Hello

Interesting email id you have!

Let us come to your concern about IB boards and competitive exams. I believe there are 4 aspects that we should look at when considering success in competitive exams and the impact of board / school on it.

1. Course content: The stated course of the boards, IB, CBSE and ICSE is mostly on similar lines, especially if you look at +2 syllabus. For example, Maths at +2 level has Calculus, Number systems, AP/GP etc in all three. In fact, even the presrcibed level of questions is along similar lines. So not much to worry there.

2. The ecosystem: Schools and peers provide an ecosystem and this is the place where they are likely to have the greatest influence. If most of the students in my school opt for engineering after 12th and prepare for IIT, there is a strong chance that I will do the same. The school will have the knowledge of what are the best coaching centers, when to start preparing, what other engineering exams to give etc. Similarly, if most of the students in my school aspire to go to Cambridge or Harward for their undergraduate degree, I too might be interested in appearing for SAT. So the impact of school (and not the board) is around building this ecosystem. Do you think her school provides this?

3. The machine: With this I mean the coaching classes and other stuff like that. Unfortunately, we prepare for competitive exams like a machine. And thus, they have not remained pure aptitude based exams. So people who "practice" a lot of "right kind of questions" will have an edge due to the coaching industry. It is here that CBSE schools might get a very slight advantage. Because of the popularity of the board, the exams and the coaching classes are very aligned to the CBSE books and course work.

However, if you think your child is getting a good overall development in the school, then that is what matters. With right support, she will be able to do well in the competitive exams too.

Would be interesting to know what you think.

Best,
Kunal