Clear definitions and expert explanations of key IB, AP, A-Level, and IGCSE terms.
AP Scholar Awards are recognition levels granted by the College Board to students who demonstrate exceptional achievement on AP exams. Awards range from AP Scholar (scores of 3+ on three or more exams) to National AP Scholar (average score of 4+ on all exams taken, with scores of 4+ on eight or more exams).
AP scores are reported on a 1-5 scale, with 5 being the highest. These scores represent a student's performance on the AP exam and are used by colleges and universities to determine eligibility for course credit, advanced placement, or both.
Approaches to Learning is the IB's framework for developing transferable skills across all programmes. ATL encompasses five skill categories -- thinking, communication, social, self-management, and research -- that students develop progressively throughout their IB education.
The College Board is the American not-for-profit organization that develops and administers the Advanced Placement (AP) program, the SAT, and other educational assessments. It sets AP curricula, creates exams, trains AP readers, and manages the score reporting process.
Coursework refers to assessed work that students complete during their course of study, as opposed to timed examinations taken at the end of the course. In A-Level and IGCSE contexts, coursework may include extended writing, practical investigations, portfolios, or projects, and typically contributes a defined percentage of the final grade.
Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS) is a core component of the IB Diploma Programme requiring students to engage in a range of experiences alongside their academic studies. CAS encourages personal growth through creative endeavors, physical activity, and community service over the course of the two-year programme.
Criterion-referenced assessment measures student performance against a fixed set of predetermined criteria or standards, rather than ranking students against each other. In this system, every student who meets the criteria for a given grade receives that grade, regardless of how other students perform.
An exam board (also called an awarding body) is an organization authorized to set and assess qualification exams in the UK system. The major exam boards for A-Levels and IGCSEs include AQA, Edexcel (Pearson), OCR, and Cambridge International (CIE), each offering their own specifications and examination papers.
An examiner is a qualified individual appointed by an examination body to mark student examination papers or coursework. In the IB, A-Level, and AP systems, examiners are typically experienced teachers or academics who have undergone specific training in applying the assessment criteria for their subject.
The Extended Essay is a mandatory 4,000-word independent research paper required for all IB Diploma Programme candidates. It allows students to investigate a topic of personal interest within one of the approved DP subjects and is assessed externally by the IB.
A Free Response Question is an open-ended question format used on AP exams that requires students to construct written, mathematical, or analytical responses. FRQs test deeper understanding and the ability to apply knowledge, as opposed to multiple-choice questions that test recognition.
A grade boundary is the minimum number of raw marks (or UMS marks) required to achieve a particular grade on an exam. Grade boundaries are set after each examination session and can vary from year to year depending on the difficulty of the paper and the performance of the cohort.
Higher Level (HL) refers to the advanced course level in the IB Diploma Programme. Each diploma candidate must take three subjects (and no more than four) at Higher Level, which involves more teaching hours and greater depth of content compared to Standard Level.
The IB Diploma Programme is a rigorous two-year pre-university curriculum for students aged 16 to 19, offered by the International Baccalaureate organization. It comprises six subject groups, three core components (TOK, EE, CAS), and is recognized by universities worldwide for its academic breadth and depth.
The IB Learner Profile is a set of ten attributes that the International Baccalaureate aims to develop in all IB students. These attributes describe the qualities of internationally minded people and serve as a foundation for teaching and learning across all IB programmes.
Internal Assessment is a teacher-assessed coursework component in IB Diploma Programme subjects. The IA is completed during the course, marked by the student's own teacher using IB criteria, and then externally moderated by the IB to ensure global consistency in grading standards.
A mark scheme is the official document that details exactly how marks should be awarded for each question on an exam paper. Published by exam boards after each examination session, mark schemes specify acceptable answers, allocation of marks, and the criteria for awarding partial credit.
Moderation is the quality assurance process by which an external body reviews teacher-assessed work to ensure that marking standards are consistent across different schools and teachers. It is a key mechanism in the IB, A-Level, and IGCSE systems for maintaining the fairness and credibility of internally assessed components.
The Personal Project is the culminating independent project of the IB Middle Years Programme (MYP), undertaken by students in their final year of the MYP (typically Year 5, around age 15-16). Students choose a topic of personal significance, set a learning goal and product goal, and document the entire process through a report.
Predicted grades are the grades that a student's teacher or school estimates the student will achieve in their final examinations. In the UK system, predicted grades are submitted as part of UCAS university applications and play a significant role in the conditional offer process.
A rubric is a set of criteria and standards used to assess student work. In education, rubrics define what is expected at each performance level, making assessment transparent and consistent. Rubrics are used extensively in IB Internal Assessments, AP Free Response Questions, and A-Level extended writing.
Standard Level (SL) refers to the foundational course level in the IB Diploma Programme. Each diploma candidate takes three subjects at Standard Level, which covers core content in fewer teaching hours than Higher Level while still maintaining rigorous academic standards.
A syllabus is the official document published by an examination body that outlines the content, skills, and assessment requirements for a specific course. It defines what students must learn, how they will be assessed, and the weighting of each assessment component.
Theory of Knowledge is a core component of the IB Diploma Programme that explores the nature of knowledge across disciplines. Students examine how we know what we claim to know, engaging with questions about certainty, evidence, perspective, and the construction of knowledge.
UCAS Points (formally the UCAS Tariff) is a system that converts grades from different UK qualifications into a numerical scale, allowing universities to compare applicants across different qualification types. An A-Level grade of A* is worth 56 points, an A is 48, a B is 40, and so on.