Feature Articles > International School Systems, Curricula and Exams
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Subjects ranging from curriculum to transitions to TCKs (Third Culture Kids) are extensively explored in the hopes that knowledge can soften the culture shock that often comes with moving around the world.
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Every international curriculum (or national curriculum) mentioned in the GSGI, brief descriptions of each as we find sources and succinct descriptions in clear English), and schools that use each one (with descriptions as we find authorities who can state it in clear concise terms....almost NEVER the case on official and mostly useless website set up for that!)
Articles
Are Advanced Placement (AP) classes in American schools different from run-of-the-mill courses of the same name, and do you really need to work this hard? Do university admissions offices weight them more heavily, and can they really give advance credit towards university degree requirements?
What should you look for in a good American school? How does this system work in the US itself? Can children automatically go to schools right in their own neighborhoods? When the curriculum is so different from the British, how can you tell whether a school is a good one?
The British school system....wherever you find it, everything you need to know in this article by Sandra Hutchinson, one of the leading editors from The Good Schools Guide.
Use this cryptic chart to figure out which age and stage your child will take various examinations for the English or Scottish National Curriculum systems, or the IB.
Sydney has more than its share of very good schools, but places for expats are in short supply. Beware, and plan early. It's not impossible, but read carefully to sort out a backup strategy.
What are acceptable IGCSEs or A-levels? How do you qualify the raw data? This should help you judge for yourself when a school says they have "outstanding" results.
The GCSE is technically regarded as the equivilent of an American high school diploma, but is it enough to get into a good US college or university? Unlikely....
What to look for in an international school and how to strategize the search: what to look for in accreditation, staff, special needs, financial stability; pitfalls to beware of, what should wave a red flag. By long time expat and journalist Jennifer Sharple.
When is an international school not an international school? Or even a school where most students aren't international at all, but instead locals whose parents want them to have a British or American education...at least on paper? What should you look for, what should you ask? By Jennifer Sharple - Expat, parent, journalist.
SATs, GCSEs, APs, A levels, IB...what are they, what do they mean? Does one equal or substitute for another, who needs them...?? What age child takes which exam in what year? Here you will find equvilencies between systems (GSCE vs American Diploma), the IB explained, transitions decoded.
When a school says it has an "American curriculum", what does that mean? Is it exactly the same curriculum the world over? How do Advanced Placement courses and exams fit into the picture?
What is the SAT, what's the best SAT score, are they necessary, where are they accepted, why do some good schools have lower-than-expected scores, what is the ACT?
This may be the clearest, most succinct description you'll ever find on these elite European Schools funded by the European Union, run for the dependents of that vast bureaucracy, and resulting in the European Baccalaureate (but not to be confused with the International Baccalaureate).
How do French schools work? What should expats expect from French schools? How do non-French children (and parents) make the system adjust to themselves (they don't), or learn to fit in (and it is possible)? A quick description of the ins and outs of the French education system written by long time expat Rosemary MacKinnnon.
What is the International Baccalaureate, exactly? Only someone like Mary Langford, who has set up, run, and inspected IB schools herself, could produce such a clear, condensed, no-frills treatise on this popular curriculum that is gaining momentum around the world with the speed of a rip tide.