It begins...

So I decided to do the International Baccalaureate at KGV in Southport.

I first heard about the qualification when KGV came to my secondary school (like most of the local colleges and sixth forms did) and gave us a presentation trying to "sell" the college to us. There was one quick slide about the I.B, there was very little emphasis on it. But that one quick slide had me thinking...
I have no idea what I want to do when I leave college. Do I want to go to university? If I do, what do i want to do there? What do I want to do in life?
I was terrified of making the wrong decision! The thought of having to choose about four A-levels and narrowing down my choices so much made my stomach churn.
If I took this International Baccalaureate course I could take 6 subjects, 3 at higher level and 3 at standard level: Maths, English, a science of my choice, a language of my choice, a humanity subject of my choice, and an art subject of my choice. And if I particularly didn't fancy one of the "sections" i could cut it out and replace it with another of the other sections. The course, when being explained, is laid out in a hexagon shape with the subjects around the outside and the extra bits in the middle. The "extra bits" being Theory of Knowledge (TOK) and Creativity, Action, Service (CAS) and an extended essay on any subject of your choice.

After this I decided to research the mysterious course for myself. Would universities accept it? Is it well recognised? Is it regarded well?
I sent an e-mail to a range of universities asking them how they regarded it. All accepted and in some cases they loved it compared to the common A-level! (see the link below)

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/schools/international-baccalaureate-why-the-broad-ib-beats-alevels-395262.html

The Baccalaureate is used as a qualification all over the world (hence, "international"). I have a friend in China who is doing exactly the same thing as me! This therefore means that I could have the chance to work in any country I like! I could kiss goodbye to the British credit crunch, and even better... the weather! ;)

I was convinced.

I applied after doing considerably well in my GCSEs:

Mathematics A*
Religious Studies A*
Science A*
Additional Science A*
English Language A
English Literature B

Drama A

History A
Geography A
French A
Graphics A

I had easily met the entry requirements for studying the I.B at KGV ( 4 x B), and on 7th September 2009 I began my course with 13 other brave students at the same college.
Higher Maths
Higher Physics
Higher French
Standard English
Standard Geography
Standard Environmental Systems in Society (E.S.S)

The first two days of college terrified the lot of us! We were given two days packed with a lesson of each subject in both! They wasted no time in throwing work at us and we were straight in. By the third day, however, we were onto a normal (and slightly more practical) timetable. Things became more relaxed but by the end of the week we were all ready to collapse.

Two of my fellow students have already dropped out of the course and fallen back onto A-levels. The rest of us stayed through determination and the thought that, in the end, it will be so worth it!

So then there was twelve. (3 boys and 9 girls)

I am already, after three weeks of knowing them, really good friends with my I.B group.
One girl, Jenny, insists on calling us a "crew". I have told her many times (as have the rest of the group) that we are not a "crew", we are a group... a club... a class, herd, gaggle, flock, anything but "crew!" that just sounds pathetic!

I can see we've got a good two years ahead of us and I am (despite how much work we've got to do) looking forward to it!

I'll keep you updated :)