Pre-IB at Rødkilde Gymnasium
Pre-IB at Rødkilde Gymnasium is a one-year programme taught in English for Danish and international students who wish to enter the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) but have not yet completed 11 years of schooling and therefore cannot enter the IBDP directly.
The programme meets the requirements set by the Danish Ministry of Education for the first year of the Danish upper secondary programme, stx. Students must be at least 15 years old by the start of the programme in August and must have completed 9-10 years of schooling, depending on their educational background, not including pre-school (børnehaveklasse). Students from the Danish Folkeskole who have spent an additional year at a Danish efterskole or in an exchange programme must still apply for Pre-IB. Students with an international background are also welcome to apply.
Pre-IB subjects
In Rødkilde's Pre-IB programme, students study a broad range of subjects. Only Rødkilde's Pre-CAS and Pre-TOK are unique to the programme; all other subjects are also offered in the Danish stx programme.
Subjects marked with an asterisk (*) are recognised in the Danish system as official C-level subjects by the end of the year and may therefore be used when applying for higher education.
Unique to Pre-IB
* Official Danish C-level subject
Mandatory learning: tests, exams, and experiences in Pre-IB
Foundation period exams
At the end of the foundation period, the first part of the Pre-IB year, all students sit two mandatory written exams:
- General Science – an interdisciplinary science exam
- General Linguistics – an exam covering the fundamentals of language
The Rødkilde pre-CAS Cross-Curricular Project
The Rødkilde Pre-CAS Cross-Curricular Project is a structured learning experience that takes place during the first half of the spring semester. In this project, students identify a genuine need in the community and work across two or more subject areas to design, carry out, and reflect on a practical response in collaboration with external organisations.
Creativity, Activity and Service (CAS) is a core component of the IB Diploma Programme. The Rødkilde Pre-CAS project introduces students to CAS by giving them early experience of service learning, interdisciplinary inquiry, and responsible engagement beyond the classroom. In this way, the project serves as an introduction to CAS in the IBDP.
The Rødkilde Pre-TOK project
The Rødkilde Pre-TOK project connects the Pre-CAS Cross-Curricular Project and the Historical Investigation by introducing students to Theory of Knowledge (TOK), one of the core components of the IB Diploma Programme. Both Rødkilde’s Pre-TOK and TOK encourage students to reflect on the nature, scope, and limits of knowledge, and on how we come to know what we know. A central aim is to help students examine prior understanding and place new learning in perspective.
Historical Investigation
During the final weeks of the spring semester, each student writes an individual research paper of 6-8 pages called the Pre-IB Historical Investigation, which is followed by an oral defence during the exam period. Completion of both the written investigation and the oral defence is a mandatory requirement for finishing the Pre-IB programme, as is passing the General Science and General Linguistics exams and participating in Rødkilde’s Pre-CAS project.
End-of-year tests
Towards the end of the spring semester, students sit a number of written and oral tests in their Pre-IB subjects. The specific subjects will be announced in mid-May, when the official Danish upper secondary exam schedule is released.
Languages
In Pre-IB, all students study Danish as well as one additional language. The language options are offered at the following levels:
Danish A
first language, for students who are fluent in Danish and have taken Folkeskolens Afgangsprøve (the Danish lower secondary school leaving examination) in Danish
Danish B
for students with little or no prior knowledge of Danish
Continued German (fortsættersprog)
for students with at least two years of prior experience with German
Beginner Spanish (begyndersprog)
for students with little or no prior knowledge of Spanish
Rødkilde Gymnasium is a candidate school* for the Diploma Programme. This school is pursuing authorization as an IB World School. IB World Schools share a common philosophy- a commitment to high-quality, challenging, international education- that we believe is important for our students.
Only schools authorized by the IB Organization can offer any of its four academic programmes: the Primary Years Programme (PYP), the Middle Years Programme (MYP), the Diploma Programme (DP), or the Career-related Programme (CP). Candidate status gives no guarantee that authorization will be granted.
For further information about the IB and its programmes visit http://www.ibo.org