What is the admission criteria for the diploma with MYP?

[Dawn]

My son has completed his MYP and would like to do the IB diploma. He did the MYP in Dubai and was going to do the diploma there. However he has decided to return to the UK. Colleges in the UK specify 5 GCSE's at A-C but they do not seem to have heard of MYP. Can anyone help?

[Sandwich]

Hey, I've never heard of anybody in the UK doing the IB's middle years thingy (although I'm sure there has to be at least one school trying to do it!) and, after a quick search, am finding it very difficult to find any information about how they view conversions. Requirements will almost certainly vary dependent on which school you want to send your son to.

Slightly alarmingly I can't find MYP scores on the UCAS conversion website, although you are welcome to try browsing for yourself and see if you can spot it and it was just a case of me overlooking it -- they do have some IB conversions, however they seem to me to be just for the Diploma.

UCAS Grade Conversions

Are colleges putting the onus on you to tell them how the MYP stands alongside GCSE? Technically speaking, it's their responsibility to tell you what they expect and deal with whatever course your son has done (they're unlikely to publish expectations anywhere as, like you just mentioned, hardly anybody does the MYP in the UK). Have you tried ringing them up and asking? If they're in the dark about it, I guess the best you can do is to ask your son's teachers for some copies of past examination papers, grade boundaries and syllabi and then send them to the school so they can judge for themselves what level your son is at based on his results. If he's done decently in his exams I don't see why he'd have any problems, GCSEs aren't exactly too taxing, and I doubt the MYP programme is easier or less demanding than they are!

Are you aiming for private schools or the state sector?

Also: is your son certain he'd prefer to do the IB instead of A Levels? If he wants to go to Uni in the UK too, post-6th form, it might be an idea to think about A Levels People tend to get better grades doing A Levels, and in my experience they also get better offers from Universities -- as well, of course, as a much wider range of schools to go to! Of course plenty of people do do the IB and they get by fine, but it's always something to think about.