What is a curriculum, exactly?

A curriculum is the planned content and sequence of learning: what is taught in each year, in what order, and how progress is checked. It is different from a qualification, which is the certificate a student leaves with, and from accreditation, which confirms a school meets a standard.

Which curriculum should we choose?

There is no single best system. The right choice depends on the child's age, how likely you are to move again, and which system is common in the places you might live next. Read the individual curriculum pages, then the comparison, then compare them before you decide which schools to ask.

Do all schools that say "British" or "American" teach the same thing?

No. The label tells you the framework, but the examination board, subject offering and how much of the week goes to host-country requirements vary between schools. Always confirm with the school what is actually taught in your child's year group.

Does the curriculum matter more than the teaching method?

They answer different questions. Curriculum is what is taught and how it is sequenced; teaching method is how lessons are run, such as inquiry-led or direct instruction. A method like Montessori can sit inside more than one curriculum, so it is not a fourth system alongside British, IB and American.

What if we might move country again?

Weight portability alongside fit. Check where the examination years fall relative to your child's age, how early each system narrows subject choice, and whether your likely next country has schools teaching the same system.

Curricula

International school curricula

Three systems dominate international schooling: British, International Baccalaureate and American. How each is built, what changes at each stage, and what happens to a child who joins or leaves part-way through.

Prepared by InternationalSchools.orgPublished July 2026Last reviewed August 2026

In short

A curriculum is what is taught and how progress is measured. It is not the same as the qualification a student leaves with.
The three systems differ most in when a student narrows their subjects: around 16 in the British system, not at all in the IB, and gradually in the American system.
Portability matters more than prestige when a family expects to move again. Transfer friction sits at specific ages, not across the whole system.
No system is better. The question is which one fits this child, at this age, given where you may live next.

Four curriculum terms, explained

Most confusion in the first month of a school search comes from four words being used as if they were interchangeable. They are not.

Curriculum

The planned content and sequence of learning: what is taught in each year, in what order, and how the school checks that it has been learned.

Qualification

The certificate a student leaves with, awarded by an examination board or programme body. A school can teach a curriculum without entering students for its usual qualification, and can enter students for a qualification while teaching around it.

Teaching method

How lessons are run: inquiry-led, direct instruction, project work, Montessori practice. A method can sit inside any curriculum, which is why a Montessori early-years setting is not a fourth alternative to the three systems on this page.

Accreditation and authorisation

Independent confirmation that a school meets a defined standard, or that it is permitted to teach a specific programme. It says nothing about which curriculum suits your child.

Same curriculum, different schools

International schools operate under a host-country regulator while following a curriculum designed elsewhere.

The regulator sets local requirements: licensing, inspection, sometimes compulsory subjects such as the host language, national studies or religious education. The curriculum supplies the academic structure. Each school then interprets that structure within its own timetable, staffing and facilities.

So two schools can both describe themselves as British and still differ in the examination board they enter students for, the subjects offered at A Level, the size of the sixth form, and how much of the week goes to local requirements. The label tells you the framework. Only the school can tell you what is actually taught in your child's year group next September.

Orientation at a glance

Shape of the programme

British: Narrows early: broad to 16, then three or four subjects
International Baccalaureate: Stays broad: six subject groups plus a core to 19
American: Broad throughout: credits across required subject areas

Main external checkpoints

British: IGCSE or GCSE around 16, A Level around 18
International Baccalaureate: Diploma examinations at the end of Year 13 equivalent
American: Course grades each year, plus optional AP examinations

Who sets it

British: Examination boards, with schools choosing the board
International Baccalaureate: The International Baccalaureate Organization
American: No single national authority; schools follow state or association frameworks

Usual reason families choose it

British: Familiarity and a clear qualification at 16 and 18
International Baccalaureate: Portability between IB schools and breadth to 19
American: Flexibility, continuous assessment and a US-facing pathway

Three curriculum systems compared at a high level
Attribute	British	International Baccalaureate	American
Shape of the programme	Narrows early: broad to 16, then three or four subjects	Stays broad: six subject groups plus a core to 19	Broad throughout: credits across required subject areas
Main external checkpoints	IGCSE or GCSE around 16, A Level around 18	Diploma examinations at the end of Year 13 equivalent	Course grades each year, plus optional AP examinations
Who sets it	Examination boards, with schools choosing the board	The International Baccalaureate Organization	No single national authority; schools follow state or association frameworks
Usual reason families choose it	Familiarity and a clear qualification at 16 and 18	Portability between IB schools and breadth to 19	Flexibility, continuous assessment and a US-facing pathway

This is orientation only. The full comparison sets out ages, stages, year naming, assessment type and where the same-age child lands in each system.

What matters when you may move again

Where the examination years fall. Every system has two-year blocks that are difficult to interrupt. Knowing where they sit for your child's age tells you how much flexibility you have.
How subjects are sequenced. Systems that lock a subject set early are harder to join late, because the missing content is specific rather than general.
How the leaving qualification travels. Universities in most countries recognise all three, but each sets its own subject and grade requirements. Recognition is not the same as equivalence.
What your likely next country offers. The most portable choice is the system with the widest presence in the places you might live next, not the one with the strongest reputation in the place you live now.
Language of instruction and support. A child joining a new system and a new language at the same time needs both handled, and schools differ widely in how they staff that.

If a move is already likely, read transferring between curricula before you decide which schools to ask.

The library

The British curriculum

Year groups, key stages, IGCSE and A Level, and the points where transfers get harder.

The International Baccalaureate

PYP, MYP, the Diploma Programme and the Career-related Programme, and how each is assessed.

The American curriculum

Grades, credits, the high school diploma, GPA and Advanced Placement.

Compare the three systems

Ages, stages, examination points, breadth and transfer friction side by side.

Transferring between curricula

All six directions, the ages that move smoothly and the ones that do not.

IB vs British

Breadth against specialisation in the final two years, and the natural transfer points.

IB vs American

A fixed Diploma against a four-year transcript: assessment, AP and university recognition.

Curricula in a city

Which systems are actually available where you are moving is a local question. Your adviser researches the schools in your destination and explains which ones suit each child.

International schools in Dubai

British, IB and American schools in Dubai, with areas, fees and intake timing.

Which schools have places for your children?

Reading about a system tells you how it works. Only a school can tell you whether it has a place for your child, in that year group, for the start date you need.

Tell us where you are moving, your children's ages and that you are looking at the curriculum you want, and see matched schools with places, fees and next steps for your children and what happens next. Each school answers per child, so two children in one family can get two different answers from the same school.

Your curriculum preference helps decide which schools your request is relevant to. It is not a ranking.

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Common questions about international school curricula

Last reviewed: August 2026

Curriculum structures follow the published frameworks of the relevant examination boards and programme bodies. Individual schools apply them within their own year-group system and host-country requirements.

Sources

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