O maturze międzynarodowej słyszy się w ostatnich latach coraz częściej. Możliwość jej zdawania oferują w Polsce akredytowane niepubliczne licea ogólnokształcące i bardzo nieliczne szkoły państwowe. Zdanie takiej matury otwiera szeroko drzwi do podjęcia dalszej edukacji na poziomie uniwersyteckim zarówno w Polsce, jak i na całym świecie i daje znakomite przygotowanie do sprawnego posługiwania się językiem angielskim w trakcie studiów i tym samym do budowania fundamentów swojej kariery zawodowej.
Since September 2021, Regent College International Schools – an accredited Cambridge University school (Cambridge International School) – as the only school in the region offers a unique opportunity to take the international baccalaureate, for which students in our international classes prepare.
The topics of the international curriculum Cambridge Upper Secondary and Cambridge Advanced are discussed in the international program section. Below, we present the most important information about the international baccalaureate itself and how it functions at Regent College International Schools.
General information about international baccalaureates - Q&A
The term international baccalaureate refers to subject examinations that are conducted at the high school level in a foreign language in schools worldwide that educate students in the international Cambridge International Education, International Baccalaureate, or European Baccalaureate program.
The international baccalaureate is a prestigious qualification that is recognized as an admission criterion by domestic and foreign universities (including those with the highest reputation). Moreover, as proof of obtaining general secondary education in a given field, the international baccalaureate is also valued by employers worldwide.
The preparation for the baccalaureate itself, inextricably linked with participation in the advanced international program with English as the language of instruction, will give you a huge advantage over those taking the Polish baccalaureate or studying in so-called bilingual programs – you will be able to freely use specialized English in the field with which you associate your future.
The international baccalaureate is currently prepared and conducted by three institutions/organizations:
- Cambridge International Education, which is part of the University of Cambridge – a university with over 800 years of tradition, belonging to the world’s leading higher education institutions,
- International Baccalaureate Organization – an educational foundation established in 1968 in Geneva
- The European Schools – a European intergovernmental organization established in 1957.
The Cambridge International Education international baccalaureate is known as
Cambridge International AS & A Level or – in short – Cambridge A Level. Due to the fact that it was developed in Great Britain, it is sometimes also called the (international) British baccalaureate.
The international baccalaureate developed by the International Baccalaureate Organization operates under the name International Baccalaureate (IB) and many people identify this baccalaureate with the concept of international baccalaureate. However, it should be remembered that it is only one of three available internationally, as explained below. The third one, offered by The European Schools organization, operates under the name European Baccalaureate (EB).
Each of the above-mentioned institutions prepares its own examination papers based on its own curriculum.
Therefore, we can actually talk about three different international baccalaureates functioning in world education systems. The oldest of them is the Cambridge baccalaureate, which – like IB – is relatively new in Poland. At Regent College International Schools, we offer the Cambridge A Level.
Matura IB wymaga od ucznia przygotowania z aż 6 różnych przedmiotów obowiązkowo – wszyscy uczniowie zdawać muszą egzamin maturalny z matematyki, 5 innych przedmiotów oraz uczestniczyć w dodatkowych przedmiotach i pozalekcyjnym programie wolontariatowym. Matura Cambridge A Level wymaga przygotowania z 3-4 przedmiotów i daje o wiele więcej swobody w doborze przedmiotów odpowiadających zainteresowaniom i dalszym planom danego ucznia – zwykle uczniowie decydują się na zdawanie tylko tych egzaminów, które są wymagane do przyjęcia na wybrany przez siebie kierunek studiów.
Poniższa tabela zestawia maturę IB, Cambridge A Level oraz polską maturę.
polska matura | IB | Cambridge A Level | |
język wykładowy | polski | angielski | angielski |
ilość przedmiotów | 4-8 | 6 | 3-4 |
przedmioty obowiązkowe | polski, matematyka, język obcy | matematyka i 5 innych EE, CAS, TOK* | 3-4 |
przedmioty rozszerzone | 1 obowiązkowo – do 5 maximum | do wyboru z 5 grup przedmiotów | do wyboru |
wymagania/obciążanie edukacyjne | średnie do wysokich | wysokie | zróżnicowane – w zależności od wybranej opcji i ilości przedmiotów |
akceptowalność w Polsce | tak | tak | tak |
akceptowalność za granicą | ograniczona | tak | tak |
*Theory of Knowledge (TOK) Course, Extended Essay (EE), Creativity, Action, Service (CAS) – program wolontariatowy
Tabela przygotowana na podstawie zestawianie Akademeia High School z Warszawy.
Zachęcamy również do zapoznania się z fragmentem jednego z seminariów zorganizowanych w ramach targów edukacyjnych Our Kids Expo Szkół Niepublicznych, w czasie którego Pani Dominika Fiołna – Head of Sixth Form z warszawskiej szkoły Akademeia High School przedstawiła główne zalety Cambridge A Level w porównaniu z IB.
Absolutely. Cambridge A Level, like IB and EB, are recognized by Polish universities, including the most prestigious ones such as the University of Warsaw, Jagiellonian University, Warsaw University of Technology, AGH in Krakow, or UAM in Poznań.
