By ACS International Schools

Summary: New survey examines UK admissions officers views of the post-16 qualifications on offer in the United Kingdom and highlights university application concerns

New survey examines UK admissions officers views of the post-16 qualifications on offer in the United Kingdom and highlights university application concerns.

Pressure on pupils and teachers is forcing out independent thinking and creativity, the qualities most prized by universities.

International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma is the most highly valued post-16 qualification and should be available in more state schools.

IB scoring system is not fully understood by some universities and unfair demands may be made on IB students as a consequence.

Quality of most careers advice for sixth formers is 'indifferent'.

The International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma remains the most highly-regarded post 16-qualification among UK university admissions officers. The combination of qualities developed by the IB Diploma, including self management and creativity, are some of the factors which explain why the IB Diploma is considered an excellent preparation for university-style learning. In particular, 62 per cent of admissions officers claim that the IB develops self-management skills, as compared to just 39 per cent who feel that this is a quality nurtured by A levels (the qualification followed by the majority of post-16 students in the UK).

The fourth annual survey of university admissions officers, commissioned by ACS International Schools, found that almost three quarters, 73 per cent, of admissions officers want to see the IB on offer in more state schools, almost two years after state funding for this independent qualification was withdrawn.

University admissions officers recognise the academic rigour of the IB Diploma with just one per cent of IB students awarded the top score of 45 points each year: 78 per cent of admissions officers say that it is harder to achieve the top IB Diploma score than it is to achieve top scores in A levels.

Significant misunderstandings occur however when comparing mid-range IB Diploma scores with A-level scores using the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) tariff system. Almost two thirds, 60 per cent, of admissions officers misjudge the IB Diploma score and place the equivalent of four grade Bs at A level from an IB student alongside just three Bs from an A level applicant. While UCAS provides clear guidance on the scoring system and officers may refer to this information before making offers, this level of misunderstanding will nonetheless be of concern to IB students in the United Kingdom who plan to continue their studies at UK universities.

The study also looked into admissions officers views on other post-16 qualification available in the UK. It found that the most-prized quality in university students is an ability to think independently, an attribute demanded by every participating university, yet the very quality being squeezed out of the A-level system through pressure of constant change and the need to achieve league table success.

ACS International School's annual research shows that the new Diplomas receive good support among university admissions officers who feel that the new qualification develops independent thinking and creativity more effectively than traditional A levels; 45 per cent citing that independent thinking is a core value of the new Diploma, while just 21 per cent say this of A levels. Overall support for A levels has hardened, however, with the majority of admissions officers, 76 per cent this year compared to 63 per cent last year, saying they don't want to see A levels phased out at all.

As greater exam choice becomes available for 15 and 16 year-olds in the shape of new Diplomas and AQA Diplomas on offer in some schools and colleges from September, university admissions officers show little confidence in the quality of careers advice available to school pupils at this age, with only a fifth, 20 per cent, rating the advice about all career options, including choosing between work or university, as either good or very good.

Commentators believe this is a key stage at which positive intervention and advice can have a big impact on life choices and access to the best quality higher education. Just 40 per cent of university admissions officers think advice about choosing the right exam system or subject is good. Meanwhile more than half of admissions officers, 52 per cent, say that in-school or in-college advice to pupils on completing the UCAS application form is good or very good.

Only a third of admissions officers, 34 per cent, think careers guidance given within schools and colleges about choosing the right university is good; only 28 per cent think guidance about gap years is good; and just 20 per cent think the guidance about choosing between work or university is good. And while a majority, 70 per cent, of admissions officers believe that it doesn't make any difference when a student takes a gap year, either before or after university, a minority, 28 per cent, think that better students have taken a gap year before starting at university.

Malcolm Kay, superintendent across the 2,600 pupils at ACS International Schools where the IB programme has been taught for 30 years, says:

"With so many choices available for post 16 educations it is all the more important to seek good advice for pupils at this stage in their lives, where decisions about individual exam courses can have a significant impact on choices later on in life.”

"There is so much emphasis on measuring our young people by their exam grades that the quality of their education almost seems to get overlooked. The UK system is one of the most intense at this life stage in the world, and students from some schools and colleges could be forgiven for feeling that they have just emerged from the education equivalent of a sausage factory.

"University admissions officers are saying very clearly that they value independent thinking and self management skills; with this in mind students should take time to review their options and seek out the best possible advice about their next steps. Whatever their exam results, student should explore their personal qualities and interests, to identify the best way to develop them in a new environment"