A Guide To The International Baccalaureate (IB)

How Does It Work?

To receive the IB Diploma, a student must complete, alongside their subject examinations, three core requirements, Extended Essay, Theory of Knowledge and CAS, over the period of the two years.

Subjects

The IB offers a choice of over 50 subjects. Students are required to take six subjects from 6 different areas. The IB classifies these six areas into Group 1: Language A1, Group 2: Second Language, Group 3: Individuals and Societies, Group 4: Experimental Sciences, Group 5: Mathematics, and Group 6: Arts. Students are required to take one subject from each group, with the exception of group 6 where the student can opt to take a sixth course from one of the other 5 groups.
From these six subjects, students will have to take 3 as higher level subjects and 3 as standard level subjects, or for exceptional students 4 as higher level subjects and 2 as standard level subjects. A higher level course will cover a larger area of the subject and in more detail than its standard level counterpart. A higher level course requires 240 hours of teaching time, while a standard level course requires 150 hours.

Each subject has scored from 1 to 7, where a 7 corresponds to an A* and a 1 corresponds to an F. A total of 42 points can be achieved. A score less than 24 will result in failing the IB Diploma. The grade for each class comprises of external examinations, internal assessments and external assessments. The external examinations and external assessments are graded by the International Baccalaureate Organization while the internal assessment is grade by the school teacher and moderated by the IBO. The external examinations for each subject consist of 2 or 3 papers.

Alternatively, students can opt to get IB certificates for a single or few subjects instead of doing the whole diploma which will require the extended essay, theory of knowledge and CAS hours.

Extended Essay

Over the course of the two years, students must also write an essay of maximum 4,000 words on a chosen subject. Each student will be assigned a supervisor by their school to help guide them. The grade for the EE ranges from an A to an E. Failure to complete the EE, or pass, will result in the student not receiving a diploma.

Theory Of Knowledge

Every IB Diploma student is required to complete the Theory of Knowledge (TOK) course (approximately 100 hours). The grade for this course will be determined by a presentation (graded by the teacher) and a 1200-1600 word essay on a topic prescribed by the IBO (grade by the IBO). The grade for the TOK ranges from an A to an E.

The EE and the TOK together can award a student up to 3 bonus points.

CAS

Creativity, Action, Service is a requirement for each IB candidate. Each candidate must complete 50 hours of creativity, 50 hours of action and 50 hours of service. Alongside this, they must also have a CAS project. This is a project that spans at least two of the three CAS areas (e.g. creativity and action) where they have some sort of leadership. For each activity, students are required to submit official forms from their supervisors as well as reflections. Failure to meet all the CAS requirements can result in not receiving the diploma.