The International Baccalaureate (IB) earlier known as International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) is considered one of the best pre-university programs in the world. IBO is a not-for-profit international educational foundation set up in 1968 with its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.
The IB is a two-year diploma program for classes 11 and 12. It is globally reputed for its academic thoroughness and application-oriented coursework that arms you with credentials of international standards to get into colleges and universities worldwide.
About the IB Diploma Program
The IB diploma program aims at rounded growth of students that helps shape their personality as diverse as physical, emotional, and moral development. On the academic front, it focuses on inter-disciplinary learning that engages the students with complex ideas, needling them to analyze challenges innovatively.
The program has gained recognition from universities across the world, and it prepares students for a winning stint at the university and the life after. Personal and interpersonal development achieved through creativity, activity and service are the excellent traits students cart off to take on the world with grit and might.
Key components
The IB program has two main components namely, Class Requirements and Core.
Class Requirements
As part of Class Requirements, students will have to take up subjects in six different groups. They are: Group 1 – Language and Literature; Group 2 –Language Acquisition; Group 3 – Individuals and Societies; Group 4 – Sciences; Group 5 – Mathematics; Group 6 – The Arts.
Core
The Core includes three components. The first is Theory of Knowledge (TOK) that delves deep into critical thinking. It has a rational approach to learning that expands students’ knowledge in various disciplines across their length and breadth.
The second component is Extended Essay (EE) that requires the student to take up an in-depth study of a topic of global importance, relating to one of the subjects s/he has taken up.
Creativity, Activity and Service (CAS), the third module, requires students to engage in diverse activities along with their regular course work that spans the entire program. It helps students develop at a personal level and hone their interpersonal skills too.
Assessment
The IB uses both internal and external evaluation to review student performance at the end of the program. External examiners score written examinations. Assessment follows a pre-set criteria based on the objectives of each subject curriculum, and not by a candidate’s position in the overall rank order.
Students may have to complete assessment tasks at school, like oral work in language, fieldwork in geography, lab work in sciences, analysis in math and creative performances. These are evaluated by teachers and judged by external moderators; external examiners may directly do the assessment.
Certain minimal levels of performance through the whole program and acceptable participation in creativity, action and service requirements are mandatory. Students should earn at least 24 points to get the diploma; 45 points is the highest total one can get.
The marks awarded for each course falls in the range 1 (lowest) to 7 (highest). Students may also get three supplementary points for their results collated on theory of knowledge and extended essay.