IB, British, American or French? How the Main International Curricula Compare
When a family relocates, the curriculum a school teaches can matter as much as the school itself. The International Baccalaureate, the British and American systems and the French national curriculum are all well respected, but they’re organized differently and lead to different qualifications, and the right choice depends on the child’s age and where they’re likely to go next.
In most destinations, relocating families will find schools teaching several of these curricula, often within a short drive of each other. When we prepare an education landscape assessment for a company, its appendix includes a guide to each curriculum the families will meet. This article draws on those guides.
Why the Curriculum Matters When a Family Moves
For a young child, a change of curriculum is usually manageable. Children in the early years adapt quickly, and most curricula cover similar ground in the first years of primary school.
The stakes rise in secondary school. Each system builds toward its own qualifications, on its own timetable, and some courses run over two years. A student who changes systems at the wrong moment can find that their work doesn’t carry over neatly, or that they’ve arrived halfway through a course the new school expects them to have started. So the questions we ask are practical ones. How old is the child? How long is the assignment? Is the family likely to return home, or move again? Where might the student go to university?
The International Baccalaureate
The International Baccalaureate (IB) was founded in Switzerland in 1968 as a nonprofit foundation, partly to meet the needs of students who moved between countries. It’s independent of any government, and an IB school in one country follows the same framework as an IB school in another.
The IB offers four programs, and a school may offer one or several:
- The Primary Years Program (PYP), for ages 3 to 12
- The Middle Years Program (MYP), for ages 11 to 16
- The Diploma Program (DP), for ages 16 to 19
- The Career-related Program (CP), for ages 16 to 19
The Diploma Program is the most widely offered. Students take six subjects across six groups (language and literature, language acquisition, individuals and societies, sciences, mathematics and the arts), three or four of them at higher level and the rest at standard level. They also complete three core requirements: the extended essay, an independent research paper; theory of knowledge, a course on how we know what we know; and creativity, activity and service, which takes learning beyond the classroom.
Each subject is graded from 1 to 7, and the core can add up to three more points, for a maximum of 45. The diploma is awarded at 24 points, subject to minimum requirements. Universities around the world recognize it, and admissions officers tend to read it as a sign that a student takes on a challenge.
The British Curriculum and Cambridge International
Each nation in the U.K. has its own system, and the “British curriculum” offered by international schools is usually the national curriculum for England. It’s organized in blocks of years called key stages:
- Early Years Foundation Stage, up to age 5
- Key Stage 1, ages 5 to 7 (Years 1 and 2)
- Key Stage 2, ages 7 to 11 (Years 3 to 6)
- Key Stage 3, ages 11 to 14 (Years 7 to 9)
- Key Stage 4, ages 14 to 16 (Years 10 and 11), leading to GCSE exams
- Sixth form, ages 16 to 18 (Years 12 and 13), usually leading to A Levels
Students take GCSEs in English, math and science, plus several subjects of their choice. For A Levels, they typically narrow to three or four subjects studied in depth, and UK universities admit students mainly on those results. Some British schools offer the IB Diploma in place of A Levels.
Cambridge International is a curriculum and set of qualifications built on the British model for schools around the world, from early years to age 19. Its best-known qualification is the IGCSE, the international counterpart of the GCSE, followed by AS and A Levels. Many international schools combine the English national curriculum in the younger years with IGCSEs and A Levels at the top of the school.
The American System and Advanced Placement
The United States has no national curriculum. Each state sets its own standards, testing and graduation requirements, and many base their math and English standards on the Common Core. Students earn a high school diploma by accumulating credits across a broad range of subjects, and their grades are summarized in a grade point average (GPA). There’s no national exam at the end of high school; many students take the SAT or ACT for university admissions.
Advanced Placement (AP) courses, designed by the College Board, offer college-level work in individual subjects. There are around 40, but each school chooses which to offer, so a student with a particular interest should check that the subjects they need are available. AP exams are held in May and scored from 1 to 5. Each college decides which scores earn credit; many accept a 3, while more selective colleges often look for a 4 or 5. Some schools limit AP courses to students with strong grades in the subject and a teacher’s recommendation.
The French Curriculum
France’s Ministry of National Education sets a national curriculum, including for many French schools abroad, which makes it easier for students to move between French schools in different countries. The Ministry sets what is taught and leaves teaching methods to teachers.
- École maternelle, ages 3 to 6, which has been compulsory from age 3 since 2019
- École élémentaire, ages 6 to 11, from CP to CM2
- Collège, ages 11 to 15, from sixième to troisième, ending with the brevet exam
- Lycée, ages 15 to 18, from seconde to terminale, leading to the baccalauréat
Since the reform that took effect with the class of 2021, students in the general baccalauréat take core subjects plus three specialty subjects in première, keeping two in terminale. Final exams account for 60% of the result and continuous assessment for the other 40%. The French baccalauréat is demanding, and universities in many countries recognize it.
How the Grade Levels Line Up
Ages are a rough guide, because each system uses a different cut-off date for the school year. A child born in the summer or early fall can land a year apart in two systems, so it’s worth checking placement with each school.
| Age at the start of the school year | United States | England | France | IB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | Kindergarten | Year 1 | Grande section | PYP |
| 6 | Grade 1 | Year 2 | CP | PYP |
| 10 | Grade 5 | Year 6 | CM2 | PYP |
| 11 | Grade 6 | Year 7 | Sixième | PYP or MYP |
| 14 | Grade 9 | Year 10 | Troisième | MYP |
| 15 | Grade 10 | Year 11 (GCSE) | Seconde | MYP |
| 16 | Grade 11 | Year 12 | Première | Diploma Program |
| 17 | Grade 12 | Year 13 (A Levels) | Terminale (baccalauréat) | Diploma Program |
Which Curriculum Travels Best?
There’s no single answer, and we’re wary of anyone who offers one. The IB was designed for students who move, and its programs are consistent from country to country. A student heading to university in the UK may be best served by IGCSEs and A Levels, or the IB Diploma. A student returning to an American high school will usually find the transition easiest from an American school, ideally one offering the AP courses they’d take at home.
Timing matters most from about age 14. GCSEs, IGCSEs and the IB Diploma are each two-year courses, and moving partway through one can mean repeating work or changing subjects. If a move falls in those years, it’s worth planning the school around the qualification, not the other way around.
For a closer look at particular moves, see how the English curriculum compares with the American one and choosing a curriculum in Hong Kong when your next move is unknown.
For HR and Global Mobility Teams
When you relocate a group of families, they’ll each face these questions, often at the same time, and some will need answers before they decide whether to accept the move. An education landscape assessment sets out the curricula available in a destination alongside the schools that teach them, so families can compare like with like, and your team can set a tuition budget that reflects the schools your employees will actually need. You can look inside a sample assessment, with fictional schools, on our group move consulting page.
Need Help Choosing a Curriculum?
Bennett’s consultants are former educators who know these systems from the classroom, and no school pays us to recommend it. Whether you’re a family weighing your options or a company planning a move, we can help.
Talk to us about curriculum and school choice →
Bennett International Education Consultancy works directly with hundreds of families each year across the globe. We support families by helping them make informed decisions about the best-fit schools for their children; with our guidance, they secure placement in preschools, private day schools, public/state schools, boarding schools, colleges and universities, including schools with particular programs, such as special needs support.
