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IMPORTANT NOTES:
Your choices should reflect your aptitude, your interests and your skills.
When choosing your subjects, you should keep your future in mind.
HIGHER EDUCATION CONSULTATIONS TO DISCUSS SUBJECT COMBINATIONS
Higher Education consultations act as a guidance tool for students navigating the maze of university choices and career paths. Through these sessions, students gain clarity on course selection, career options, and insights from personality assessments tailored to their needs.
If you're seeking direction or clarity in your educational journey, here are the steps you need to take :
During consults we can explore what you like, or are naturally inclined towards.
A hands-on person?
Take objects apart to figure out how they work?
Sensitive to how words are used?
Tends to express yourself through words?
If you are unsure, try taking a Personality Assessment on Bridge U (https://app.bridge-u.com/ login with ACS Intl email), then speak with a counsellor to go through the results.
Getting to know yourself better, your strengths, interests, skills etc would be key in helping you select a good subject combination that is fit for you.
IMPORTANT NOTE FROM PRINCIPAL
“In making their choices, students must consider their strengths and weaknesses, their interests and possible future plans. Choosing a particular subject because someone else in the family or circle of friends thinks it is a good idea is unwise. Students should spend time reading the course requirements and outlines in this booklet carefully, discussing their options with teachers and also their parents. ”
IGCSE SUBJECT CHOICES
IGCSE INFORMATION SLIDES:
https://www.acsinternational.edu.sg/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/IGCSE-Presentation-2023.pdf
COMPONENTS
Compulsory Humanities
Geography, History, Global perspectives, Business studies, Economics
Compulsory Sciences
Chemistry, Physics, Biology
Subject option 1
Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Geography, Literature (English/Chinese)
Subject option 2
Business Studies***, Economics, Additional Mathematics, Global perspectives
Subject option 3*
Biology****, Additional Mathematics, Art, Music, Drama, IGPE, Literature (English/Chinese)
* Pre IGCSE can only choose 2 option subjects
*** If you are already taking Economics, you cannot take Business studies and vice versa
**** If you are choosing to take triple science, subject option 3 MUST be biology
LANGUAGES
Compulsory First Language
English, Chinese, etc
Compulsory Second Language**
Can be taken in either Ab initio or language B
Tamil, Malay, English, Chinese, Japanese, French, Spanish
** Singaporeans/SG citizens must follow MTL requirement unless exempted
For specific requirements for Additional Mathematics and Triple Science, please refer to the slides above.
If you are taking ab initio for your 2nd language in IGCSE, then you cannot take the same language for ab initio in IB.
WHEN ARE THE DEADLINES FOR CHOOSING SUBJECTS?
IGCSE - Year 2, Term 3
IMPORTANT ASPECTS TO CONSIDER BEFORE SELECTING SUBJECTS
• What are your interests? , Personality Assessments
• Does the combination reflect the overall strengths and interest?
• Possible future courses (more than one or two)
IBDP SUBJECT OPTIONS
IB SUBJECT CHOICES:
WHAT TO EXPECT
If you are a
DSA Student (determined via Prelim Exam grades in Y4), you will sit through two weeks of lessons after term starts to have an idea about the subjects.
non-DSA students coming in later (including those that come back via IGCSE and those that come via O-levels) will also have a chance to sit through lessons to have a better understanding of the subject before finalising their choices.
The IBDP Subject Information Website will be updated by Ms Carol Ling by end June.
There will be a presentation by all faculties for all Year 4 students on subject selection at the end of July.
What is life like at ACS in the Senior Division? Check this link life at ACS in the Senior Division.
WHEN ARE THE DEADLINES FOR CHOOSING SUBJECTS?
IB - Year 4, Term 3
Read the note on University Prerequisite on the right side. Lots of useful info!
SENIORS ADVICE ON SUBJECT COMBINATION
STUDENT 1
What advice would you give to Grade 10 students who are currently choosing their IB subjects?
IAs and EEs are challenging. You'll have to spend quite a long time doing all of them and the number of deadlines are just going to increase throughout IB. So, I recommend everyone to choose subjects they have a genuine interest in. But at the same time remember to also consider the university courses you may want to attend in the future.
Is there anything you wish you had known or considered before making your subject choices?
Choosing a good balance of HL and SL subjects that I will be able to handle well.
Did you/How did you ensure that your subject combination aligns with your future academic or career goals?
With a general idea of what I wanted to do in the future I researched universities that I was interested in attending and looked into the prerequisites required for those courses. From there, I made the decision of what subject I wanted to take as well.
