Academy drops 'easy' A-levels for international test

The move to continental diplomas is a response to A-level "grade inflation", the decline in foreign languages at school and a desire to challenge pupils.

St Mary Magdalene Academy in Islington is also planning to become one of the few state schools in the country to teach the IB to primary-age children.

It comes as growing numbers of private schools abandon GCSEs and A-levels in favour of more challenging rival courses.

Ministers have promised to make A-levels harder and introduce a new top grade of A*.

But the IB has been gaining in popularity and is available in more than 100 independent and state schools in Britain.

Pupils study six subjects, which must include a foreign language, a science, a humanity and maths. They also take a course in critical thinking and complete a 4,000-word essay. Community projects and volunteering are central.

St Mary Magdalene opened to its first two year-groups last year and will eventually have places for 1,300-pupils aged four to 18.

Principal Paul Hollingum said the IB diploma provided a better academic preparation for university and gave pupils a more rounded education than A-levels.

"I have taught A-levels for 30 years," he said. "I am convinced this course will allow people to become far more independent learners. The philosophy of the courses is about developing the whole individual." The IB teaches pupils to be "principled, open minded and caring".

"It provides a far more balanced approach to a 16-year-old's education than A-levels."

Tutors at Oxford and Cambridge value the independent research skills IB students develop during the course of their extended essays, he added.

One in four A-levels was awarded an A-grade this year and critics claim making the courses modular has made them easier. Pupils can re-take A-level units to boost marks and drop subjects they struggle with after one year.

Mr Hollingum said "grade inflation" was inevitable under these circumstances. Teenagers will need at least seven B-grade GCSEs to study the IB course at the academy, starting next year. The school will also offer vocational courses for pupils not suited to the highly-academic diploma.

Moves are also under way to introduce the IB primary programme to the lower school. All the academy's pupils must study Spanish even though ministers made languages for GCSE pupils optional beyond the age of 14. "It has been too easy in the UK to drop languages," said Mr Hollingum.