English is not just a subject on the curriculum of Bloomsbury International School Hatyai (‘BISH’) and other international schools; it’s also the medium of instruction for most other subjects (such as Mathematics and Science). Consequently, it’s essential that students attain a high standard of English for their academic advancement and their communication skills.

English also has great significance outside the classroom. Approximately 400 million people speak it as their first language while around 1.2 billion speak it as a second language. It’s the world’s largest lingua franca, the native language in the United Kingdom and the United States, the official language in 69 states and the accepted medium for international business, science, technology, diplomacy, air and sea transportation, sport, academic conferences, advertising, pop music and the Internet.

In November 2007 English was officially adopted as the working language of ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations), which Thailand joined as a founding co-member in August 1967.

A good command of English is thus essential for reasons arising not just from studying but also for expression, comprehension and communication purposes in situations relating to careers and general life. To enable students to achieve, sustain and develop high standards in English, BISH includes a substantial element of English studies in its curriculum. BISH students’ English is regularly tested with specialist and supplementary support being made available to individuals as their circumstances require. BISH firmly believes that providing all students with rigorous English studies is an essential component of international studies in the C21.

Bloomsbury International School Hatyai (‘BISH’) is an approved local delivery centre for Cambridge International Examinations (‘CIE’). CIE is the world’s largest provider of international qualifications for Secondary school students as well as being renowned for its Cambridge International Primary Programme and Cambridge Checkpoint tests. CIE forms part of the University of Cambridge, UK, which has been delivering education of the highest quality for over 800 years.

While Cambridge is situated in the UK, CIE has - out of all the contemporary international school curriculum providers - distinguished itself by offering courses suitable not just for the children of British expatriates but also for all young people seeking a truly global preparation for their university studies, careers and lives.

CIE is a not-for-profit organisation where the concepts of service and professionalism always come first: consequently, it is committed to best practice in all aspects of its operation. All proceeds are directed to the continuous improvement of its resources for schools such as BISH, students and other stakeholders.

BISH has chosen to work with CIE as a curricular provider on the basis of the latter’s provision of high quality, leading-edge qualifications that meet the ongoing demands of employers and educators across the world. CIE has over 150 years’ experience of working in partnership with ministries of education, qualifications authorities, examination and assessment boards and schools around the world.

In some countries (such as Singapore) CIE examinations constitute the default state qualification for Secondary students. In others, CIE works with governments to reform education systems, localise examinations and train officials, teachers, markers and examiners in curriculum development and assessment.

Every year, nearly a million students aged 5 – 19 from 10,000 schools in 160 countries prepare for their future with CIE examinations. The fact that CIE qualifications are recognised by universities and employers all over the world provides students preparing for them at schools such as BISH with yet another advantage: that of easy flexibility and transferability. Students who take one particular CIE grade at a school which enjoys CIE local delivery centreship (such as BISH) can transfer easily and smoothly to another approved CIE anywhere in the world to continue their studies should their parents change their job location. Consequently, a CIE education provides students with an educational ‘passport’ to equivalent institutions in other countries and continents.

Moreover, CIE schools such as BISH form part of a global educational community which offers teachers a range of helpful ways to share knowledge and ideas for the benefit of their own professional development, the institutions at which they work and – above all – their students.

Further information about CIE may be viewed at www.cie.org.uk/

The kernel of the CIE curriculum for students of statutory school age is the National Curriculum of England, the latest version of which came into effect in September 2015.

This curriculum (which is also sometimes referred to as the ‘English National Curriculum’, the ‘UK National Curriculum’ and the ‘British National Curriculum’) is highly popular with international schools in a range of different countries. It is famous for its extremely detailed, meticulously planned, comprehensively structured and highly integrated approach to students’ ‘whole school experience’ from the ages of 3 to 19. It is a skills- and outcomes-based curriculum well supported by a host of excellent textbooks and associated resources with its own testing system. It fits into the English public examination system (of which the [i]GCSE, AS and A Level examinations are the best known components), which is recognised and accepted by universities and employers across the globe.

The National Curriculum for England provides students with an education that is both recognised and generally held in high esteem around the world. Acknowledged for its high academic standards and its well-rounded approach to education, the curriculum provides students with transferability and the opportunity to gain access to reputable universities, worldwide.

Many international schools in a range of territories (including BISH) use the National Curriculum of England but adapt and supplement it with other contents chosen in accordance with local and regional cultural needs and expectations. This results in an effective academic blend which is both locally relevant and globally applicable – the best of both worlds!

Further information about the relationship between CIE and the National Curriculum of England may be viewed at www.cie.org.uk/images/254430-overview-of-cambridge-pre-14-curricula-and-the-national-curriculum-for-england.pdf

With CIE and the National Curriculum, BISH has looked to develop a curriculum that takes the best elements of both and develop a ‘Bloomsbury’ curriculum that offers a wide range of opportunities to develop global citizenship and thinking skills which will benefit students as they progress through their educational paths and beyond that into the world of work.

The National Curriculum of England organises school education into various Key Stages corresponding to different student ages and qualifications. Perhaps the best way to explain this is in chart form:

¹ Cambridge Primary Checkpoint is a diagnostic assessment tool for the end of the Cambridge Primary programme in English, Mathematics and Science (taken at the end of Year 6). BISH does not currently offer this programme; our Primary students are evaluated using the New Group Reading Test (NGRT) assessments at the beginning and end of the academic year. Please see for further details. We also use UK SATs to assess Primary students’ English at all levels (for Writing, Spelling Punctuation and Grammar and Reading Comprehension) and Maths. For History, Geography and Science, we use teacher created assessments as there are no standardised tests for these subjects at this level.

