The general objective of this study was to investigate the advantages and disadvantages of the national curriculum and IBDP according to the perception of gifted students, and to determine the effects of the programmes on the academic achievement of the aforementioned students. Data was collected with an information form. It was found significant difference between mean scores of English and the grade point average in respect of the IBDP students. The students of the IBDP mentioned the advantages of the programme, such as exploring skill areas, the opportunity to study abroad, acquiring self-discipline, developing awareness of responsibility, and developing creative and critical thinking ability. The national curriculum was criticized in terms of being based on competition and rote learning, not having the opportunity for practice, impairing creative and critical thinking skills, being an exam-oriented system, and requiring extensive daily study workload.