Rules For Equivalence

The major principle for equivalence of qualification is to identify the relevant stage in the Pakistani System by considering the number of schooling years and subjects of a foreign system if the system does not match with the Pakistani model.

A)  GCSE/IGCSE/GCE ‘O’ Levels:

• GCSE/IGCSE/GCE ‘O’ Levels is considered equivalent to Secondary School Certificate (SSC) subject to meeting the requirement of Scheme of Studies as under:
• i) Pakistan Based Examinations: Eight subjects including Compulsory English, Mathematics, Urdu, Islamiyat, Pakistan Studies, and three electives with minimum E Grade.
• ii) Overseas Based Examinations: Five subjects including English, Mathematics, and three electives with minimum E Grade.
• To qualify for Science Group it is necessary to pass Physics, Chemistry, and Biology/Computer Science(for students pursuing further education in Medical, it must be Biology). The rest will be placed in the Arts Group.

B) GCE A-Levels:

• GCE ‘A’ levels is considered equivalent to Higher Secondary School Certificate (HSSC/Intermediate) provided that qualification at SSC level is complete and is further subject to meeting the specified requirement for various stream/groups as under:

• i) Pre-Medical Group: Eight(Pakistan Based Examination)/Five(Overseas-based Examination) ‘O’ levels subjects (including Physics, Chemistry, and Biology as Elective in addition to required compulsory subjects) and three ‘A’ levels (Physics, Chemistry, and Biology) with minimum E Grade.

• ii) Pre-Engineering Group: Eight(Pakistan Based Examination)/Five(Overseas-based Examination) ‘O’ levels subjects (including Physics, Chemistry, Biology/Computer Studies as Elective in addition to required compulsory subjects) and three ‘A’ levels subjects (Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics) with minimum E Grade.

• iii) General Science Group: Eight(Pakistan Based Examination)/Five(Overseas-based Examination) ‘O’ levels subjects with three ‘A’ levels subjects. There are the following five combinations of subjects in the HSSC General Science Group of Pakistan.

1. Physics, Mathematics, and Statistics
2. Mathematics, Statistics, and Economics
3. Economics, Mathematics and Computer Science
4. Physics, Mathematics, and Computer Science
5. Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science

• iv) Humanities Group: Eight(Pakistan Based Examination)/Five(Overseas-based Examination) ‘O’ levels subjects including English and Mathematics with three ‘A’ levels subjects.

• a- All Pakistani nationals appearing for examinations from Pakistan shall have to pass Urdu, Islamiyat, and Pakistan Studies along with other required subjects to qualify for equivalence.

• b- If a Pakistani national candidate studies and appears for both GCSE/IGCSE/GCE ‘O’ Levels & GCE ‘A’ Levels examination from abroad, Urdu, Islamiyat, and Pakistan Studies will be exempted and not be considered as a compulsory requirement.

• c- Exemption of Compulsory subjects namely Islamiyat, Urdu, and Pakistan Studies to Pakistani origin dual nationality holder students Passing GCE ‘O’ Levels or Equivalent Foreign qualification from Schools based in Pakistan.

• d- If a candidate passes GCE ‘O’ Levels or equivalent qualification from abroad and appears for GCE ‘A’ Levels or equivalent from Pakistan or vice versa, he/she has to pass Urdu, Islamiyat, and Pakistan Studies at SSC or GCE ‘O’ Levels for obtaining Equivalence Certificate.

International Baccalaureate (IB)

The International Baccalaureate (IB), formerly the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), is an International Educational Foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. Founded in 1968 in Geneva, IB offers three educational programmers for children ages 3-19.

International Baccalaureate (IB) Programme:

• Primary Years Programme (PYP) The IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) is for children aged 3 -12. The PYP offers a transdisciplinary, inquiry-based and student-centred education with responsible action at its core, enabling students to learn between, across and beyond traditional subject boundaries.
• Middle Years Programme (MYP)The IB Middle Years Programme (MYP) is for students aged 11-16. The MYP curriculum framework comprises eight subject groups, providing a broad and balanced education for early adolescents.
• Diploma Programme (DP)The IB Diploma Programme (DP) is an assessed programme for students aged 16-19. It is respected by leading universities across the globe. The DP curriculum is made up of six subject groups and the DP core, comprising theory of knowledge (TOK), creativity, activity, service (CAS) and the extended essay.
• International Baccalaureate  Career-related programme
  The International Baccalaureate® (IB) Career-related Programme (CP) is specifically designed for students aged 16–19 who wish to engage in career-related learning, while also continuing to gain transferable and lifelong skills in applied knowledge, critical thinking, communication, and cross-cultural engagement. Students who have completed Secondary School Certificate SSC (Matriculation), GCSE/O levels, IB Middle Years Programme or equivalent qualification are eligible to apply. International Baccalaureate Career-related Programme (CP) is equivalent to Higher Secondary School Certificate (relevant group) in Pakistan.

