An SBS International education provides a holistic learning experience so that students become well-rounded individuals whose intellectual capacity and social and emotional growth is nurtured hand in hand. However, specialist learning pathways within our schools also offer a crucial way to cater to students’ individual strengths and interests and allow them to delve deeper into specific subjects or fields, providing essential preparation and a competitive advantage for university courses and application.
Each school in the AOI group offers unique specialist pathways but all have a common standard as follows
- Academic Qualification
Students are given the opportunity to become highly qualified in disciplines directly related to their chosen specialism. This is guided by subject selection at the age of 14 and 16 and related to the schools curriculum eg IGCSE subject choices; A Level or IB subject choices; or specialist vocational courses such as BTEC or the Extended Project Qualification at A Level.
SBS International School Bangkok courses are nationally and internationally recognised as gold standard educational programmes.
- Specialist Teaching
A specialist pathway requires expert teachers to inspire the passions and interests of our students. Our recruitment processes for teachers in these areas seeks to find staff who:
- Are highly qualified practitioners.
- Demonstrate evidence of high quality students outcomes (eg. examination performance)
- Have vocational experience in the area of specialism.
- Have innate passion and enthusiasm to inspire children and young people.
- Academic Mentoring and University Guidance
Students who take a specialist route know the importance of high academic performance in their chosen subject options. University entrance requirements for specialist areas (particularly medical science) will expect the highest grades. Our staff intensively monitor our student’s academic profile to ensure that school intervention and external support provides the best possible academic qualification.
Our University Counsellors provide expert guidance to ensure that University matriculation (the formal process of entering a university or becoming eligible to enrol in one) is a best fit for the student to further study their specialist discipline. Our University Counselling team proactively engage with top tier Universities so that the reciprocal benefits of formal partnerships are utilised
- University Partnership
All specialist pathways are enriched by a close connection to leading universities in the region. University partnerships and MOUs typically include opportunities such as:
- Visiting speakers and programme leaders.
- Specialist residency programmes in the home school eg Professor in residence.
- University internships/work experience.
- Summer camps and out of hours enrichment courses.
- Linked accreditation to University Foundation courses.
- Enrichment
SBS International School Bangkok ensures that a rich breadth of enrichment opportunities are a feature of the curricular and extra-curricular programme. Often, accredited external courses become integrated within the mainstream programme, so that students can develop a broader academic profile related to their area of interest – examples of this include international Science Awards; Maths Competitions; Sports qualifications etc.
- Student Portfolios
Our students develop a portfolio of evidence to support university applications in order to gain a competitive advantage. The benefits are multifaceted as portfolios enable students to showcase their specialist achievements and skills beyond grades and test scores, and provide a richer picture of their potential as a learner and university applicant.
Student Portfolios provide a more nuanced evaluation compared to traditional applications.
By moving beyond a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach, specialist pathways can ignite a student’s curiosity, equip them with targeted skills, and prepare them to excel in a competitive and ever-evolving job market.
