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The International Baccalaureate explained

The International Baccalaureate (IB) comprises four challenging education programmes which were originally established in 1968 by the International Baccalaureate with the aim of engaging young people and developing their skills and sense of purpose in contributing to a better, more peaceful world.
Pupils studying for the International Baccalaureate

What is an IB school?

Schools must be authorised by the IB to offer their programmes, and once authorised are called IB World Schools. The IB has a very strong system for setting up IB schools and making sure they get off to a good start. Following this it makes interim visits but doesn’t actually inspect or certify schools on an annual basis. Instead, it feels the results speak for themselves. Therefore, parents should look at an IB school's exam results and the number of students qualifying for the diploma: if those numbers are poor or dropping, take a much closer look. 

If a school is an IB candidate school (ie going through the authorisation process to become an IB World School), that's a good sign... but not if it's been stuck in that phase for a decade. Good IB diploma results do not in themselves tell you about the feel of the school or whether it's right for your child, and no one is looking into every nook and cranny in the same way an American accreditation or Ofsted inspection officer does (not only the academics but also the governance and financial stability of a school).

Be aware that the IB exists to set up curriculum and protocols and is very good at it, but counselling or guiding parents trying to make this transition is not part of its brief.

IB World Schools can offer one or more of the following four IB programmes. (If a school chooses to offer consecutive IB programmes, they must be continuous without any gap years.) 

IB Primary Years Programme (PYP)

The IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) for 3 to 12-year-olds offers an inquiry-based, transdisciplinary curriculum framework that builds conceptual understanding for the whole child, both in school and in the world beyond. Fostering an individual’s self-efficacy is deemed important, with the idea that students with a strong sense of self-efficacy are active in their own learning. 

In the final year, students take part in the PYP exhibition which is designed for them to explore, document, and share their understanding of an issue or opportunity of personal significance. It requires research, analysis, reflection, and team collaboration, and is followed by a presentation of the students' findings and conclusions in front of their school community, often accompanied by squeals of delight from proud parents.

IB Middle Years Programme (MYP)

A programme for 12 to 16-year-olds that encourages students to make practical connections between their studies and the real world, continuing the inquiry-based learning approach from the PYP. It is designed to set students up to run directly into the IB Diploma Programme or IB Career-related Programmes (see below). 

In their final year, MYP students complete an MYP personal project. Students explore an area of personal interest over an extended period designed to develop students' self-management, research, communication, critical and creative thinking, and collaboration. Students complete three elements: product or outcome, process journal, and a final report. The report is assessed by a supervisor (a teacher at the school) and externally moderated by the IB to ensure a globally consistent standard of excellence. Each project is awarded a final achievement grade, though it does not constitute a formal qualification outside of the IB programme in the way that (say) IGCSEs do. 

IB Diploma Programme (IBDP)

A two-year programme for 16 to 19-year-olds providing an internationally accepted qualification for entry into higher education – often seen in the UK as an alternative to A levels. It’s a challenging and demanding curriculum that allows students to explore a range of subjects and ideas while learning about the importance of activity and service in the community.

The IB exists to set up curriculum and protocols and is very good at what they do, but counselling or guiding parents trying to make this transition is not part of its brief.

Students follow six academic courses over two years, choosing one course from each of the following subject groups: mathematics, sciences, individuals and societies (likened to humanities for those unfamiliar with it), studies in language and literature, language acquisition (a second language to that engaged in the language and literature course and studied at a beginner or acquisition level) and the arts (though this can be dropped in favour of studying an additional course from one of the other five options).

Schools vary in the breadth of courses that they can offer within each subject grouping (eg one school may offer music within the arts group while another may only offer dance or visual arts). It is advisable to check the actual courses available when considering an IB school. Of these six courses, three are taken at a higher level (HL) and three at standard level (SL) – as their names suggest, HL is more demanding as it is taught with greater depth and more complexity than SL. 

In addition to the six academic subjects, add the mandatory theory of knowledge (TOK) course (which 'reflects on the nature of knowledge and how we know what we claim to know'); a 4,000-word research-based extended essay (EE), on a subject of the student's own choosing; and take part in over 150 hours of non-academic activity known commonly as CAS (creativity, activity, service). 

How do IB diploma scores work?

Assessment is based on a combination of final examinations and coursework, which are evaluated by external examiners worldwide, and (in some cases for coursework) by internal assessment. Diploma examinations for each subject are held on the same days for all students worldwide – in May in the northern hemisphere and in October in the case of most southern hemisphere schools – though with three different exam time zones across the world, you needn’t worry that you will be sitting an exam late at night like some international A level students in Asia.

Each subject is scored from 1-7, and up to three additional points are awarded for TOK (theory of knowledge) and the EE (extended essay) combined, giving a maximum of 45 points. A minimum of 24 points (with a few other stipuations including a pass in the TOK/EE) is required to gain the diploma. The global average hovers at around 29 to 30 points and the pass rate at around 80 per cent.

Universities globally recognise the IB diploma as a graduating curricula. In the UK, university offers will be subject to a student gaining a minimum number of points overall or may stipuate the points required for certain relevant HL courses, while in the US the level of college credits offered will be based on point scores for each individual course.

What is a good IB diploma score?

If a school has offered the IBDP for several years, or decades, look at its most recent results but, more importantly, at its own cumulative pass rate and average score (out of a top score of 45) over the years. In some cases, the cohort may not be large and averages can be affected by the performance of a few students.

