What is the AICE diploma?
If you ask students around Santaluces, “What is the AICE diploma?” some might know what it is, but most will tell you that it’s something you take college level courses for from Cambridge. While that is true, that’s not all there is to it.
“AICE” stands for Advanced International Certificate of Education. To earn the AICE diploma you must take a series of 7 classes within 3 consecutive years. The classes are split into four groups, and you must take at least one class in each group. There’s a variety of classes that can be offered; the class that may be available to you depends on the school that you attend.
Here at Santaluces Community High School we offer the following classes:
Group 1: “Math and Science”
- AS Marine Science
- AS Environmental Management
- AS Psychology
- AS Physical Education
Group 2: “Language”
- AS English Language
- AS Spanish Language
- AS French Language
Group 3: “Arts and Humanities”
- AS International History
- AS US History
- AS Art & Design
- AS Digital Media & Design
- AS Travel & Tourism
- AS Music
- AS Literature in English
- AL Literature in English
Group 4: “Interdisciplinary”
- AS General Paper
- AL Thinking Skills
The “AS” level course is one part of the course that lasts one full school year. The “AL” level course is the second part of the course that lasts two full school years or is combined into one school year. These courses will be worth more credits.
What do you do if you don’t pass your exam?
If you don’t pass one of your exams, don’t stress yourself out too much; you have other options for redemption. One option is retakes; it’s an option that students have to retake the exam with a fee of $120. Another option that students have is to apply for their exam to get regraded. If your score is 1-2 points below the required score to pass, you have the chance to get it regraded for free. However, if it’s any less, you can pay a fee of $104 per component. This should be your last resort because you don’t want to pay all that money just to possibly get another failing grade. In the case of you not having the correct amount of credits after the 3 years are up, which is most likely because you took only one AICE course (general papers) your freshman year without knowing what the AICE diploma was, you have the option to retake an exam from your first year to count towards your last year.
What are the benefits of AICE?
The benefits of AICE is that you earn college credits while still being in high school; when you pass the exams from Cambridge, you get credits so you won’t have to take those courses in college. Another benefit is that you can get your college tuition paid for free through the Bright Futures scholarship. To learn more about this scholarship, stay tuned with our website!
