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Encyclopedia > International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
The IB World School logo
The IB World School logo

The International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme (often incorrectly referred to as just 'the IB') 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. In many schools, one or two years of "Pre-IB" are administered before admission into the formal IB curriculum. This often, for example in Finland and Sweden, 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). The International Baccalaureate (IB) is a group of three educational programmes and their respective examinations, as established by the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO). ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... High School also refers to the highest form of classical riding, High School Dressage. ... A university is an institution of higher education and of research, which grants academic degrees. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...


Upon completion of the Diploma Programme, students receive a diploma which may be useful in obtaining admission to institutions of higher education. This degree is sometimes regarded as a foreign diploma, so recognition may vary depending on the university. Higher education is education provided by universities and other institutions that award academic degrees, such as university colleges, and liberal arts colleges. ...


Particularly in the USA, some IB courses are recognised as equivalent to college level courses, and colleges may award entering students with 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. The Advanced Placement Program (also Advanced Placement, AP) is a United States program that offers high school students the opportunity to receive college credit for their work during high school. ... UCAS logo UCAS (Universities & Colleges Admissions Service, pronounced u-CAH-s or ICK-as) is a clearing house for applications for virtually all undergraduate degree programmes at British universities or colleges. ...


In other parts of the world, the IB Diploma is used only to assess a student's suitability to enter university. In some countries, for example Turkey or Peru, it 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. A list of universities admitting the IB can be found on the IBO web site.


Grades are awarded from 1 to 7 in each subject. Diploma students take six courses, and complete an Extended Essay of 4000 words and the Theory of Knowledge class (one to three 'extra' points may be awarded for good results in the latter two), for a total of 45 possible points per diploma. If candidates choose not to fulfil all parts of the programme, they can only receive a certificate. Resits are possible for a maximum of three times. Epistemology, from the Greek words episteme (knowledge) and logos (word/speech) is the branch of philosophy that deals with the nature, origin and scope of knowledge. ...


If candidates study in a language other than their native language (ie their language A1), they may receive a Bilingual Diploma.

Contents

Diploma conditions

In order to qualify for the IB Diploma, the following requirements must have been met:

  • all six subjects have been awarded a numerical grade higher than 1
  • the CAS (Creativity - Action - Service; community service) requirement of 150 hours has been completed
  • grade D or better has been awarded in at least one of the Extended Essay and TOK
  • if the overall score is 24-27, there is no grade 2 at HL and not more than one grade 2 at SL; if the overall score is greater than or equal to 28, not more than one grade 2 at HL and no more than two grades 2 at SL; altogether, there are no more than three grades 3 or below
  • at least 11 points (12 for overall score 24-27; 16/14 if four HL subjects are taken) have been gained on HL subjects, and 9/8 (6/5 if only two SL subjects are taken) on SL subjects
  • the candidate has not been charged with malpractice

Community service refers to service that a person performs for the benefit of his or her local community. ...

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 will 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.


Syllabus

Subject areas

Students pursuing the Diploma take six courses, usually one from each group, 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 at least 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, in this category.
  • 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 an second A1 language.
  • Group 3: individuals and societies - Humanities and social sciences, such as philosophy, economics, business and management, psychology, social anthropology, geography and history (or History of the Islamic World). At higher level, there are several different history classes: history of the Americas, history of Europe, history of Africa, history of West Asia, history of East and Southeast Asia etc, generally (but not solely) dependent on the location of the school.
  • Group 4: experimental sciences - Subjects such as physics, chemistry, biology, environmental systems and design technology. In some countries, such as Finland, students are allowed to choose three subjects from this group and none from Group 3, as it is required for admission into some universities.
  • Group 5: mathematics - The subjects are, in order of increasing difficulty, Mathematical Studies (SL) Mathematical Methods (SL), and Mathematics HL. Furthermore, Further Mathematics can be studied at SL in addition to a Mathematics HL course. This group also includes computer science but only as an elective (not a substitute for the other mathematics courses).
  • Group 6: arts - Subjects such as visual arts, music and theatre arts. Students can also choose to take another subject from any of the other five groups to substitute for this group. One of the main criticisms of the Diploma Programme is that it discriminates against artistes by allowing those specialising in other subject areas to take a second subject within that Group, but offering no such option for those favouring the creative arts. The defence often used to counter this point is that candidates can use their 50 "creativity" hours of their CAS to enrich this part of themselves.

