Key Stage 5

Students of our International A-level in Biology will develop their knowledge and understanding of the different areas of biology and how they interrelate, looking at how biology contributes to the success of the economy and society.

The following topics are covered in the course:

• Molecules, Transport and Health
• Membranes, Proteins, DNA and Gene Expression
• Cell Structure, Reproduction and Development
• Plant Structure and Function, Biodiversity and Conservation
• Energy Flow, Ecosystems and the Environment
• Microbiology, Immunity and Forensics
• Respiration, Muscles and the Internal Environment
• Coordination, Response and Gene Technology
• Practical skills and techniques

Assessment consists of six exams-

Paper 1 and 2- both 1 hour and 30 minutes, each worth 20% of the final mark.

Paper 3 and 6- both 1 hour and 20 minutes, each worth 10% of the final mark.

Paper 4 and 5- both 1 hour and 45 minutes, each worth 20% of the final mark

Students of our Edexcel International Advanced Level in Business Studies will gain a holistic understanding of business and develop a range of relevant skills, including decision making, problem solving, challenging assumptions and quantifying and managing information.

The following topics are covered in the course:

Unit 1 Business Enterprise: Researching a business opportunity, Supply and demand, Finance, Measuring business performance, The wider business environment

Unit 2 Business Structures and Processes: Marketing, Managing operations, Managing finance, Managing people.

Unit 3 Strategic Business Decisions: Corporate objectives and strategy, Making strategic and tactical decisions, Assessing competitiveness, Company growth.

Unit 4 Business in a Global Context: International markets, Changing global economy, Business location, Other considerations before trading internationally, Global marketing, Multinational corporations (MNCs).

The assessment consists of 4 examinations, each unit is equally weighted at 25%. Examination of unit 1 and unit 2 will last 1 hour 30 minutes each while examination of unit 3 and unit 4 will last 2 hours each.

Students of our International A-level in Chemistry will develop essential knowledge and understanding of different areas of the subject and how they relate to each other, including an appreciation of how chemistry contributes to the economy and society.

The following topics are covered in the course:

• Formulae, Equations and Amount of Substance
• Atomic Structure and the Periodic Table
• Bonding and Structure
• Introductory Organic Chemistry and Alkanes
• Alkenes
• Energetics
• Intermolecular Forces
• Redox Chemistry and Groups 1, 2 and 7
• Introduction to Kinetics and Equilibria
• Organic Chemistry: Alcohols, Halogenoalkanes and Spectra
• Kinetics
• Entropy and Energetics
• Chemical Equilibria
• Acid-base Equilibria
• Organic Chemistry: Carbonyls, Carboxylic Acids and Chirality
• Redox Equilibria
• Transition Metals and their Chemistry
• Organic Chemistry: Arenes
• Organic Nitrogen Compounds: Amines, Amides, Amino Acids and Proteins
• Organic Synthesis
• Practical skills and techniques

Assessment consists of 6 exams:

Paper 1 and 2- both 1 hour and 30 minutes, each worth 20% of the final mark.

Paper 3 and 6- both 1 hour and 20 minutes, each worth 10% of the final mark.

Paper 4 and 5- both 1 hour and 45 minutes, each worth 20% of the final mark

Students of our International A-level in English Language will study English Language in a global context, including the influence of other languages on the development of English. New topics with an international focus include ‘Contemporary Global English’ and ‘Language and Technology’.

The following topics are covered in the course:

• the range of contexts in which language is produced and received
• how the contexts of production and reception affect language choices
• how writers/speakers present themselves to their audience in a variety of modes
• how writers/speakers choose language to reflect and construct their identity or identities
• how writers create texts for different forms, purposes, audiences, and contexts
• the influence of other languages on the development of English
• pidgins and creoles
• the development of English outside the British Isles
• study a range of specified writing genres and appropriate style models
• demonstrate their skills as writers in re-creating texts for different context, purpose and audience.
• Contemporary Global English
• Children’s Language Development
• Language and Power
• Language and Technology

Assessment consists of four exams-

Paper 1 and 2 – both 1 hour and 45 minutes, worth 25% of the final mark

Paper 3 and 4 – both 2 hours, worth 25% of the final mark

Students of our International A-level in  English Literature will study works by Dickens, Brontë and Shakespeare, pre-1900 poetry as well as post-2000 poetry and prose, together with a range of texts with a wide international appeal, including The Kite Runner and White Tiger.

