International Baccalaureate (IB) is a high quality international education program for worldwide community. IB is the preferred education program for most international schools and there are more than 3,000 IB schools in more than 140 countries. In recent years, there are growing interests among Singapore schools to offer IB program to encourage international-mindedness among students. These IB schools are popular as they offer niche education program for students to research and reflect critically. It also offers unique educational opportunities for students to co-develop special talents, such as sports and arts.
Singapore IB System
IB system is structured into 3 IB programs – the Primary Years Program, the Middle Years Program and the Diploma Program. Schools which are authorized to offer IB programs are known as IB World Schools. They can choose to offer one or more IB programs. They can also offer a hybrid of local/national program with one or more IB program. Today, IB World Schools are well known for the mix of international, private and state schools.
In Singapore, IB programs are offered by both International schools and local schools. International schools offer only pure IB programs, mostly leading to Diploma Program. As for local schools, almost all of them offer a hybrid of local curriculum with IB Diploma program. In the hybrid model, IB year 1 to 4 would correspond to the Cambridge system of Secondary 1 to Secondary 4. At year 5 and 6, students will migrate to IB Diploma program of Grade 11 and 12.
Math Options For IB Diploma Program
IB Math is structured to cater for students with varied mathematical skills and orientation. As similar to other subject group in IB Diploma Program, IB Math is offered at standard level (Mathematics SL) and higher level (Mathematics HL). In addition, 2 other options are also available: Mathematical Studies SL and Further mathematics SL.
Mathematical Studies SL is the lowest division of the IB Mathematics program. For students with weak math backgrounds, Mathematical Studies SL helps to build confidence and encourage an appreciation of mathematics in them. Mathematical Studies SL is popular among students who do not anticipate a need for mathematics in their future studies.
On the other hand, Further Mathematics SL is the highest division of the IB Mathematics program. For students with good background in mathematics, Further Mathematics SL caters for students with a good background in mathematics who have attained a high degree of competence in a range of analytical and technical skills, and who display considerable interest in the subject. IB students who have completed Further Mathematics SL will study mathematics at university, either as a subject in its own right or as a major component of a related subject.
IB Math Singapore
Singapore IB Math offers similar coverage as the Secondary and Junior-College math in local schools. In IB year 1 to 4, IB math covers syllabus leading to Cambridge General Certificate of Education ‘Ordinary’ Level examination (GCE ‘O’ Level).
However, as similar to other subject group, IB Math year 1 to 4 tends to cover more math concepts than their counterparts in local school. While local schools are busy preparing their students for year-end GCE ‘O’ level exams, Singapore IB Math covers extra topics beyond GCE ‘O’ level Math. Some topics differentiate IB math from local syllabus are: Functions, Relations, Permutation and Combination
Learning Singapore IB Math
There are many IB Math international resource sites offering studies video lessons and studies powerpoints. Some sites also offer downloadable IB Math practice sets and question papers. Generally these resources are useful not only to Singapore IB Math students but also to the non-IB students. Some newer math topics such as “Compound Interest” and “Variations And Percentage Change” are well-explained and are beneficial to all Singapore students.