IB Language Ab Initio

Applications Open - 3rd November 2025

Applications Close - 3rd April 2026

Entry Requirements -

IBDP - 6 Grade 6s

IBCP - 5 Grade 5s

Level 3 - 4 Grade 4s

Level 2 - dependent

How to Apply - Please apply via KentChoices

To apply for courses at TMS sixth form please select the subject combination you wish to apply for. The combinations as described are subject to change so please put in your ideal choices, even if they do not match the options grid.

All course options will be confirmed post interviews.

When you access the application page you will be shown a list of subjects only. Please note they will not be separated into the 3 different pathways (vocational, IBCP, IBDP)

For those wishing to apply for the level1/2 vocational pathway, please select this as an option. You do not need to select any further subjects and individual choices will be confirmed at interview.

For those wishing to apply for the IBCP or IBDP pathway please select the individual choices from the list.

Level1/2 Vocational pathway

Select the Level1/2 vocational pathway only

The overall objective of the ab initio course at The Malling School is for students to achieve communicative competence in a variety of everyday situations. To promote this, the four skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing will be regularly practiced so that students develop their ability to both understand and use the written and spoken word.

Learning a foreign language provides the opportunity for enjoyment, creativity and intellectual stimulation. We will encourage an awareness and appreciation of the different perspectives of people from other cultures.

The aim of the ab initio course is to promote the idea that learning a language is more than a school subject and to encourage students to continue to use their language skills independently after the course.

The course focuses on everyday situations and aspects of the culture related to them. This ensures that the appropriate emphasis is placed on communication. The course is organized into topic areas which provide the teacher and the student with a context in which communicative functions and grammatical structures and vocabulary can be practiced. Topics studied include the following:

Identities: personal attributes, personal relationships, eating and drinking, physical wellbeing.

Experiences: daily routine, leisure, holidays and tourism, festivals and celebrations.

Human Ingenuity: transport, entertainment, media, technology

Social Organisations: neighbourhood, education, the workplace, social issues.

Sharing the planet: climate, physical geography, environment, global issues.

External assessment:

Paper 1: Writing (25%)

Paper 2: Receptive skills

Listening comprehension

Reading comprehension (50%)

Internal assessment:

Oral exam (25%)

International Baccalaureate Diploma: 6 x grade 6 or above, including English and Maths (GCSE or equivalent)

International Baccalaureate Career-Related Programme: 5 x grade 5, including English and Maths (GCSE or equivalent)

We have a strong history of students going on to study at university and apprenticeships