All subjects are assessed using both internal and external assessment, including final exams given worldwide in May (usually for Northern Hemisphere schools) and in November (usually for Southern Hemisphere schools). The nature of the internal assessment varies by subject. They count for 20 to 50 per cent in each subject and are graded by a teacher in the school, a sample of at least five per subject per level also being graded by a moderator appointed by the IBO. The external assessment is assessed by examiners appointed by the IBO. Philosophy (from a combination of the Greek words philos meaning love and sophia meaning wisdom), as a practice, aims at some kind of understanding, knowledge, or wisdom about fundamental matters such as reality, knowledge, meaning, value, being, and truth. ... Economics (deriving from the Greek words οίκω [oeko], house, and νέμω [nemo], distribute) is the social science that studies the allocation of scarce resources. ... Psychology (ancient Greek: psyche = soul and logos = word) is the study of behaviour, mind and thought. ... Cultural anthropology, also called social anthropology or socio-cultural anthropology, is one of four commonly recognized fields of anthropology, the holistic study of humanity. ... History is a term for information about the past. ... The willingness to question previously held truths and search for new answers resulted in a period of major scientific advancements, now known as the Scientific Revolution. ... Chemistry (in Greek: χημεία) is the science of matter and its interactions with energy and itself (see physics, biology). ... Main article: Life There are many universal units and common processes that are fundamental to the known forms of life. ... Wikibooks Wikiversity has more about this subject: School of Mathematics Wikiquote quotations related to: Mathematics Look up Mathematics in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Wikimedia Commons has more media related to: Mathematics Bogomolny, Alexander: Interactive Mathematics Miscellany and Puzzles. ... Edsger Dijkstra said: Computer science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes. ... Many times, the term art is used to refer to the visual arts. ... ... For other usages see Theatre (disambiguation) Theater (American English) or Theatre (British English and widespread usage among theatre professionals in the US) is that branch of the performing arts concerned with acting out stories in front of an audience using combinations of speech, gesture, music, dance, sound and spectacle — indeed... This article is about the month of May. ... November is the eleventh month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of four Gregorian months with the length of 30 days. ...


Extended Essay

Students must write an essay of at most 4000 words in any chosen subject but not cross-subject (any topic that they feel is researchable, not necessarily one taken for the final exam) under a title they have chosen. This task involves independent research and requires producing a comprehensible written piece. Each student is paired with a mentor, usually a teacher or a professional in the field, who provides insight (and corrections) toward the final product. It is important 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 diploma student must complete at least 150 hours spread out over at least one and a half years doing something creative, participating in sport or other physical activities, and doing community service / 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.


Theory of Knowledge

Each student must complete the Theory of Knowledge (TOK) course of 100 hours, which aims to encourage students to be critical 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 which is issued by the IBO), and present a TOK issue to their class on their choice of topic. (See external links below for more information.) Epistemology, from the Greek words episteme (knowledge) and logos (word/speech) is the branch of philosophy that deals with the nature, origin and scope of knowledge. ...


See also

The International Baccalaureate (IB) is a group of three educational programmes and their respective examinations, as established by the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO). ... The International Baccalaureate (IB) is a group of three educational programmes and their respective examinations, as established by the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO). ... A total of 1468 schools (as of March 2005) offer one or more of the three International Baccalaureate (IB) programmes; the majority of these offer the IB Diploma Programme. ...

External links


  Results from FactBites:
 
International Baccalaureate (1519 words)
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This programme is intended for students in the final two years of secondary school –; often before entering university.
UCAS rates the AP programmes to be of GCE AS level difficulty, which is roughly equivalent to the standard level of IB Diploma subjects.
Overseas Family School - International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma (987 words)
The International Baccalaureate Diploma is a rigorous pre-university course of study that leads to examinations, for highly motivated secondary school students.
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Diploma candidates must select one subject from each of the six groups, although a second subject from groups 1 to 5 may be substituted for group 6.
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