Check whether the school restricts access to the IBDP to only the most able students. If a school is not highly selective but nonetheless produces good IBDP results, it is an indication of a good 'value-added' education.

Universities often seek out IB Diploma Programme students as the curriculum offers both a breadth and depth of knowledge and develops and sharpens investigative, research and critical-thinking skills.

Receiving a bilingual diploma

All diploma students are required to study at least two languages. The most common scenario is to take their native language from group 1 language A (‘studies in language and literature’) and one from group 2 language B (as a ‘language acquisition’ course). Students who are passionate about languages can study a third language as a group 6 alternative to an arts course. 

Students proficient to an almost native language standard in two languages have the option of studying for the prestigious IB bilingual diploma which can be awarded in two different ways:

1. Students who complete and receive a grade 3 or higher in two language A courses (by taking a second language A in their native language rather than a language B acquisition course)

OR 

2. Students who have taken a language A that is not the school’s official medium of instruction (for example a student who takes French A in an English language-medium IB school) who gain a grade 3 or higher in studies in ‘language and literature’ in that language and a grade 3 or higher in an ‘individuals and societies’ or ‘science’ course. In doing this the student is demonstrating true bilingual proficiency in two languages.

Typically, a candidate for a bilingual diploma is bi- or even tri-lingual and opting to engage in one of their fully proficient languages by taking a language A in that language, alongside the English medium language of the diploma. (As if this wasn’t confusing enough, a school can request to offer the IBDP in Spanish or French rather than English but for the purposes of this article we are assuming English language tuition).

Offering the bilingual diploma isn’t always straightforward due to staffing and time constraints. Within the group 1 language A, the IB introduced SSST (school-supported, self-taught) literature A (SL) – essentially a course enabling a student to do independently with the support of an external tutor (but always under the supervision of the school). Given that we have yet to hear of a school offering the full range of 15 languages that the language and literature A course can be studied in (let alone the 50 of literature A!) this is a super course for many students and certainly the mark of a good school if encouraging this through its language department. 

IB certificates

Certificate programme students (or what the IB calls ‘diploma courses’ students) take between one or more IB courses, but will not be candidates for the full IBDP (so they may not be expected to do the extended essay, CAS or theory of knowledge though some schools will encourage them to do so). Students may be entered for IB exams for any of their IB courses and in those courses would do the same work as their IBDP candidate student counterparts. Students receive an IB certificate for each IB exam subject they pass.

It is important that students who are not full IBDP candidates clarify what the entry requirements are for the university of their choice. IB certificates on their own may be insufficient for university entry, but if they accompany, for example, a school-awarded US high school diploma, they may be seen as adding value to that diploma.

Also, IB schools may allow very capable students to do seven IB subjects, but only six will apply to their IBDP so the seventh course would be awarded an IB certificate if they earn a passing mark on the IB examinations. 

Transitions from IB school to IB school

IB schools share the same fundamental approach to learning and the assessments are the same worldwide, allowing students to more or less pick up their studies where they left off. So, if an IB school's scores look good, and you like its buzz, there's a good chance you'll find a rigorous programme that will allow a fairly seamless transition from one IB school to another.

That changes for the final two-year IBDP. It is important to note that, in spite of similarities within the curriculum the IB gives schools a great deal of autonomy in choosing which courses it offers from the six subject areas, and within those subjects, what sorts of coursework they will elect to do.

This is so schools can make the programme relevant to their location and student body. For example, an IB school on the fringes of a tropical rainforest may have different course content for biology fieldwork than a school on the coast of the Baltic Sea. Whether you can transfer your child mid-diploma will depend largely on each school's policy and very likely requires the involvement of both the sending and receiving schools' IB coordinators to identify where there may be gaps that need to be addressed in the new school. As the saying goes, ‘the devil is in the detail’. 

UK schools offering the IBDP may avoid enrolling international pupils arriving halfway through (essentially 3/5 of the curriculum must have been covered after the first year because the diploma exams are in May, so the last term is mostly review and exam-taking), because of the difficulty for school and student bringing the student up to speed in such a fast-paced programme, and because the school's results do appear in the league tables. Some schools may recommend that the student restart the IBDP in the new school. One option to explore is the holiday courses that help IBDP students plug weaknesses or gaps. 

It may be that an international school offering boarding would be more flexible and let the student join the second year provided the courses match up.

One of the newer IB schools in the UK (or internationally if they are new to offering the IB) keen to build up their IBDP numbers might consider it, but it would mean contacting each one.

If you know before your child starts the first year of IB that you will be moving before they finish, it is best to identify the second school and, if possible, choose courses at the first school that you know your child will be able to complete at the second. 

Transitions from IB to non-IB and vice versa

Transitioning to IB programmes from other curricula, and vice versa, can certainly be done. Students coming into the IB programme from non-IB schools may be a bit bewildered at first at the inquiry-based nature of the curriculum if they are used to a more rote-learning style. Equally, PYP and MYP students may be perceived to be ‘behind’ (because they have studied different content) in some content moving from an IB school to another curriculum (eg English or American) – extra support may well be needed at the start of the transition to help them catch up on curriculum content gaps. 

Many schools offer the IBDP without the preceding PYP and MYP programmes. For new IB students, it is not just the influx of new content that can be overwhelming. It is also the assessment structure. If your child wants to excel in the IBDP, the coursework components like the internal assessments, TOK and extended essay cannot be neglected. Look out for schools that offer a good transition in the year prior to starting the IBDP to adequately prepare your child for what is a demanding two-year programme. 

Essential reading