IB Primary Years or Mainstream state?

The difference between IB Primary Years and Mainstream state is mostly one axis: money and distance. IB Primary Years sits toward we can pay, and we can travel; Mainstream state sits firmly toward free and local, or it is not an option. They agree, more than most people expect, on when formal academics start, who directs the day and mixed ages. Neither is the correct one. What follows is what each asks of a parent, and where the difference actually shows up on a Tuesday.

IB Primary Years

Children investigate big transdisciplinary questions rather than subjects, within a framework that is specified in considerable detail. It is the most internationally portable education available, built for families who may move, and it is explicit about wanting to produce a certain kind of person — open-minded, inquiring, principled — which is an admirable aim and also a worldview.

What it asks of you

Fees almost everywhere, and usually substantial ones
Comfort with a school that states the disposition it is trying to produce
Tolerance for a lot of process language — the framework is heavily specified
A reason to want portability, or you are paying for something you will not use

Mainstream state

A national curriculum, same-age classes, regular assessment, and an intake drawn from whoever lives nearby. It is the default rather than a philosophy, which is exactly why it belongs on this list: choosing it deliberately is a different act from ending up in it. The mixed intake is a real feature and, for many families, the main argument in its favour.

What it asks of you

Accepting that you get the school you get, and that teaching quality varies inside it
Being willing to supplement at home where the school is thin
Sometimes, moving house — which is how selection works in a system without fees

Side by side

Where they differ

IB Primary Years is the filled marker, Mainstream state the hollow one. Widest difference first.

C2Money and distancewhat your life allows

free and local, or it is not an optionwe can pay, and we can travel

IB Primary Years sits toward we can pay, and we can travel; Mainstream state sits firmly toward free and local, or it is not an option.

V1A view of the world

school should stay neutralschool should teach a view of the world

IB Primary Years sits a little toward school should teach a view of the world; Mainstream state sits toward school should stay neutral.

L4Where the curriculum comes from

it emerges from the childrena fixed body of knowledge, set in advance

IB Primary Years sits between the two; Mainstream state sits toward a fixed body of knowledge, set in advance.

V2Who else is there

a broad, mixed intake matters mosta community that shares our values matters most

IB Primary Years sits a little toward a broad, mixed intake matters most; Mainstream state sits toward a broad, mixed intake matters most.

C1What the family can put inwhat your life allows

school has to run without the parentsbeing in it, daily

IB Primary Years sits between the two; Mainstream state sits toward school has to run without the parents.

L5What a teacher is

a guide who steps backan authority who instructs

IB Primary Years sits between the two; Mainstream state sits toward an authority who instructs.

E3Technology at school

kept out until latebuilt in from the start

IB Primary Years sits toward built in from the start; Mainstream state sits a little toward built in from the start.

V3What it is for

childhood is the pointit should set up university and a career

IB Primary Years sits toward it should set up university and a career; Mainstream state sits a little toward it should set up university and a career.

Where they agree

Usually more than the argument between them suggests.

When formal academics start. Both sit a little toward early, and ambitiously.
Who directs the day. Both sit toward timetabled, and directed by adults.
Mixed ages. Both sit toward classes of the same age.

Neither of these is the correct one

Which fits depends on what you value and on what your week actually allows — and the second of those is the half nobody writes about. The questionnaire scores both.

See which one you are already doing