IB Diploma Programme

Encyclopedia : I : IB : IBD : IB Diploma Programme

This article is part of the
International Baccalaureate
series.

IB programmes:
* Primary Years Programme
* Middle Years Programme
* Diploma Programme

Institutions:
* The IBO
* United World Colleges

Lists:
* Acronyms
* IB people
* IB schools

IBDP curriculum:
* Group 1 subjects
* Group 2 subjects
* Group 3 subjects
* Group 4 subjects
* Group 5 subjects
* Group 6 subjects
* Extended Essay
* Theory of Knowledge
* Creativity, Action, Service

The International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme (often colloquially referred to simply as 'IB'While this term has a widespread use in this context, it is not correct usage, as there are two other International Baccalaureate programmes besides the Diploma Programme.) is an educational programme taught in one of three languages - English, French or Spanish - and is intended for students in their final two years of secondary school, often before entering university. It is taught in 1,469 schools, to a great extent in international schools, in 121 countries (as of 2005). The programme, administered by the International Baccalaureate Organization, is one of the most widely recognised pre-university educational programmes in the world.

Contents

1 Curriculum

1.1 Subject areas
1.2 Extended Essay
1.3 CAS
1.4 Theory of Knowledge
1.5 Assessment

2 Awards

2.1 Diploma conditions
2.2 Certificates

3 Acknowledgement of the IB
4 Pre-IB
5 Notes
6 External links

Curriculum

The Diploma Programme (DP) curriculum consists of completing six courses from six different subject areas, writing an Extended Essay (EE) of up to 4,000 words, taking part in the Theory of Knowledge (TOK) class, and fulfilling a requirement of 50 hours in each of Creative, Active and Service (CAS) pursuits. Grades are awarded from 1 to 7 in each subject, and up to three 'bonus' points may be awarded for good results in EE and TOK. Thus, a total of 45 points may be obtained by the candidate for their final diploma.

If candidates study in a language other than their native language (i.e. their language A1), they may receive a Bilingual Diploma. If students choose not to fulfill all parts of the programme they can receive 'subject certificates' for the IB classes they take.

Subject areas

Students pursuing the Diploma take six courses, usually from six different subject areas (detailed below), with three (or four) of them taken at higher level (HL) and the rest at standard level (SL). Higher level subjects require approximately 240 hours of teaching time, and standard level subjects about 150.

Group 1: Language A1 - Generally the student's strongest language, with over 80 different languages available. Students may choose to self-study a language of their choice at standard level if their fluent language is not taught by the school.
Group 2: Second Language - An additional language, taken either at A2, B (SL or HL) or ab initio (SL only). This group may also be replaced by a second A1 language.
Group 3: Individuals and Societies - Humanities and social sciences, such as philosophy, economics, business, management, psychology, social anthropology, information technology in a global society (ITGS), geography and history (or History of the Islamic World). At higher level, there are several different regionalised history classes including: History of the Americas, History of Europe, History of Africa, History of West Asia, and History of East and Southeast Asia. The variant/s taught is usually largely dependent on the location of the school. In some schools it is possible to choose three subjects from this group and none from Group 4 with special permission from the IBO.

The components of the IB Diploma course

Extended Essay

Students must write an essay of at most 4,000 words in any chosen subject (not necessarily one taken for the final exam) but not across subjects. The topic may be any that the student feels is researchable. This task involves independent research and requires producing a comprehensible written piece. Each student is paired with a supervisor, who provides insight toward the final product. It is essential to submit an Extended Essay, often abbreviated as EE, or the candidate cannot receive the IB Diploma.

CAS

CAS is an acronym for Creativity, Action, Service. Each DP student must complete at least 150 hours, spread out over at least one and a half years, engaging in creative activity, participating in sport or other physical activities, and doing community service or social work. The general guideline for CAS is to split it evenly among Creativity, Action and Service, hence a de facto requirement of 50 hours of each. The hours of work are to be documented by the school using official forms which are to be submitted to the IBO upon request. Failing to complete the CAS requirements will result in disqualification of an candidate from the IB Diploma.

