Educationalists and employers have regularly expressed concern at the narrowing down of a pupil's education to three subjects under an A level system which has not been updated to what most university courses seek or what society needs. Lord Dearing's recommendation of a sixth form syllabus comprising four or five AS levels in the first year, followed by two or three A levels in the second, has been implemented by the government in an attempt to address the problem.

Reaction to this new syllabus has been mixed and heavily debated in the media. Some schools have expressed concern, particularly with regard to the way extracurricular activities have been squeezed, whilst others feel that the new system goes some way towards addressing the perceived problems. Some schools have found a solution in the shape of a ready-made broader education available in this country in the form of the International Baccalaureate (IB).

The IB, launched in 1970, has been largely unknown in Britain until recent times. It consists of three subjects at Higher level (intellectually as demanding as A level) and three subjects at Standard level (requiring skills roughly equal to AS level).

The six subjects studied must include a student's own language, a foreign language, a humanity (such as history, philosophy, economics, geography), mathematics, a science, a creative arts subject or a further language, science or humanity.

In addition, students follow a course in 'practical philosophy', write a piece of personal research (a mini thesis of 4000 words) and engage in community service. This mixture of breadth and depth makes an IB student ready to respond successfully to the demand of university and professional life, hence its enviable success rate with British universities. It is a qualification recognised throughout the world. Consequently, it does open up the opportunity of following a university course in another country.

Malvern College is the most experienced Midlands school offering the IB, running it alongside A levels for the last thirteen years. We believe that the IB and A levels are two equally valid sixth form routes to university with experience indicating that some individuals benefit more from one than the other. For some, the coherent breadth and international dimension of the IB makes it very attractive. For others, a more tailor-made course, which studying A and AS levels allows, is more suitable.

Sixth Form pupil numbers at Malvern are split evenly between A levels and the International Baccalaureate. In both, academic standards are very high.