Sec 4 for an IP student looks starkly different to a Sec 4 student who is taking the O levels that year. While O Levels students will find that a bulk of the time will be dedicated to finishing up the syllabus and entering revision mode, IP students still have some time to pick up new topics, only gearing into revision in Term 4.
After all, one of the main purposes of the IP curriculum is to allow students more time to explore more varied learning experiences, which also includes going further in-depth into academic subjects, or going through them at an accelerated pace.
The big difference is that the O Level national exams are a major deciding factor in which schools students can go to after Sec 4. In contrast, the IP Year 4 year-end school-based exams are important – but not as high stakes, because students just need to pass the school’s requirements to move on to Year 5 in the affiliated JC.
Want to know what an IP student’s Sec 4 syllabus looks like? We’ve taken the HCI IP Year 4 Math Syllabus as an example of what it can look like. Take a look below!
Catering to the needs of IP students
You may realise that the IP curriculum has significant enough differences from the O Level syllabus, that it is not productive to teach both IP and O Level students together. On the one hand, the teaching sequence of topics vary across IP and O Level curricula, and even amongst IP schools.
On the other hand, we also detect a noticeable difference in the expected subject mastery of students in the IP track compared to those in the O Level track. Some IP topics are an early introduction to A Level topics, along with more novel application questions.
As such, we believe it is more beneficial for IP students to have their own dedicated tuition classes such as IP Math tuition, separate from the O level students. Our tutors will be able to allocate the right resources to the rigour of their syllabus, and adjust the lesson schedule to their IP curriculum.
Conclusion
After looking at the HCI Math Syllabus for IP Sec 4 students, we hope you have a better idea of what IP students go through in their curriculum. Ideally, this gives you more information you need in order to choose the right tuition class for your child, and what kind of support they would need.
Our classes are loved by students and parents alike, and the results show that it is effective in giving students’ grades a huge boost too!
