Nist Or Pattana?

[ExpatJ]

We are trying to decide between NIST and Pattana for our kids.

Anyone have any opinions? Recommendations/experiences?

NIST has an IB diploma system- are these valid for getting into US or UK universities? (I did A levels)...

[MikeyIdea]

Bangkok Pattana has been known to be the best international school in Bangkok for at least 20 years, I have heard nothing changing that

[ExpatJ]

Bangkok Pattana has been known to be the best international school in Bangkok for at least 20 years, I have heard nothing changing that

Thanks. One negative for Pattana- it seems that IB are now the 'gold standard' of high school education especially in terms of geting into Universities in US/UK and are given more value than A levels. It seems Pattana focuses more on the A level system (with some IB courses), where as NIST is a full on IB school and has better IB results.

Personally i did A levels so i initially wanted my kids to do the same but having researched about IB v A level..im now leaning towards IB system.

[MikeyIdea]

At the end of the day, I don't think that IB or A matters a bit. Better IB results can be equally misleading I think. At the end of the day, it's about HOW our children can use the knowledge they have been given and its about EQ. As far as I know, Bangkok Pattana has always excelled at this

[Goinghomesoon]

I think it's very dependent on your child. I have one very sporty child and I believe Patana would have been the best place for him, as they have very good sports facilities and there would have been an opportunity for him to shine in the one area that he is very gifted. Both schools have good academic support services for kids that need a helping hand with school work, as my son did. However our second child is in high school at NIST and I could not have asked for better - the IB system of learning suits her very well and the family atmosphere is more her style. I do feel she would have just gone-with-the-flow at Patana and been a real follower, whereas at NIST there has been a real effort to get her engaged. I have colleagues with kids at both schools and you really just need to find a fit for the child.

[wordchild]

I am very interested in this as my wife and i will be coming up to a similar decision point in ayear or so. in simple terms , my feeling is that both schools seem to be first class with pattana slightly up on sports and some other facilities (eg their new wow of a Arts centre) , on the other hand from the outside and after just a couple of visits to both, Nist seems to have the slightly better atmosphere, kids seem to mix well and staff/student engagement seems strong and they also seem to be a little more academic in focus (which we like). but we are still trying to be open minded and will look forward to see what others say on this.

Edited August 29, 2010 by wordchild