The following units  are studies in the course:

Unit 1- Post-2000 Poetry and Prose

Unit 2- Drama

Unit 3- Poetry and prose

Unit 4- Shakespeare and Pre-1900 Poetry

The following prescribed texts could be studied:

• Brooklyn, Colm Tóibín
• The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini
• The Life of Pi, Yann Martel
• Purple Hibiscus, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
• The White Tiger, Aravind Adiga.
• Doctor Faustus, Christopher Marlowe
• Othello, William Shakespeare
• The Rover, Aphra Behn
• She Stoops to Conquer, Oliver Goldsmith
• Twelfth Night, William Shakespeare.
• A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry
• A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams
• Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller
• Top Girls, Caryl Churchill
• Waiting for Godot, Samuel Beckett
• The Color Purple, Alice Walker
• Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
• What Maisie Knew, Henry James.
• Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad
• The Lonely Londoners, Samuel Selvon
• A Passage to India, E. M. Forster.
• Frankenstein, Mary Shelley
• The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood
• Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro.
• Beloved, Toni Morrison
• Mrs Dalloway, Virginia Woolf
• Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë.
• Hamlet, William Shakespeare
• King Lear, William Shakespeare
• Measure for Measure, William Shakespeare
• The Taming of the Shrew, William Shakespeare
• Metaphysical Poets: prescribed poems from Metaphysical Poetry, Editor Colin Burrow, (Penguin, 2006)
• The Victorians: prescribed poems from The Oxford Book of Victorian Verse, Editor Christopher Ricks, (OUP, 2008)
• The Romantics: prescribed poems from English Romantic Verse, Editor David Wright, (Penguin Classics, 1973).

Assessment consists of four exams, all 4 hours, each worth 25% of the final mark

Students of our International A-level in Economics will learn to think as economists, looking at the sector’s contribution to our understanding of society and learning to apply a range of key economic concepts to both national and international contexts.

The following topics are covered in the course:

• Introductory concepts
• Consumer behaviour and demand
• Supply
• Price determination
• Market failure
• Government intervention in markets
• Measures of economic performance
• Aggregate demand (AD)
• Aggregate supply (AS)
• National income
• Economic growth
• Macroeconomic objectives and policies
• Types and sizes of businesses
• Revenue, costs and profits
• Market structures and contestability
• Labour markets
• Government intervention
• Causes and effects of globalisation
• Trade and the global economy
• Balance of payments, exchange rates and international competitiveness
• Poverty and inequality
• The role of the state in the macroeconomy
• Growth and development in developing, emerging and developed economies

Assessment consists of four exams-

Paper 1 and 2 – both 1 hour and 45 minutes, worth 25% of the final mark

Paper 3 and 4 – both 2 hours, worth 25% of the final mark

Students of our International A-level in Geography will develop their knowledge of locations, places, processes and environments, at all geographical scales from local to global across the specification as a whole. They will also develop an in-depth understanding of the selected geographical patterns, processes and issues in physical and human geography at a range of temporal and spatial scales, and of the concepts that illuminate their significance in a range of locational contexts

The following topics are covered in the course:

• World at Risk
• Going Global
• Crowded Coasts
• Urban Problems, Planning and Regeneration
• Atmosphere and Weather Systems
• Biodiversity Under Threat
• Tectonic Activity and Hazards
• Feeding the World’s People
• Cultural Diversity: People and Landscapes
• Human Health and Disease

Optional topics-

• Energy Security or Water Conflicts
• Superpower Geographies or Bridging the Development Gap

Assessment consists of four exams-

Paper 1 – 1 hour and 45 minutes, worth 30% of the final mark

Paper 2 and 4 – both 1 hour and 30 minutes, each worth 20% of the final mark

Paper 3 – 2  hours, worth 30% of the final mark

Students of our International A-level in History will study the most popular historical periods and themes, with a greater emphasis on more internationally significant periods and themes, such as ‘India 1857–1947’ and ‘The world in crisis 1879–1945’. Unit 4 takes an international relations approach, interpreting divisive periods of international history.

The following periods and themes may be studied in the course:

• France in Revolution, 1774–99
• Russia in Revolution, 1881–1917
• Germany, 1918–45
• Britain, 1964–90.
• India, 1857–1948: The Raj to Partition
• China, 1900–76
• Russia, 1917–91: From Lenin to Yeltsin
• South Africa, 1948–2014
• USA, Independence to Civil War, 1763–1865
• The British Experience of Warfare, 1803–1945
• Germany: United, Divided and Reunited, 1870–1990
• Civil Rights and Race Relations in the USA, 1865–2009
• The Making of Modern Europe 1805–71
• The World in Crisis 1879–1945
• The World Divided: Superpower Relations, 1943–90
• The Cold War and Hot War in Asia, 1945–90.

Assessment consists of four 2-hour exams, each worth 25% of the final mark

Students of our International A-level in Law will be able to demonstrate the importance of legal institutions and their relationship to other institutions in society and provide a broad understanding of the various branches of law in order to give a fuller picture of the role of law.