NATASHA TAN RAE, 5OLD
Did you/How did you ensure that your subject combination aligns with your future academic or career goals?
When I was in Year 4, I had my mind set on Medicine as my future career path. Therefore, the subjects that I chose were HL Math, HL Biology and HL Chemistry. As I was conducting my research on my subject choices, I realised that many Medical Schools required 2 HL sciences. For me personally, chemistry was my best science followed by biology (therefore my options were chosen).
Is there anything you wish you had known or considered before making your subject choices?
I think it is good to have an idea about which subject you would like to do your Extended Essay in. For me, I was keen on Biology or Chemistry so I asked my teachers in charge for more advice.
Can you share any personal experiences or reflections on your subject choices now that you’re in Grade 11?
I think I am content with my subject choices. People always say that certain combinations are considered harder subject combinations but I think that if these are the subjects that you are interested in, naturally the content would be easier to grasp. Therefore, I would advise all year 4’s to choose the subjects they are interested in/linked to the careers they would like to pursue.
CHAN YUN YU, 5OLD
What were your initial interests and strengths when you first started considering your IB subject combination?
I looked through my future university course requirements, based on the university websites, and chose my subjects accordingly. Some universities for my course require HL Mathematics, but most of them don’t, as Mathematics is not my strongest suit, so I decided to stick to SL Mathematics to ensure that I can ace it.
Did you research different IB subjects before making your decision? If so, how did you go about it?
Yes, I looked through the Business Management and Psychology textbooks from the school library and compared them at home, to further understand the syllabus that I would be learning.
Did you seek advice from teachers, counselors, or seniors? How did their input influence your choices?
I did seek advice from my teachers and asked whether taking the combination of HL Chemistry, HL Biology and HL Business Management will be manageable for me. I also looked through my senior’s IA for another subject to determine if I should take that instead.
Did you/How did you ensure that your subject combination aligns with your future academic or career goals?
I looked through the subject requirements of the course I would like to study in university, according to the university websites. I did also look through comments from online forums to see what subjects were beneficial to the course I am interested in.
Were there any specific universities or courses you had in mind that influenced your subject choices?
Yes, I would like to pursue Medicine in the UK in university, so I looked through my preferred university course subject requirements. These are very easily found just through a few Google searches.
How did you balance choosing subjects you were interested in with considering the workload and difficulty level?
I based it on my interest. I told myself that if I come across challenges in IB, it would ultimately be my own decision to take up this subject, and to remember why I first took up this subject. I feel like the importance of knowing why you chose this subject in the first place is very important.
What advice would you give to Year 4 students who are currently choosing their IB subjects?
Think about what you want to do in the future, and if you don’t know yet, at least think about what you enjoy more: Sciences, Languages or Arts. This decision will help you decide your HL subjects, and your SL subject decisions will just follow through. Ask seniors and teachers for advice, and even search up some platforms where other IB students share their difficulties and opinions on certain subjects.
Is there anything you wish you had known or considered before making your subject choices?
Everyone would mention that certain HL subjects require a lot of work. So even mental preparation is important.
Insights from Seniors: Transitioning to IBDP After Secondary School at a Different Institution
The environment in ACS international and government schools is definitely different, but it isn't a bad thing. In my experience, the more relaxed atmosphere allowed me to be a more independent learner who took charge of my own studying and completion of assignments in a less stressful environment. I found ACS Intl has a wholistic approach and was very supportive, though I personally did take some time to adjust having come from another school.
How rigorous is the IB course work and will the school be able to fully support me?
The level of stress experienced depends on the individual, however IB is not easy for most students. I found that some practices did help me to reduce the level of stress I experienced, such as doing a bit of research every day for IA and EE, and setting goals for each week. This ensures that when issues occur there is enough time to consult teachers and edit work. Consistency is really key in IB! I personally felt that I needed tuition for certain subjects and definitely benefited from the extra support, however some students feel that the schools support is good enough. Feel it out in Y5 so that Y6 won't be a rush to catch up on content if you feel tuition is necessary.
How is the social life and CCAs different?
ACS international allows you to join many different CCAs in a year which I found to be enriching and enjoyable. Meeting different people during CCA is also a good way to make new friends and connections. Since form classes and subject classes consist of different students, there are many opportunities to make new friends outside of your own house. I think Y5 is the best time to take part in more CCAs as Y6 is much more hectic and stressful academically. Furthermore, CCAs can be used for CAS so they are both enjoyable and useful for IB!
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