IBCC considers IB Middle Years Programme (MYP) and IB Diploma Programme (DP) from Geneva, Switzerland equivalent to SSC and HSSC (relevant group) of Pakistan, respectively.

Conversion for Equivalence

Middle Years Programme (MYP):

International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program (MYP) (with the minimum of five academic subjects including English) from external examining body Geneva, Switzerland is equivalent to SSC (relevant group) of Pakistan.

• Pakistani Based Examinations: Eight subjects including English, Urdu, Islamiyat, Pakistan studies and four electives.
• Overseas Based Examinations: Five subjects including English and four electives.

• To qualify for Science Group it is necessary to pass Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Biology/Computer Science.

Conversion of MYP into Secondary School Equivalent Certificate

• For conversion into SSC equivalent marks (grades of all five subjects will be calculated for conversion into Pakistani marks.
• To qualify for the Science group. Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Biology/Computer Science is a pre-requisite.

Diploma Programme (DP)

The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (DP) with a minimum of five required subjects from external Examining body Geneva, Switzerland is equivalent to HSSC (relevant group) of Pakistan.

• Pre-Medical Group: Five subjects (including English, Physics, Chemistry and Biology and one overall best academic Subject) with a minimum of 3 grades.
• Pre-Engineering Group: Five subjects (including English, Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and one overall best subject in grades) with a minimum of 3 grades.
• General Science Group: Five subjects including English, Physics, Mathematics and Computer and one overall best subject in grades) minimum of 3 grades.
• Humanities group: Five subjects including English and Four elective subjects with minimum 3 grades.

Conversion of IB Diploma into Higher Secondary School Equivalent Certificate

• Pre-Medical: Five subjects of IB including English, Physics, Chemistry, Biology and one overall best academic subject.
• Pre-Engineering. Five subjects of IB including English, Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and one overall best academic Subject.
• Humanities/General Group. Five subjects including English and Four Elective subjects.

Conversion of International Baccalaureate Career-related programme into Higher Secondary School Equivalent Certificate (Humanities)

The Certificate of the Career-related Programme will be awarded subject to the satisfactory completion of the following requirements by a candidate:

The completion of the career-related study is the basic requirement for the issuance of an equivalence certificate in addition to the completion of other requirements.
The IBCC will equate the grading of DP courses passed in the Career-related Programme as per the approved formula available on the IBCC website (Same as for the IB Diploma). The candidate has to pass at least two for (Humanities Group) and Three for (Pre-Medical/Pre-Engineering Group) of the Higher level Diploma Programme Courses in grade 3 or more.

The IBCC will equate the grading of the Reflective project only to at least a D for the reflective project. The other core subjects i.e: Personal and Professional skills, Service training and Language development are internally assessed by the school so only completion is the basic requirement for issuance of an equivalence certificate.

Note:

I) IBCC only considers IB Diploma comprising six subject groups and the Diploma Programme (DP) core, comprising Theory of Knowledge (TOK), Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS) and the extended essay equivalent to grade 12/HSSC (relevant group) and IBCC doesn’t consider IB certificate as equivalent to HSSC.

II) All Pakistani nationals appearing for examinations from Pakistan shall have to pass Urdu, Islamiyat and Pakistan studies along with other required subjects to qualify for equivalence.

III) The Equivalence Committee resolved to approve the career related program offered by International Baccalaureate (IBO) in Science subjects for issuance of Equivalence Certificate of HSSC (Pre-Medical/Pre-Engineering Group) of Pakistan.

• i) Equivalence with SSC: Grade 9 and 10 from Accredited institutions with required number of credits.
• ii) Equivalence with HSSC: Grade 11 and 12 from Accredited institutions having Diploma with required number of credits.