Yes..Nothing wrong with I.B system except the cost. In real terms we are talking about UK private school tuition expense.. Out of my league to be honest at the present time. My eldest (23) graduated as a Chemical engineer last year in Sheffield.. My second eldest wants to do something similar and has decided to attempt the same route as his brother.. He will have the opportunity to do just that but much depends on his IGCSE results and believe me he is aware of that!!..One step at a time.
There are quite a few schools (like brent and Cebu international,British school in Manila) that are I.B accredited. Best to check the IB websites for a full list of accredited schools in the R.P. http://www.ibo.org/country/PH/ From what I have read,your child will need to be very adaptable academically and the courses are rather challenging.. I cannot see any advantage over A levels if the kid will end up applying to a British UNI.. Actually in some cases it may be a disadvantage. These views of mine are from tons of research via Google..Nothing more.
Totally right, I'm not sure whether I'd recommend someone into our game or not, you have to love the sea to do what we do....
IB would be a more valuable qualification as it would enable your youngster to apply to just about any university in the world - except here! British Universities are pressing the government to either make A levels more advanced or drop them in favour of IB. I am in the process of putting together a proposal for an assisted home study scheme to be run by one of Britain's top Public Schools. This would be geared to 8 year olds and above and would take them through IGCSE and A Level/IB (but provide the flexibility for students to join at 13/14 and 16).
I recommend you both Google "Bromsgrove School in Thailand"; I think you'll be quite pleasantly surprised. It is a British run boarding school supervised by the Headmaster and Governors of the sister school in Worcestershire and the curriculum is, of course, British.
Great idea!! A bit late for me but I for one would endorse such an excellent scheme for local expats worried about their kids here.. If you can get it right I think you are on to a straight winner. We have an excellent teacher on this very site that IMO would be extremely valuable to such a project.. I believe his name here is..."The teach".
Yes. I am closely wired in to the education game and this is because once at university in certain subjects, students need to have reached a certain minimum standard to be able to hit the ground running at university. An IB can lead to dilution in some subjects meaning that the student would have ground to make up at university which is impracticable. It is much more difficult to specialise with IB. IB suits well rounded students. A levels suit students that have a specialisation, say in either arts or sciences. There's little substitute for 3 Good A Levels in Maths, Physics and Chemistry for a science subject at a British university.
That certainly used to be the case but the problem with such specialties is that all too often students don't have sufficient grounding in other subjects - and English Language especially. At Bristol, for example, they are forced into providing remedial classes in those subjects. In the case of English Language, as a seperate subject, well it is no longer taught in secondary schools - as my then 13 year old native Russian step-daughter discovered a few years ago. She is now 23, has a PPE degree but her written English is frankly pretty poor and that has cost her jobs in the Civil Service. I am all in favour of IB, it is a much better system with mandatory core subjects to which elective subjects are added. A science-minded student can add further science modules, an arts student can add arts type subjects and so on. It is not a one size fits all programme by any means.
Mark.. Not yet had a chance to look at the Thailand IB site yet but to be honest I have to say..Number one factor is..We dont live in Thailand,so the problems with logistics and of course expenses and my wife complaining that she can not be close nor mentor her son correctly...has its disadvantages. The boy has already studied away from us there in Manila before and suffered to be honest..During his school holidays here in Bohol,his revision has come on ten fold.. Parental council during these times are,I'm convinced are cruciaL.
I understand the point about English Language but if you have a clutch of GCSEs that include English Literature and English Language and a few art subjects to add to the science subjects and you are a native English speaker then job done. At A level it is time to go into depth in the Sciences and Maths if you want to follow a degree in the Sciences and Maths based subjects. As that's where the degree takes you - more specialisation. Plus at University you polish off your language skills socialising.
I don't have any connections in the oil industry relating to Chemical Engineering but a good degree to have for the industry. And Sheffield are a good University. What did he come out with, a Geoff Hurst, an Attila or a Desmond?
Amongst all the doom and gloom ( you would think that the UK economy has collapsed): Latest news: The number of people out of work rose by 15,000 to 2.52 million in the three months to March, according to the Office for National Statistics. The unemployment rate of the economically active population is now at 7.8%. The number of people in work fell by 43,000 to 29.7 million. The claimant count - the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance - fell by 7,300 to 1.52 million in April. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10604117 Thats still a pretty good stat.
Despite all the doom and gloom: "The economy of the United Kingdom is the sixth-largest national economy in the world measured by nominal GDP and eighth-largest measured by purchasing power parity (PPP), and the third-largest in Europe measured by nominal GDP and the second-largest in Europe measured by PPP." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_the_United_Kingdom
If we are talking about A levels as they were up until the mid-seventies, then I and many University Chancellors would agree. Universities are now prefering IB candidates. However you are missing one rather important point. IB gives students a far wider choice of universities than A levels which are only of value in the UK. If I have any say - and means - my children will go the IB route in 16 years' time.
I havent missed that point. I have merely stated that the UK gives as good an education as anywhere in the world and therefore if we are British then why not educate our offspring in Britain. That is my point. 19 Universities in the top 100. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/educatio...54/Top-UK-universities-in-world-rankings.html 4 in the top 6: http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2012 Whats the point of sending your child to the University of Timbuktoo? And what better place to send your child to study English? I work with British graduates and also foreign graduates educated here and elswhere. As a rule they beat the pants off there colleagues.
So you're saying that British students should only go to British universities. What a narrow viewpoint - are you sure you're not a closet Daily Mail reader, John? Britain certainly has some fine universities, I am not disputing that, but why should't a student with an interest in (say) aviation engineering take his degree at MIT if he chooses - or an artist at Florence or a languages student at the Sorbonne? IB gives them those opportunities, A levels alone do not.
Never read the Mail. LOL And I make a point of avoiding it, normally. I take that as an insult. I agree there is a good call for British students to go to foreign universities, but only certain ones, I would say. But as a rule, why go to a foreign university when there are great ones in the UK? Yes, it will depend on subject matter of course. I wouldn't suggest someone who wants to study Van Gogh in particular or The Impressionists go to a British University, first and foremost. LOL ideally they would study in the respective countries. Of course there are always exceptions to the rule. Obviously MIT is an exception as it is top of the pile, but not everyone can go there from around the globe as it has only a certain number of paces available each year. I have personally taught mixed nationality post graduate classes and there are issues with language. If a student doesn't have a full grasp of the language he or she is being taught in then they get left behind - another reason for a British student attending a British university, if not American. Any children from a Phil / Brit "partnership" would tend to struggle a bit in a country where a third language was the medium of instruction. (unless of course they were also learning that language). My daughter took a degree in Russian BTW and spent 3 years at Leeds University and one solid year in Moscow State University. No doubt 4 years in Russia would have been better. Though how about this: Studying in the big sandpit! http://www.hw.ac.uk/dubai.htm
I know a Filipina who took English at Dilman (she could have studied anywhere really, her father was at Harvard and they have the money) she knows the difference between its and it's but she doved instead of dived. I believe she wants to come to Britain to study English further.
Its not the economy so much that bothers me in the UK right now.. Its the enormous debt liabilities that irk me.. Government figures in regards the UK`s national debt do not usually include its future pension liabilities!! What?? According to the Office for National Statistics Uk`s debt was £1.084 trillion in 2012. Add future public sector pension liabilities..Another 1.2 Trillion!! (Currently unfunded) State pension liabilities, 3.84 trillion. Oops!! Can the UK Afford to Pay for Pensions? 50 expert economists give their view http://www.if.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Can-the-UK-Afford-to-Pay-Pensions.pdf
