Alongside the national curriculum of Turkey's Ministry of National Education (MEB), some private schools offer their students school-leaving diplomas known as the International Baccalaureate (IB), the Abitur and the Matura.
In addition to your MEB diploma, you can choose an IB, Matura or Abitur diploma programme in Year 11. These internationally recognised diploma programmes usually last two years. Beyond the MEB subjects, your courses consist of subjects you choose yourself at standard or higher level. For example, a student planning a Bachelor's degree in medicine, physics or chemistry is expected to take the science and maths subjects at higher level when applying to university. Likewise, for engineering and related fields, taking both humanities and science subjects at higher level (HL) will make the application to a Bachelor's programme easier. Many prestigious high schools offer the IB, including Koç Lisesi, Eyüboğlu, British International School, IICS, Enka and Alev Lisesi. Students who want to earn the IB diploma must take six subjects in parallel with the MEB programme: three subjects at higher level, totalling 240 hours, and the standard-level subjects totalling 150 hours. The IB programme can be taken in English, Spanish or French, although schools in Turkey mainly teach it in English.
Apart from the IB, the Abitur has also gained importance recently, as more and more students are interested in studying in Germany. As with the IB, the Abitur programme begins in Year 11. In Istanbul, the Abitur is offered by İstanbul Alman Lisesi (the German School Istanbul) and İstanbul Erkek Lisesi. The advantage of the Abitur over the MEB diploma is this: a student who wants to study in Germany and graduates with only the MEB diploma receives the ÖSYM placement result (from YKS, Turkey's national university entrance exam) in August. This means postponing the start of studies by one semester, because applications in Germany close on 15 July at the latest; since the ÖSYM result does not arrive before the deadline, the student has to wait for the following semester. A student with the Abitur, on the other hand, receives the diploma in June, meets the application deadline and starts a Bachelor's programme in the October semester. For our students who will study in Germany on the basis of their ÖSYM result, however, we recommend a one-semester intensive language course. In this way, students entering German higher education with an ÖSYM score also begin their studies abroad in October.
Similarly, the Matura is a diploma recognised in Austria. As with the Abitur, you obtain it by taking additional courses and exams on top of the MEB subjects. Without a Matura, the condition for studying at a university in Austria is that you are placed by ÖSYM in the programme you want to study and enrol in it. At present, the Matura programme is offered only by the Austrian high school Sankt Georg (St. Georg-Kolleg). For the Matura, students sit six exams: three written and three oral. A student who wants to obtain the Matura must not have any failing end-of-year grades in Years 9 and 10. In addition, the end-of-year average in Turkish, English, mathematics, biology, physics and chemistry must be at least 3. Finally, before starting Year 11, the student must hold the Österreichisches Sprachdiplom (ÖSD) at B2 level.