Key Stage 3 refers to students in Years 7-9. This level is known by various forms of nomenclature: sometimes it’s called ‘Middle School’, sometimes ‘Lower Secondary’ and sometimes ‘Secondary 1’.

It’s a highly crucial transitional age at which students are no longer children but not yet full adults: they’re teenagers (or young adults) preparing for important choices to be made in their later lives over vital matters such as their study and career interests, their personal development and their future direction and goals.

Curricular materials and options offered by BISH at this important stage are specifically designed for students who have completed their Primary studies and are on the threshold of more specialised education, bearing in mind not just the academic and intellectual but also the psychological and emotional changes they face when they reach this age group.

BISH teachers and academic managers liaise closely with parents and guardians to ensure that the choices and decisions students make at Key Stage 3 are fully informed and that they suitably balance individual factors with the more general academic circumstances that apply.

At the end of Year 9, all BISH students take the Cambridge Checkpoint examination for Key Stage 3 in Mathematics and Science. Native English speaking students also take Cambridge Checkpoint English for First Language English speakers; those for whom English is an additional / non-native language take the Cambridge ESOL First Certificate in English examination. BISH teachers provide all students with comprehensive preparation and guidance for these qualifications during the preceding years in question.

Key Stage 4 refers to students in Years 10-11. This level is known by various forms of nomenclature which include ‘Lower Division’, ‘Upper Secondary’ and ‘Secondary 2’. It’s the stage that prepares students at BISH and other international schools that follow UK-derived curricula for International General Certificates in Secondary Education (or ‘IGCSEs’).

The CIE IGCSE is the world’s most popular international qualification for 14-16 year-olds. It is normally offered as a 2-year course, although it may be possible in exceptional circumstances for students to complete it in shorter periods.

Most IGCSE students take about 9 IGCSE examination subjects. These normally include core and optional subjects. Core ones consist of English Language, Mathematics and Science (with the latter being taken either as a double general award subject or in combination of single subjects from Biology, Chemistry and Physics). Optional subjects are chosen from a range of Humanities and other areas based on a student’s interests and aptitudes, the preferences of parents / guardians, the advice of BISH teachers and academic managers and timetabling practicalities.

IGCSEs are set, assessed and certified by CIE; during the preceding 2 years, internal IGCSE assessments are conducted by BISH’ team of qualified teachers and academic managers in accordance with CIE protocols.

The CIE IGCSE is graded using a 6-point scale (from ‘A’ to ‘G’). Grades awarded do not necessarily relate to a percentage achieved by the student but rather to a particular level of achievement they attain in quality of answers and critical thinking.

The IGCSE is internationally recognised as being equivalent to the GCSE used by schools in the UK.

Both qualifications have their origins in the introduction of the General Certificate of Education (‘GCE’) Ordinary Level (‘O’ Level) examination for 16 year old students in England in 1951. In 1988 two important changes took place. Firstly O Level examinations were replaced by the GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education); secondly, Cambridge agreed to make special provision for the growing number of international schools being established throughout the world to cater for children of British diplomats and the increasingly mobile workforce of international corporations. This was based on the GCSE but was entitled the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (‘IGCSE’) and generally included contents and orientation of a more global character.

The domestic UK GCSE examinations were set according to nationally agreed criteria that provided guidance on syllabus content; this system continues today. A national quality assurance framework laid down by the British government ensures parity of GCSE standards across different examining boards and syllabuses

The IGCSE has remained broadly similar in scope and standard to the GCSE but more global in outlook, orientation & subject matter; today it’s taught in more than 100 different countries and is recognised by universities worldwide. In 2006 the UK Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (‘QCA’) commissioned a comparative evaluation of GCSEs and IGCSEs and concluded course syllabuses and assessment criteria were broadly similar in standard.

Over recent years, the outlook in many UK schools has become more global, resulting in an increasing number now offering the IGCSE as well or instead of the GCSE.

Key Stage 5 refers to students in Years 12 and 13 (known in the UK as the Upper and Lower Sixth Form and internationally as the Advanced Level). It’s the stage that prepares BISH and other students for GCE AS (Advanced Supplementary) and A (Advanced) level examinations.

These are the world’s most popular pre-university qualifications; they’re recognised worldwide for their high academic standard and rigour. They’re currently taken in c 130 countries by c. 170,000 candidates and usually follow 13 years of education (hence ‘Year 13’).

The ‘norm’ is that students preparing for AS/A Levels complete c. 360 hours of guided learning normally over a 2-year period; one A Level course normally equals 7 modules (consisting of 4 AS and 3 A2 units: the former taken in Year 12 and the latter in Year 13).

Teachers and academic managers at BISH liaise closely with students, parents and guardians to advise over AS/A Level subject choices, to monitor progress and to provide counselling.

Assessments are conducted by CIE.

All universities in the United Kingdom recognise these qualifications. The latter are also recognised by 434 universities in the United States of America, by 41 universities in Canada, by 38 universities in Australia and by various universities and other higher education institutions in India, Singapore and South Africa.

In Thailand, A Levels are now insisted upon by the Thai Ministry of Education as entrance qualifications to international programmes delivered at universities across the country including Chulalongkorn, Mahidol, Thammasat, Assumption and Prince of Songkhla University.