The International Baccalaureate Organisation is commonly called the ‘IB’. Headquartered in the Swiss city of Geneva, this organization started its operations in 1968. The organisation is one of the most prestigious organisations that offers world-class education to its students.
Students here are prepared in every dimension of their lives, so they can easily take on any challenge thrown upon them. The IB offers its education in four realms. IB diploma programme is the most revered course; the other three are IB career-related programme for students aged 15 to 19, the IB middle years programme for students aged 11 to 16, and the IB primary years programme for children aged 3 to 12.
These programmes are taught in the schools associated with IB. No other organisation can run them unless they are licensed through IB itself.
Studying an IB programme might seem daunting for those new to this and who know partially about it. This programme is one of the toughest yet one of the best education models to develop one’s extrinsic as well as intrinsic abilities.
Let’s now dive deep into the world of IB to make you understand what it represents and what you should know before taking admission into it. These pointers will be discussed in reference to the four programs that IB offers.
- Who can offer IB education-
The most common question that ponders in any newbie’s head is where this education is being offered and if by any means one wants it for themselves or their kids. So, any school can offer an IB education after getting associated with an IB organisation. The school must first prepare its educators for the needed switch, i.e., the educators are provided training under an IB expert who shares the words of wisdom with the educators and makes them understand the curriculum and ways to teach it. Today, the IB program is turning into a big thing, with as many as 140 countries accepting it as a medium of granting education. Many world-level leaders have gained their education through IB only.
- What is offered in IB-
So, the International Baccalaureate offers education under four dimensions-
The first is the IB programme for 3 to 12 year olds, where the entire focus is on the child’s holistic development. The second one is for 11 to 16 year olds, where the focus lies on building strong ties and connections with the peer group and with themselves. The 16 to 19 year olds have the most sought-after, the IB diploma programme. This programme seeks to benefit the students with a comprehensive syllabus catered to model them into insightful beings. This will be discussed in detail in the next pointer. The last one is the career-related programme for 16 to 19 years old that seeks to develop the kids by shaping their career-oriented skills.
- A detailed insight into the world of the IB diploma-
The IB diploma is a vast curriculum designed to shape a student in multilateral aspects. This programme can be taken as an alternative to your high school qualification. To participate in the programme, you must attend an IB-accredited school. These schools have specially-trained teachers who deliver the IB Diploma Programme. There are about 5,600 IB-accredited schools in 159 countries.
It is a two-year high school curriculum for students aged 16 to 19 composed of six academic subject groups and the Diploma Programme (DP) Core. The DP Core requires students to reflect on the nature of knowledge in a course called Theory of Knowledge (TOK), participate in an independent research project to produce an Extended Essay (EE) and engage in extracurricular activities related to Creativity, Action and Service (CAS).
- Strengths of IB-
The IB curriculum has core strength in touching all the essential areas of a student’s life. The group one of the diploma programme is built around the study of language and literature. The group constitutes the in-depth study of the language which is undertaken from different angles. Old texts are studied to provide useful annotations and different eras are compared to study the comparison and development of language and literature.
If a student opts for a foreign language as well, then it is called a bilingual diploma.
The second group focuses on language acquisition. This entails acquiring a foreign language of your choice. It promotes understanding of other cultures by studying their language. Students can learn languages at two different levels: Ab initio courses are for beginners with little to no background in their chosen language. Language B courses are for students with some prior exposure to the language.
Group three focuses on individuals and society. Subjects commonly offered in Group Three include Business Management, Economics, Geography, History, Global Politics, Philosophy, Psychology, Information Technology in a Global Society, Anthropology and World Religions.
Group four is wholly solely devoted to natural sciences. Students learn scientific methods in these courses by studying key concepts, models, theories, and techniques in each subject area.
Group five covers the Mathematics. Subjects available include Mathematics SL, Mathematics HL, Mathematics Studies SL, and Further Mathematics HL.
Group 6 is designed to provide a balance of creativity and disciplined research in the genres of choice, Arts include Dance, Music, Film, Theatre, and Visual Arts.
- IB Grading-
The last but not the least is the IB Grading. The grading is done on a scale of one to seven. Seven being the highest. The assessed components of the DP Core (TOK and Extended Essay) are scored on an A – E scale. At the end of the IB Diploma Programme, you receive a final score of up to 45 possible points. Your 6 IB classes attribute to 42 of those points. The minimum score required for an IB Diploma is 24, and you must score at least 12 points total in your HL subjects (no score below 3) and obtain a minimum of nine points for all your SL subjects.
This is all the information you require to start your journey with IB. For any further details, kindly reach out to us at <Email/Contact>.
