International Baccalaureate
The Abbey School shares a common philosophy with the other IB World Schools: We are committed to providing the girls on our Diploma Programme a high quality, challenging, international education. The Abbey has offered the Diploma Programme for half a decade, in which time we have consistently produced world class results. In summer 2012 our average points score of 38 points was equivalent to a conditional offer from the University of Oxford, and all the girls taking the IB Diploma Programme secured their first choice university places.
The IB Diploma Programme is a holistic two year course aimed at Sixth Form students. It leads to a qualification that is widely recognised and highly respected by universities and employers both in the UK and overseas. Universities list the IB entry requirements alongside those for A Levels - for an example, please click here. The Diploma Programme prepares Sixth Formers magnificently for further study at university, giving them an awareness of other languages and cultures which is invaluable in the emerging ‘global village’.
The core part of the IB is made up of three parts which are taken by all students. They study Theory Of Knowledge (TOK). a 'golden thread' running through the whole Diploma Programme. They will also complete a 4000 word Extended Essay (EE) on a subject of their choice and partake in a wide range of activities as part of Creativity, Action and Service (CAS).
In addition to the Core, students choose six subjects from different curriculum areas (Groups 1 to 6) which can be studied at Standard or Higher Level for the duration of the course. The hexagon at the top of the page shows the outline of the programme and the table below shows the comprehensive range of subjects currently offered at The Abbey. We hope to offer additional subjects in future years. Students take three subjects at Higher Level and three at Standard Level.
Curriculum Area |
Subjects offered (click on individual subject for more detail) |
| GROUP 1 – Language A1 | English |
| GROUP 2 – Second language | French, German, Spanish, Latin or Italian ab initio (SL only) |
| GROUP 3 – Individuals and societies | History, Geography, Global Politics, Psychology, Business & Management or Economics |
| GROUP 4 – Experimental sciences | Biology, Chemistry or Physics |
| GROUP 5 – Mathematics | Mathematics |
| GROUP 6 – The Arts and Electives | Visual Arts, Music, Theatre or a second subject from groups 2, 3 or 4 |
| THE CORE - EE, CAS and TOK | Extended Essay, Creativity Action Service and Theory Of Knowledge |
Subject only to occasional timetable and staffing limitations, we guarantee that all combinations of IB subjects or levels will be available to all IB students. Working with students and their parents we do our utmost to achieve the best combination for each student, bearing in mind their planned career/study path.
All our specialist teaching staff involved in delivering the Diploma Programme have completed a thorough training course and attend regular local workshops. Assessment of students is through a mixture of coursework and examination - final examinations take place in May of the second year of the programme. Results are published in July.
A link to a recent Daily Telegraph article: International Baccalaureate: Is it any good?
