I'm doing the IB and its truly challenging. Despite getting 10 A*s at GCSE, i'm struggling with the IB. Due to its undeniable difficulty for anybody who is actually doing it, i feel that it deserves all the credit it gets. It takes up our lives, all A level friends are partying when im working!

James, Wimbledon, UK

i am currently doing 4 a-level subjects at a school that offers both IB and A-level. including theory of knowledge and CAS, i have only 40 minutes less lessons then my IB counterparts every week. now, when you take away community service and theory of knowledge, i have as much lesson time for 4 subjects as they do for 6. i therefore think that to discriminate against the A-level students is wrong. with more time in each subject, we will study them all in more depth, and will therefore be better prepared for studying them at a higher level. IB and a-level have a very similar difficulty level, but at A-level you will be more prepared int he subject you wish to study. especially wityh many schools not offerign IB, it is wrong and unfair to treat one qualification over the other.

adam bloom, wye,

My son has just completed the IB and having applied for university I agree totally with Marianne Hippman of London. One point not mentioned so far if that all 6 subjects have to be passed. There is no failing one and getting the others. It's all or nothing which is an additional pressure. I personally felt the CAS element (service, arts and sporting activities) was a very valuable part of the course - however, although obligatory - totally unrewarded pointswise.

Hilary Fenwick, Nicosia, Cyprus

I'm an IB student and I would like to second the comments made by Roy. Currently many universities, and especially Oxford and Cambridge, are taking absolutely no notice of this new tarriff. I have been asked to get a score of 41 points including two 7s and a 6 at higher level by Oxford. If this is compared with UCAS's estimation that a score of 28 points is equivalent to 3 As at A-Level, it is clear that as an IB student I have lost out here rather than gained an advantage. Nevertheless, having finished the course just a week ago, upon reflection I am 100% convinced that it is an excellent programme that has given me and my fellow IBers an overall advantage over A-Level students in terms of the type of education that we have received.

Charlotte, London,

i am currently an alevel student doing 4 subjects....i dont think it is right to grade a course at how hard it is..so i think alevel is still extremely valuable..what is the point of doing 6 subjects when you will only specialize in about 3 in the end.Alot of student getting A grades at alevels dosen`t mean the exams are easy,it means they picked subjects which they are good at.This subject they are usually guided to pick looking at the relevance to what they wantt to study at university level.Whether an IB student writes 4000 essays or not it is not the relevance to the university course..there is no point in wanting alevel students to do worse.

itoro etuk, cambridge,

I study the IB, and after having to cope with the workload from 6 subjects, i couldn't imagine how much easier doing three A levels would be, when you consider that our 3 higher level subjects involve more work than 3 A levels, (for example my HL lecturers would say a 7 is worth say an A* at a level). The UCAS tariff states that 28 IB points is roughly the same as 3 A levels at an A grade, i think that this is perfectly reasonable, because unversities tend to specify what HL grades they require, so with 666 - 777 at higher level, surely anything else is a bonus on top of a levels.

Dan Williams, Swansea, Wales

I am currently doing the IB and I have friends who are doing A-Levels- I have seen work they are given which could be perceived as hard, but I can adamantly say that the IB course is much tougher and more time consuming. For one, IB students are expected to work full time on 6 main subjects, as well as take one extra class (TOK) in which we are given just as many essays and presentations as a regular class. On top of this, we are expected to do 150 hours of community service, action and skill, as well as a 4,000 word essay. Top unis like oxford or cambridge expect 38-40 points, as well as higher level subject scores of 6s and 7s, while they'll take A level students with 3 As, which is not even 38 IB points. IB students should be complaining more, not A level students.

Roy, London, UK

while i am sure that the IB does indeed have a large workload, and indeed many of my friends following the IB do complain that they have large workloads, it is also hugely unfair the imbalance in UCAS tariffs, for example were i to get 4 As at A-level this would equate to 480 ucas points, at the same time i would only need to get 33 points at IB to exceed this, 33 points at IB equating to perhaps all my subjects being 5s, the IB equivalent of a B at A-level, how is it that??

