autolycus:IP students have a different curriculum from non-IP students. This is because IP students are being prepared to take the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme in Y5/6, while non-IP students may go on to do A-levels instead.Can someone answer my questions above please? Thanks!SoMe:[quote=\"SoMe\"]Hi, I'm a newbie on this forum. Looking for a school for my son. Pardon me if my question has been asked before. Are IP and non-IP students clearly distinguished at ACSI? Do they use different curriculum & have separate activities? Are the enrichment programmes like the Talent prog reserved for the IP students only? Are the non-IP students treated like 2nd-tier students? I learnt that SJI does not define the 2 groups clearly and the talent prog are opened as options to the O level track. Sounds good to allow the non-IP students participate and try out a different type of learning
Thank you!
They have different enrichment programmes but some common enrichment programmes as well. Non-IP students are the majority at Y1/2. They are treated like students with a different curriculum. However, that must take into account the fact that they're being prepared for a major exam at Y4, whereas the IP students have even higher stakes two years later.
ACS(I) is probably the top IB school in the world in terms of grades. This is not very surprising, since it has a selective admission policy (MOE enforces this). What is surprising is that it does better than other schools with similarly selective admission policies, despite being a relatively new IB school.
This tends to contrast with the fact that ACS(I) never ranked higher than 8th in the national O-level rankings. When the students who used to be the top O-level students became IP students, there were obvious consequences. Fortunately, we don't have national O-level rankings anymore. :)[/quote]
Thank you for answering my questions. Non-IP students will have much to adapt to if they switch over to the IP track at Year 3!
A well-rounded education probably means less extreme O Levels results. I will gladly choose the former!