Feature Articles > International School Systems, Curricula and Exams
The Good Schools Guide International has an extensive library of 100+ articles about international schools and life as an expat that are included with every subscription.
The articles are organized by topic in “Folders” below and – with subjects ranging from curricula to TCKs (Third Culture Kids) – are meant to soften the culture shock that often comes with moving around the world.
Sample a free article by clicking on one of the titles under “Articles” (right column below).
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Folders
Every international curriculum (or national curriculum) mentioned in the GSGI, brief descriptions of each as we find sources and succinct descriptions in clear English), and schools that use each one (with descriptions as we find authorities who can state it in clear concise terms....almost NEVER the case on official and mostly useless website set up for that!)
What to expect from American schools in America, what is the "American curriculum", and what makes it different from other curricula?
Articles
Are Advanced Placement (AP) classes in American schools different from run-of-the-mill courses of the same name, and do you really need to work this hard? Do university admissions offices weight them more heavily, and can they really give advance credit towards university degree requirements?
Use this cryptic chart to figure out which age and stage your child will take various examinations for the English or Scottish National Curriculum systems, or the IB.
Sydney has more than its share of very good schools, but places for expats are in short supply. Beware, and plan early. It's not impossible, but read carefully to sort out a backup strategy.
What are acceptable IGCSEs or A-levels? How do you qualify the raw data? This should help you judge for yourself when a school says they have "outstanding" results.
The GCSE is technically regarded as the equivilent of an American high school diploma, but is it enough to get into a good US college or university? Unlikely....
SATs, GCSEs, APs, A levels, IB...what are they, what do they mean? Does one equal or substitute for another, who needs them...?? What age child takes which exam in what year? Here you will find equvilencies between systems (GSCE vs American Diploma), the IB explained, transitions decoded.
What is the SAT, what's the best SAT score, are they necessary, where are they accepted, why do some good schools have lower-than-expected scores, what is the ACT?
British schools: all you ever needed to know and more, by all knowing GSG Editor Sandra Hutchinson.
Find everything you need to know about the British school system....wherever you find it, in this article written for Paragon by Sandra Hutchinson, one of the leading editors from The Good Schools Guide.
This may be the clearest, most succinct description you'll ever find on these elite European Schools funded by the European Union, run for the dependents of that vast bureaucracy, and resulting in the European Baccalaureate (but not to be confused with the International Baccalaureate).
A quick description of the ins and outs of the French education system: how it works, what to expect and how non-French children (and parents) make the system adjust to themselves (they don't), or learn to fit in (and it is possible).
What is the International Baccalaureate, exactly? Only someone like Mary Langford, who has set up, run, and inspected IB schools herself, could produce such a clear, condensed, no-frills treatise on this popular curriculum that is gaining momentum around the world with the speed of a rip tide.