Theory of Knowledge

Each student must complete the Theory of Knowledge (TOK) course of approximately 100 hours, which aims to encourage students to be critical thinkers and to teach students basic epistemology. To complete requirements for TOK, diploma candidates must write a TOK essay of 1200-1600 words on a set title (from a choice of ten issued by the IBO), and present a TOK issue to their class on their choice of topic.

The grades that the student receives from the TOK essay and presentation are compared with the grade for the Extended Essay by way of a matrix designed by the IBO, which may result in the awarding of 'extra' points for the candidate's Diploma. The candidate may get up to three extra points if both works are of a sufficiently good standard. Without the extra points, it is still possible to achieve the Diploma, but not with the full 45 points.

Assessment

Each individual paper can take anywhere from 45 minutes to three hours, but usually they are between one and two hours in duration. Because of the large amount of subjects being examined in one examination session (of less than a month in length), students often have to write multiple papers in one day. The external assessment is assessed by examiners appointed by the IBO.

A common practice by schools is to hold mock exams, using exams from a previous year's session to introduce students to the examination process. This is also used to determine predicted grades required by IBO prior to assessment. Another common practice is to allow the students a study leave for independent study without scheduled lesson time.

The nature of the internal assessment (IA) varies by subject. They may be oral presentations (used in languages), practical work (in experimental sciences), or written works to be done at home. Internal assessment accounts for 20 to 50 percent of the mark awarded for each subject and is marked by a teacher in the school. A sample of at least five per subject at each level will also be graded by a moderator appointed by the IBO, in a process called external moderation of internal assessment.

The marks collected from the internal and external moderators are again moderated on a world wide scale. The results of every particular year determine the grade-boundaries of that year. Therefore the effects of very easy or very difficult exams are taken into account, however, very good year groups might receive lower marks than expected as the boundaries are drawn up, and vice-versa, less successful year groups may receive higher marks than expected.

Awards

Diploma conditions

Certificates

A candidate may also choose not to take the whole Diploma, but to aim for a Certificate of Merit in a particular subject. Candidates doing certificates do not have to take part in the extra requirements of the Diploma (the Extended Essay, TOK and CAS). Those candidates who complete extra courses in addition to a Diploma will also receive a special kind of certificate.

Acknowledgement of the IB

Upon completion of the Diploma Programme, students receive the IB Diploma, which is used to obtain admission to institutions of higher education. This degree is sometimes regarded as a foreign diploma, so its recognition may vary depending on the university.

In Canada and the United States, some IBDP courses are recognised as equivalent to university/college-level courses, and universities and colleges may award entering students with first-year credit for high IB exam scores. In this regard it is similar to the Advanced Placement Program, or superior to it, depending on the institute of higher learning in question. UCAS rates the AP programmes to be of GCE AS level difficulty, which is roughly equivalent to the standard level of IB Diploma subjects. However, universities in the United Kingdom accept the IB Diploma on a par with A-levels, including Oxford and Cambridge University (Oxbridge), (even though Higher Level subjects and Standard Level Subjects are no longer considered direct equivalents of A and AS Levels, respectively) and some universities prefer it to A-Levels, for example Nottingham University.

In some countries, for example Turkey or Peru, the IB Diploma is not considered equivalent to the national end-of-school examination scheme, usually because the IB Diploma is not as specialised, or because certain subjects are not offered. Other countries, such as Germany, set certain conditions for the IB Diploma to be convalidated (German at minimun A2 Standard Level, Mathematic Methods or Mathematics standard level minimun, and Maths or a Science at Higher Level). Some universities, on the other hand, prefer the IB to the certificate which the students usually get in their own country. A list of universities admitting the IB can be found on the IBO web site.

Pre-IB

In many schools, one or two years of 'Pre-IB' are administered before admission into the formal IB curriculum. This is not a practice managed by the IBO, but by the schools themselves, and the nature of the Pre-IB studies varies greatly between schools. In many countries, Pre-IB consists of adapting to studying in a foreign language (usually English), while completing the compulsory courses demanded by the national education authorities (as opposed to the IBO). For schools in the United States, the 'Pre-IB' curriculum usually consists of more advanced courses than the regular freshman and sophomore classes in order to prepare the student for the rigours of the actual IB curriculum. Schools in Canada usually offer a more advanced French language course, or offer an optional language in grade ten, usually Spanish.