When choosing an international school, the decision that outlasts the school's name is the curriculum, because it settles how your child will study and be assessed for two or three years. Let us look at the structure of the three first, then at matching them to temperament.

IB Diploma — broad, and it leaves a record of process

The IB Diploma (IBDP) requires one subject from each of six groups, six in total. The areas are divided into literature in the first language, a foreign language, individuals and societies, sciences, mathematics and the arts, so you cannot load your choices onto one side. Each subject is taken at HL (higher) or SL (standard), and to receive the diploma at least three must be at HL.

On top of that sits the core.

• TOK (Theory of Knowledge) — a compulsory course on what it means to know
• EE (Extended Essay) — an independent piece of research writing
• CAS — creativity, activity and service requirements

In other words IB does not end with exam scores. The essay, the activities and the thinking course are all assessed. Many find it demanding as a result, but for a child who works things out in writing and generates their own questions, it is a structure in which their strengths show directly.

A-Level — narrow and deep

The British A-Level runs the other way. It reduces the number of subjects and raises the depth, usually concentrating on three or four.

The advantage is clear. A student whose direction is already settled spends no time on unnecessary subjects. Someone heading into engineering through mathematics and physics can put all their time into those subjects.

The drawback sits in the same place. If the direction changes part way, it is hard to reverse, because subjects not chosen leave no record of study.

AP — not a framework but a set of choices

AP is different in character from IB and A-Level. It is not a single self-contained "diploma" but a structure in which university-level subjects are taken and examined individually. Many subjects are offered across a range of fields, and students pick the subjects they are strong in and sit those.

So at an American-style school the structure becomes school grades (GPA) plus AP results plus standardised tests, assessed together. There is great flexibility, but put another way, the record scatters unless the student designs it themselves.

Narrowing it down by temperament

The three are less a matter of better and worse than of fit. The following questions help.

• Does the child manage several subjects in balance, or come alive in only one or two? — the former suits IB, the latter A-Level or AP
• Can they tolerate writing at length and setting their own topic? — if so, IB's EE and TOK become a strength
• Is the direction already narrowed? — if so, A-Level's concentration is an advantage
• Is there a chance of changing school part way? — IB is relatively portable internationally
• Do they manage their own time? — AP requires self-design

What to check before the curriculum

There is one practical constraint. You cannot choose a programme the school does not offer. And even among IB schools, the subjects offered and the HL options differ.

So the order is this: (1) set the direction from the child's temperament, (2) shortlist schools running that programme, (3) check that school's actual list of subjects offered. Look at the subject list, not the prospectus. Differences between schools are covered in International Schools.

In summary

IB goes broad and leaves a record of process, A-Level goes narrow and deep, and AP lets you pick. All three are recognised by major universities, so rather than "which is more advantageous", it is more practical to settle first "which structure does my child come alive in".