The following topics are covered in the course:

• The nature and purpose of law
• Legal theories are introduced which help develop an understanding of the role, function and benefits of law in society
• Concepts of justice and morality are compared with law both in England and elsewhere
• Parliamentary and judicial law making
• How legal disputes are resolved by a range of people involved in that process
• The effectiveness, impact and costs of the law
• The overlap between civil and criminal outcomes from the same event
• Separate legal consequences of activities
• The application of legal principles
• Outcomes in dispute resolution in decided cases and statutes
• The contrast in the use of law is explored through different contexts

Assessment consists of two 3-hour exams, each worth 50% of the final mark.

Students of our International A-level in Maths will be encouraged to take responsibility for their own learning and mathematical development. They will use their knowledge and skills to apply mathematics to real-life situations, solve unstructured problems and use mathematics as an effective means of communication. Students can study for the following qualifications:

• International A Level in Mathematics

Topics include:

Pure 1: Algebra and functions; coordinate geometry in the (x, y); trigonometry; differentiation; integration.

Pure 2: Proof; algebra and functions; coordinate geometry in the (x, y) plane; sequences and series; exponentials and logarithms; trigonometry; differentiation; integration.

Pure 3: Algebra and functions; trigonometry; exponentials and logarithms; differentiation; integration; numerical methods.

Pure 4: Proof; algebra and functions; coordinate geometry in the (x, y) plane; binomial expansion; differentiation; integration; vectors.

Statistics 1: Mathematical models in probability and statistics; representation and summary of data; probability; correlation and regression; discrete random variables; discrete distributions; the Normal distribution.

Mechanics 1: Mathematical models in mechanics; vectors in mechanics; kinematics of a particle moving in a straight line; dynamics of a particle moving in a straight line or plane; statics of a particle; moments.

Topics include:

Further Pure 1: Complex numbers, Roots of quadratic equations, Numerical solutions of equations, Coordinate systems, Matrix algebra integration, Transformations using matrices, Series, Proof

Further Pure 2: Inequalities, Series, Further complex numbers ,First order differential equations, Maclaurin and Taylor series, Polar coordinates

Further Pure 3: Hyperbolic functions, Further coordinate systems, Differentiation, Integration, Vectors, Further matric algebra

Mechanics 2: Kinematics of a particle moving in a straight line or plane, Centres of mass, Work and energy, Collision, Statics of rigid bodies

Statistics 2: The Binomial and Poisson distributions, Continuous random variables, Continuous distributions, Hypothesis tests

Decision 1: Algorithms, Algorithms on graphs, Algorithms on graphs II, Critical path analysis, Linear programming

A total of 14 different units can be chosen from to build the desired qualification. Each A level consists of 6 units which are assessed by a 1 hour and 30-minute exam worth 16.66% of the final mark. Details on specific units and their content can be provided by the Maths department

Students of our International A-level in Physics will develop essential knowledge and understanding, including an appreciation of the link between theory and experiment, and the skills to design, execute and analyse their own investigations.

The following topics are covered in the course:

• Mechanics
• Materials
• Waves and Particle Nature of Light
• Electric Circuits
• Further Mechanics
• Electric and Magnetic Fields
• Nuclear and Particle Physics
• Thermodynamics
• Nuclear Decay
• Oscillations
• Astrophysics and Cosmology
• Practical skills and techniques

Assessment consists of 6 exams:

Paper 1 and 2- both 1 hour and 30 minutes, each worth 20% of the final mark.

Paper 3 and 6- both 1 hour and 20 minutes, each worth 10% of the final mark.

Paper 4 and 5- both 1 hour and 45 minutes, each worth 20% of the final mark

Students of our Edexcel International Advanced Level in Psychology will study a combination of classic and contemporary studies, selected to suit an international audience, and develop an understanding of social and cognitive psychology, biological psychology, learning theories and development, applications of psychology and clinical psychology, and psychological skills.

Topics include:

• Unit 1: Social psychology and cognitive psychology
• Unit 2: Biological Psychology, Learning Theories and Development
• Unit 3: Applications of Psychology, developmental psychology, Criminological psychology, Health psychology
• Unit 4: Clinical Psychology and Psychological Skills

Case studies will explore complex issues such as:

• Burger (2009) Replicating Milgram: Would people still obey today?
• Darling et al. (2007) Behavioural evidence for separating components within visuo-spatial working memory.
• Sacchi et al. (2007) Changing history: doctored photographs affect memory for past public events.
• Watson and Rayner (1920) Little Albert: Conditioned emotional reactions.
• Prot (2014) Long-Term Relations Among Prosocial-Media Use, Empathy, and Prosocial Behaviour.
• Bastian et al. (2011) Cyber-dehumanization: Violent video game play diminishes our humanity.

This is a sample of the case studies, many more will be explored throughout the four units.

Assessments consist of 4 final examinations.