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THE EUROPEAN BACCALAUREATE The European Baccalaureate is taken at the end of the seventh year of secondary education. It is awarded only by the thirteen European Schools and should be distinguished from the International Baccalaureate (IB) and the baccalaureate of various national systems. Details of this examination are set out in the Annex of the Statute of the European School and in the Regulations for the European Baccalaureate, available from the schools. The European Baccalaureate is administered and directly supervised by an external examining board appointed annually by the Board of Governors. The examining board consists of up to three representatives of each member state, who must satisfy the conditions governing the appointment of equivalent examining boards in their respective countries. It is presided over by a senior university educator appointed by each member state in turn, assisted by a member of the Board of Inspectors of the schools. Article 5 (2) of the Statute provides that holders of the Baccalaureate shall:
The Baccalaureate is a two year course and assesses the performance of students in the subjects taught in secondary years 6-7. The first awards of the European Baccalaureate were made in 1959 . The EB is marked in percentages out of 100, and, in contrast to many national systems (e.g. British A-Levels), comprises many compulsory subjects, including a foreign language, some science, mathematics, philosophy, gym, and history and geography (these are taught in the students' first foreign language, i.e. English, German or French). Subjects: Compulsory: Language 1 Language 2 Maths (3 or 5) Gym Religion or ethics Main Options (4 hours weekly): Language 3 Language 4 Economics Physics Chemistry Biology 4h Latin Ancient Greek Philosophy 4h History Geography Students must choose these if they did not take the four hours option: History 2h Geography 2h Philosophy 2h Biology 2h Advanced options: Further Maths Adv L1 Adv L2 More options: Sociology Introductory economics Political sciences Language 5 Lab physics Lab chemistry lab biology Sport Drama Dance The total mark consists of: -15% coursework from 7th year -25% January exams - The remaining 60% from Oral and Written exams in 7th year Consequently, there is a comparatively heavy workload for the students; the system is less suited to such people who prefer to be highly specialised in one field. However the pass-rate is very high (above 90%) due to the practice of 'weeding out' candidates who are not academically strong enough to complete the Baccalaureate. This process starts from an early age whereby many pupils either leave, are asked to leave or fall foul of the 'three strikes' rule (fail a year three times and the student will be asked to leave). Failing and repeating a year is a common occurrence from age 10 upwards, roughly 5% of pupils will fail in each year. However, the pluridiciplinarity it offers is advantageous to students wishing to study in France and Germany. Most of the English section students and a significant minority of students from the other language sections apply to British universities. NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH
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