Despite what you might think, A-levels aren't the only study options post-GCSE. Here's our guide to the A-level alternative, the International Baccalaureate...
Updated: 15 Apr 2025There are a lot of options to think about after you’ve finished your GCSEs. Whether you want to pursue a university route, follow an apprenticeship or simply are unsure, we’re here to help.
One of these pathways is the International Baccalaureate. It sounds fancy and slightly completed, so we’ve simplified it for you…
The International Baccalaureate Diploma is a two year programme mainly for 16-19 year olds. The focus is to teach students to think critically and independently, and how to become well rounded individuals.
The IB Diploma aims to prepare students for the world in a broader sense, by studying topic areas that are essential in life and are forward thinking in our current climate. It’s not simply an A-level alternative, it’s a very different programme of learning.
Throughout the course, students pick one subject from each of six subject groups; languages and literature, sciences, individuals and societies, mathematics, language acquisition and arts. Students then study three of these to a higher level. So, you study 6 subjects in total, and three out of the six to a higher level.
One requirement of the programme is to take another additional unit titled “The Theory of Knowledge”. For this, you write an extended essay and participate in “creativity, action, service” – a non-examined module that focuses around creativity, sport and community service.
With A-levels, students typically study three to four subjects and learn in depth knowledge about each of these. With the International Baccalaureate, six topics are studied, each from a different sector of learning. So, IB Diploma students can’t study six topics that all are media-related for example, whereas A-level students have the freedom to pick similar subjects.
Because of this, the IB Diploma is sometimes seen as giving a better “global outlook” to students (according to the findings of The University Admissions Officers Report 2017). For the IB Diploma, students also take on a lot more independent learning compared to their A-level counterparts, and are required to become self-organised and independent thinkers.
On the flip side of this, A-levels are seen by some as more in depth and give students more expertise on the topics they study. As fewer subjects are being studied, each subject is more in-depth.
Finally, the IB Diploma is a pathway available all across the world, whereas A-levels are a qualification only taught and practised in the UK.
Just like how students pick their A-levels, you can pick an International Baccalaureate Diploma pathway too. As long as your educational establishment offers the IB Diploma as an option, you can grab a word with your academic advisor to guide you along the right path.
If you want to take the IB Diploma and your school doesn’t offer it, your only option is to transfer to a school that does.
It might be worth trying to start a program at your school. Who knows, maybe your teachers have already expressed interest in it.
The curriculum is made up of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (DP) core and six subject groups.
Made up of the three required units, the Diploma wants to produce rounded individuals ready for the world. The units include:
Theory of knowledge, in which students reflect on the nature of knowledge and on how we know what we claim to know.
The extended essay, which is an independent, self-directed piece of research, finishing with a 4,000-word paper.
Creativity, activity, service, in which students complete a project related to those three concepts.
Alongside these, students pick one subject per study area in the six following areas. So, six topics in total, one from each option. Of those six chosen topics, three of these must be studied to a Higher Level, and the remaining three will be studied to a standard level:
Studies in language and literature
Language acquisition
Individuals and societies
Sciences
Mathematics
The arts
Schools worldwide offer the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme.
According to the official website of the scheme, IB courses are offered across 137 schools in the UK. Here’s a full list to view them all.
According to multiple research findings, the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme is recognised and respected by the world's leading universities. Evidence suggests that higher rates of students studying it go on to university and higher education than non-IB students.
In the UK, International Baccalaureate Diploma students are more than twice as likely to attend a top 20 university than the average A-level student, which gives fairly good odds.
94 UK universities recognise the qualification, including all the big names like Oxford, Cambridge, University College London, and Imperial College London.
Find out where your International Baccalaureate can take you by searching for university courses now.