When planning your further education at the university level (in Poland or abroad), it is worth taking an early interest in what the admission criteria are (which subject baccalaureates are required for a given field) and whether the chosen university specifies any additional requirements. In case of doubt, you can contact the recruitment department of the given university directly.
Uznawalność matury pochodzącej spoza danego systemu edukacji leży w gestii każdej uczelni wyższej, ale matury Cambridge A Level i IB cieszą się tak dużą popularnością i szacunkiem, że trudno dziś znaleźć uczelnię, która by ich nie uznawała.
Maturę Cambridge A Level uznaje ponad 650 amerykańskich uczelni, w tym wszystkie z tzw. Ivy League i Ivy League Plus (zrzeszenia elitarnych uczelni amerykańskich, wśród których znajdują się m.in. uniwersytety Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Pensylwania, MIT i Princeton) oraz najbardziej prestiżowe uniwersytety w Wielkiej Brytanii, Niemczech, Holandii, Belgii, Francji i wielu innych krajach. Co więcej, przedstawiciele tych uczelni wypowiadają się o programie Cambridge A Level w samych superlatywach wskazując na to, jak znakomicie przygotowuje do podjęcia studiów wyższych.
Planując swoją dalszą edukację na poziomie uniwersyteckim, zwłaszcza jeśli myślimy o studiach za granicą, warto odpowiednio wcześnie zainteresować się, jakie są kryteria przyjęcia (matury z jakich przedmiotów) są wymagane na dany kierunek i czy dana uczelnia określa poza tym jakieś dodatkowe wymagania. W razie wątpliwości, można skontaktować się bezpośrednio z działem rekrutacji danej uczelni.
Więcej o uznawalności matury Cambridge A Level i warunkach przyjęcia na studia w różnych krajach można przeczytać w materiale „University recognition worldwide Guide to the recognition and acceptance of Cambridge qualifications” – kliknij.
International baccalaureate at Regent College - Q&A
As an accredited Cambridge University school – Cambridge International School – we prepare students for the international baccalaureate Cambridge International AS & A-Level. The AS level can be compared to the basic Polish baccalaureate, while the A-Level to the extended baccalaureate.
Students can prepare for the international baccalaureate from the first year of our high school and take IGCSE (International General Certificate of Secondary Education) exams at the end of the second year, and then proceed to prepare for the proper baccalaureate (AS and A-Level) in the third and fourth year of high school. They can also start preparing for the international baccalaureate from the third year of high school, although they must then count on the need for more intensive work – both on English language and on the program content itself.
You decide how many and which subjects you study as part of your baccalaureate preparation. When choosing, you should be guided by the requirements of the university you are applying to. Many German universities, for example, only require grades from specific subjects at A Level (which means that if you’re applying to these universities, you don’t need to take IGCSE exams and can limit yourself to AS and A Level exams only), while universities in the UK or the Netherlands often stipulate that grades from IGCSE, AS and A Level exams are taken into account during admission.
It is also worth adding that passing the IGCSE English exam at an appropriately high level is viewed by many foreign universities as equivalent to an English language proficiency certificate (such as CAE and CPE). Such a certificate is required by all universities with English as the language of instruction.
We offer preparation at IGCSE, AS and A_Level levels in the following subjects: English (extended academic profile), history, geography, mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology, and Spanish. Students in the third year choose 3 or four subjects from this list, from which they prepare for the international baccalaureate. Other subjects from the list of over 50 offered within Cambridge AS/A-Level can be offered depending on interest.
The best choice should be made based on the requirements of the university you are applying to. It’s worth starting to take an interest in this topic as early as the first year of high school.
Cambridge International Education publishes program summaries and sample examination papers for all subjects on its website. After finding the desired subject on the list, click on it and select Syllabus Overview from the menu on the left to review the program summary or Past Papers to look at examination papers from previous years.
Database of materials for IGCSE level subjects (first and second year of high school).
Database of materials for AS and A Level subjects (third and fourth year of high school).
Both IGCSE and AS and A Level exams take place in the summer session between late April and mid-June. There is also the possibility of taking exams in the autumn session. Subjects are arranged so that they do not conflict with each other. Graduates are informed about the results in mid-August, and when submitting applications to universities that require results earlier, so-called forecast grades are used.
The international baccalaureate is conducted at our school – Regent College International Schools in Elbląg. Sealed examination papers received directly from Cambridge are sent back to the UK immediately after the exam and evaluated there. Some subjects also offer the option of taking exams partially as coursework – papers written independently by students are evaluated in such cases by our teachers and then sent to Cambridge for moderation.
The certificates of passing examinations as part of the international baccalaureate are issued by Cambridge International Education, which is part of Cambridge University.
See sample certificate.
For our graduates interested in foreign university offers, we offer participation in information sessions dedicated to this topic and assistance in contacting representatives of the recruitment departments of individual universities.
We encourage you to familiarize yourself with the information package prepared for students and parents interested in the international baccalaureate:
