International Baccalaureate

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It is compulsory for all students who opt to do IB to do at least one language as part of their IB studies. 

Languages offered

We are lucky to be able to offer students a good range of languages and levels.

• French - Standard Level and Higher Level (Mr Thynne)
• German - Standard Level (Miss Roberts) and Higher Level (Mr Zursiedel)
• Spanish - Ab Initio, Standard Level (Mrs Perrett) and Higher Level (Mrs Foster)
• Chinese - Ab Initio (Mrs Allen)
• Japanese - Ab Initio (Mrs Caul)

Difference between Standard and Higher Levels

The course topics are the same in both levels, but they are studied in more depth at Higher Level.  Assessment has the same weighing but criteria are much more demanding at Higher Level.  Students will have 5 hours of lessons per fortnight for Ab Initio and Standard Levels and 8 hours per fortnight for Higher Level.  Students will also be expected to attend a 30 minute session per week with the Language Assistant.

Entrance Requirements

• Ab Initio - no previous knowledge of the language
• Standard Level - grade B at GCSE, although we expect the majority of students to have a grade A or A*.
• Higher Level - grade A or A* at GCSE.

Assessment  

IB exams take place at the end of Year 13 only but there will be oral assessments in Year 12 and Year 13.

Higher and Standard Levels

• External - Written Paper Component -70%

                        1. Paper 1: Text Handling                                                                               40%

                                    a) 30% on questions based on written texts

                                    b) 10% on a written response to a written text

                        2. Paper 2: Essay                                                                                           30%

                                    - Higher - Essay question from a selection of six

                                    - Standard - Essay question from a selection of four

• Internal - 30%

                        1. Individual oral - based on a stimulus chosen by the candidate                  15%

                        2. Interactive oral activity - the mark of one interactive activity                    15%

Ab Initio Level

• External - Written Paper Component -70%

• 1. Paper 1: Text Handling - questions based on written texts and short

                               writing exercise in response to the fourth text                 40%

• 2. Paper 2: Written production - short writing task from a choice of two

                    and an extended writing task from a choice of three                         30%

• Internal - 30%

                        1. Individual oral - short interview with the teacher                                       15%

                        2. Interactive oral activity - the mark of one interactive activity                    15%

Exchanges and Work Experience Abroad

Students will be encouraged to participate in an exchange trip, course or work experience during the two-year course.