. Is it guaranteed to be better in the second year? Many students are also unsure in their own hearts.
Students in their third year A2
At the beginning of this year, I was busy with various applications, busy preparing for the re-examination in October, and busy with A2 courses. The difficulty coefficient of A2 is much higher than that of AS, plus all kinds of tedious things in A2. Therefore, this year, it is necessary to make arrangements in time management to ensure that the application, re-examination, and study are correct.
Assessment method
In terms of assessment methods, A-level has different examination boards, which is equivalent to our different provinces in China that can make their own propositions, and each school chooses different examination boards according to its own situation. At present, the four examination authorities we have the most contact with are CAIE (Cambridge International Examinations), Oxford Cambridge and RSA Examinations (OCR), and Oxford AQA (Assessment and Qualifications Alliance) and edexcel
In China, there are two examination boards, Caie and Edexcel, of which Caie is recognized as the most difficult. Some schools even choose different examination boards for different subjects, but the results of each examination board are recognized.
Course content
Beijing has opened an A-level international school