American schools in HK

I was curious if anyone knows the difference in curriculum and difficulty between the US and UK schools.


Thanks.

Obviously, both types of curricula successfully prepare students for higher education. One is aimed at meeting British university entrance requirements, and the other focuses on American universities. It makes a lot of sense to choose the curriculum (and school) based on where you hope to send your child to college. I also suggest that you research the differences between AP (Advance Placement, fundamentally more American) and IB (International Baccalaureate, fundamentally more European).


In a nutshell, IB will focus more in-depth on fewer topics and the IB Diploma requires a broader range of subjects. The AP curriculum enables students to study more topics and they move faster through them, and students can choose topics that play to their strengths. If you change schools halfway through an IB program, you run the risk that the new school may not offer the same courses and you lose all the IB credit. The IB exams come all at once in a huge slam, the AP exams are given each year based on what your child has taken that year. Both offer a thesis option. I've heard IB marketed as more appropriate for middle range students; generally students can only manage AP courses in their strongest subjects. The AP and IB diplomas both require significant language proficiency.


This is only a starting point for your own research. One of the most telling things you can do is to talk with other parents and students themselves about what they do and do not like about the programs. Each has distinct strengths and weaknesses, and it's almost like comparing an apple and an orange!

I grew up here - so may be I can add my two cents. I went to a ESF school but ended up going to undergrad and grad school in North America. The first year in North America (a totally diff schooling system) was somewhat confusing. Having said that, it was really form over substance. I was a good student in the ESF school system and continued to do really well in the North American school system.


Havefaith

Just one point, if you are looking to transfer back to the UK before uni - the IB is an international system, which may have originated in the UK, but has a more European than British approach. The majority of English schools (i.e. in England, not ESF) still use A Levels. Students take, on average, 3 or 4 subjects (although brighter students often take more). There are some schools moving towards IB in England, and some have been offereing it for quite some time, but the majority still focus on the National Curriculum, culminating in A Levels. Of the schools that do offer IB, many are just offering it in sixth form (i.e. at Diploma Level) rather than through the PYP, Middle Years and Diploma. That will probably change, but my recents email and telephone exchanges with the top London private secondary schools indicated that the switch to IB is some years off yet. Obviously English universities recognise the IB though.