Nicole Taylor, London,

Im currently doing the IB, and I am finding that my workload is ridiculous compared to all my friends doing A levels, articles talk about '45' points in the IB as a comparison point, failing to mention the fact that only 72 students worldwide (out of over 30,000) achieved this mark... the IB is an overly demanding course... and universities expect more from IB students, becuase of the image that the IB has.

Laurs Wilkins, Harrow,

I am a student that has experience within the International Bacc, as well as A levels. One thing I can confidently say is that 38 points on the IB diploma is not difficult to achieve, far easier than 5 A's at A level. It's not so much the content that is hard, but the work load is certainly more demanding.
There is also another issue which should be raised, The IB program is not just a 6th form program, but there is also it's GCSE equivilant (MYP) and Junior School
qualification(PYP). Students that have gone through the IB program from atleast MYP usually find it a lot easier. When you go to an International School, the IB program really looses its status as a rigorous program, it just seems normal. In the same way as GCSE students would see A levels as the
next normal, appropriate step, if they aspire to go to University.
A levels can be great, but it allows a group of students to dodge harder subjects which may prepare you better for University.

MJ, London, UK

Would international readers reading this, please be aware that the IB is not easily transferable. We had to leave our overseas posting for unavoidable reasons and it has been a nightmare trying to find IB schools in England willing to take him on in order to complete his second year of IB.
The IBO is seemingly and metaphorically shrugged its collective shoulders when asked for information about transfers and has been of no help at all.
The only other option available to our son is to start his A-levels all over again.
Please be aware of this before your son or daughter starts their course.

Alice, Brighton,

I took the IB at a private school in London, and can confidently say that having spoken to many many A-Level students, and having looked at the curriculum, it is much, much more difficult. The individual standard level classes are a similar standard, but the higher level classes are more difficulty (my teachers agreed with this), and I must refute the idea that quantity does not matter; by having to complete six classes and more (EE and CAS) time-management skills are pushed and much more work is undertaken. As well as this, by requiring students to take a range of subjects no-one can focus on their strongest area to get a better result, you have to show your skills even in your weaker subjects. More importantly, when I was applying to university, I found that they all undervalued the IB! That my relatively high score (38) was viewed as a A and two B's, when I would have got at least three A's! A review is needed to make sure that the IB is understood, not to help A-Level students!

Marianne Hippman, London, London

My daughter's state grammar school offers the IB as an alternative to A levels. She has been offered a place at Oxford to study modern languages - provided she achieves an IB score of 38 points. This equates to about 5 'A' levels at grade A.

Whether the amount of work she has to do to achieve this is the same as studying 5 A levels I do not know although she is working extremely hard.

However, I am pretty sure that no university sets 5 A levels at grade A as their entrance requirement so it seems to me that universities are already discounting IB scores to a level that they consider is comparable to 'A' levels.

Kevin, Kent,

In my view, independent schools, grammar schools and "golf-course" comprehensives should not worry too much about the generous UCAS points allocated to IB qualifications. Very few of the so-called "top" universities make offers using the UCAS tariff. Some departments at Cardiff, Southampton and Warwick use it, but almost invariably add a clause that specific grades must be achieved at A2 (the full A Level). This is also currently true of applicants following IB: applicants are asked for, say, 36 or 37 points on the IB diploma scale, but also specifically required to perform at, say, level 6 or 7 in specific Higher level exams. Admissions tutors will be quick to spot that the standard (lower) level exams that form part of the IB diploma and that will be awarded UCAS tariff points from 2008 do not have the same validity as A2. It's disingenuous of UCAS to claim otherwise and seems motivated by a political imperative to disadvantage middle-class applicants.

Rob Clarke, Cranleigh, UK