In 1981, the French government proposed setting up special international sections staffed by native speakers to provide for the growing numbers of foreign pupils studying in France and to encourage more widespread bilingual education. The OIB (Option Internationale du Baccalauréat) is the international version of the French baccalaureate and is not to be confused with the privately run IB (International Baccalaureate). Schools wishing to set up a new international British section should read the section for new schools at the beginning of the OIB Handbook, available on the ASIBA website.

The French Ministry of Education in conjunction with the educational authorities of the countries involved ensures that teaching and examining of the OIB is of a comparable standard to that of the “home” country. Since Britain has no single national examinations board, the British version of the OIB is jointly run by the Ministère de l’Education Nationale (M.E.N.) and the highly experienced international branch of Cambridge Assessment, University of Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) represented by the OIB Cambridge Inspectors for Language and Literature and History-Geography.

Teachers are mainly native speakers although qualified French nationals who are highly proficient in English may also teach the two OIB subjects. Teacher training is provided by the OIB Cambridge Inspectors once or twice a year, to ensure an adequate exchange concerning the curriculum prior to question-setting and examination-marking. There are also special training sessions for new teachers. Reports are established by the Inspectors after these meetings and an official Handbook, regularly updated in English and French provides all necessary information for those involved or interested in the OIB. (English and French versions are available on the ASIBA website)

Pupils in international sections may be foreign nationals, children of a returning expatriate French family or highly motivated, academically able French native speakers. All of the international sections offering the OIB test for competence in spoken and written English on entry. Whatever the background, pupils sitting the OIB share not only their bilingualism but also the ability to cope with a workload demanding even greater organizational skills, stamina, confidence and maturity than the ordinary French baccalaureate. In the words of Adrian Barlow, Cambridge Inspector for Language and Literature, OIB British Section, pupils are “highly motivated. They have to be, in order to meet the demands of studying English, History and Geography in English at an advanced level and to undergo two rigorous oral examinations” in which “[t]he Language element of OIB Language and Literature is assessed through students’ ability to write fluent and accurate English in the written paper and, in the oral, both to give a 10-minute presentation on Shakespeare and to engage in a discussion ...with two examiners for 20 minutes” on this and a synoptic topic (see BELOW). This, according to Mr. Barlow is “much more demanding than anything required by A level English, which has no oral component.”

The curriculum for the Language and Literature written of the OIB requires close analytical study of one work of drama, prose and poetry respectively. In the written exam (4 hours) questions on two of the works studied must be answered and there is a third compulsory Critical Appreciation section where students have to write an essay on a previously unseen poem or prose passage or a comparative essay on two poems or two prose passages. The synoptic topic of the Language and Literature oral examination (from 2011) involves study of a selection of poems and a minimum of two works from a corpus related to the topic (e.g. Modernism or the Victorian Period). The innovations in Critical Appreciation and the oral examination are a response to recent tendencies in A level Literature in England, which is laying more emphasis now on contextual and comparative study. The oral exam itself (30 minutes) involves a critical presentation of a passage from Shakespeare with 35 minutes’ preparation time, an introductory commentary on a poem studied for the Synoptic Topic and a discussion centred on the two works studied and their relevance to the topic.

The History syllabus, similar to that taught in French, covers the post-WWII period from a British and French perspective, encouraging pupils to identify and study the major themes that characterised the 20th century (international relations, decolonisation, social and economic change in France and Britain) and to provide a clear explanation of the contemporary world. The Geography curriculum involves study of global organisation, the major economic powers and development. In the History- Geography written exam (4 hours), candidates must answer one question on each subject. There is a choice between a structured essay-based question and a structured document-based question. For the oral examination (15 minutes), Key content, comprising 10 Key issues for analysis and 10 Key terms for discussion, covering the whole of the syllabus, is communicated to candidates one month before the written examination, allowing for personal preparation. Just before the oral examination, candidates choose one Key issue and one Key term at random and have 20 minutes in a supervised preparation room to prepare themselves. All orals have an element of both subjects.

In the words of Claire Sladden, Cambridge Inspector for History-Geography, OIB British Section, “good assessment tests what candidates know, what they understand and what they can do. Developing the written and oral examinations in both subjects has put a high tariff on the kinds of skills which both ensure comparability with UK A Level and equip students for higher education.”

The British version OIB forms part of the academic baccalauréat in its S, ES and L streams. It differs from the standard form of the French Baccalaureate only by the substitution of the First Foreign Language exams by the OIB English Language and Literature written and oral exams and by the replacement of History-Geography in French by a History-Geography written and oral exam administered in English and in line with the requirements of the OIB Handbook.

Despite - or perhaps because of - the demanding, yet fulfilling nature of bi-lingual and bi-cultural studies, there has been steady growth in the numbers of international sections and pupils over recent years, and new centres for OIB teaching have been created in several regions of France.

Clearly, families, educational authorities and establishments recognize the need for such a versatile diploma in a world of increasing mobility even at university level.

The British version of the OIB is recognized in France and in English-speaking countries. CIE has recently produced a brochure on the OIB intended for university admissions tutors and this is accessible via the ASIBA and CIE sites. It is now a pre-listed diploma on the UCAS (Universities and Colleges Admissions Service) online enrolment forms for British universities, and it is increasingly valued by French classes préparatoires notably the classes préparatoires économiques et commerciales (preparation classes for the most prestigious schools of economics). Determination to maintain the high academic standard of the OIB and growing numbers of students can only contribute to its increasing popularity with establishments of higher education throughout the world.

British OIB sections enrich the curriculum taught in class via a range of activities. Many offer practical drama activities as an extension of oral work in English Literature. Sections are invited to attend each others’ performances. A number of sections run Model United Nations clubs and participate in international conferences. Other activities include competitions for young writers (of poetry or short stories, for example), often organised so that all sections can take part, fund-raising, and trips to the UK, based on themes and activities connected with OIB studies. The Houses of Parliament in London and The RSC in Stratford-upon-Avon are examples of destinations. These may be associated with trips to visit universities. Most sections run a library to support students’ personal reading in English. In some schools, this offers access to varied media, and families as well as pupils can borrow. In this way, sections provide a rich variety of activities and experiences to support their mission as a cultural (as well as a linguistic) resource within French Lycées. Moreover, since the OIB gives access to overseas universities, sections offer counselling on university applications to UK, North American and other English-medium universities.

The schools offering the OIB form the British OIB schools group. Teachers and Heads of OIB sections meet every year for training and development and to review the examination. Meetings take place mainly in the autumn term and are open to all new schools. The schools group also sends delegates to the annual review meeting with CIE in Cambridge in November each year and maintains contacts with the French authorities, including the DREIC.

Schools Chair: Peter Woodburn hop@enpferney.org

Deputy Schools Chair: James Cathcart: jcathcart@lycee-international.net

National subject leader for English: Nick Baker / nbaker@lycee-international.net

National subject leader for History-Geography: Rob Miller / robjmiller@hotmail.com

The schools offering the OIB and the parents’ associations working within those schools form the membership of ASIBA, an association whose main aim is to support the British version of the OIB. New schools find membership very useful. The ASIBA website can be consulted at http://www.asiba.info.

This brief introduction has been produced in French and English by the schools offering the British OIB. A list of schools currently offering the OIB is available from the Schools Chair. For further and more detailed information see the following pages of the CIE and ASIBA sites:

http://www.cie.org.uk/profiles/ministries/casestudies/france

http://www.asiba.info/oib-handbook.htm