An AP/IGCSE School

Woodstock's choice to use the Cambridge IGCSE and the CollegeBoard AP exams is a considered one that allows us to serve a mixed ability group of students who come to our programme with a variety of intelligences and gifts that go beyond the academic. These curricula form one piece of a balanced and coherent high school program that best meets our students' needs. They also give us benchmark data to guide our teaching and learning. By using this programme we offer students choice and variety in their Woodstock experience without undue exam pressure. At the same time it gives the students a strong high school foundation in skills and concepts as well as the needed credentials for further education around the world.

Cambridge International General Certificate of Secondary Education examinations in English Language, Mathematics, World History and one Science are mandatory at the end of grade 10. Other IGCSE exams are also available to students on a voluntary basis. The IGCSE exams are widely acknowledged as providing a clear assessment of students' attainment at the end of Grade 10 and are helpful both as indicators of likely performance in APs and in assessing aptitude in different areas of study - in addition to their usefulness as recognised qualifications that will assist students in pursuing further studies overseas. The exams also provide the staff and school with benchmarks as to the comparative level our students have reached by age 16. Woodstock is an official Cambridge International Examination Centre. Woodstock has 15 Authorized CollegeBoard Advanced Placement Courses. Students can take the AP exams in May in subjects of their choice. 90% of American colleges offer college credit for AP exams, and AP exam results are also recognised around the world for university entrance. The Fordham Report in November 2007 rated the AP and the increasingly popular International Baccalaureate exams as basically equivalent in quality of curriculum and assessment, acknowledging that the greatest benefit for students is being in a rigorous, challenging class regardless of which curriculum is used.

The following are the reasons that Woodstock uses the IGCSE and AP programmes:

• Our programme of IGCSE and AP offers a tried and tested alternative within the range of options among international schools
• Both IGCSE and AP are widely recognised and understood worldwide
• APs are recognised by universities in Britain, Europe, Australia and North America for college credit or admission.
• The IGCSEs ensure a sound foundation in core subjects at the grade 10 level; the APs broaden the approach at the grade 11 and 12 levels
• Students can choose which APs they wish to do based on their preferences, strengths and plans; the exams they sit for are not prescribed for them
• The APs are broad enough to serve the variety of subjects and activities which Woodstock seeks to promote
• As a mixed ability school serving India and the international community in India, we can engage students on the levels and areas they are able to excel without undue exam pressure
• APs leave flexibility for the school courses and schedule as well as for staffing
• Woodstock maintains its educational autonomy rather than following a completely prescribed curriculum May 2008