IBDP

What is IB diploma?

The Diploma Programme is a rigorous pre-university course of study designed for students in the 16-19 age range. It is a broad-based two-year course that aims to encourage students to be not only knowledgeable and inquiring but also caring and compassionate. There is a strong emphasis on encouraging students to develop intercultural understanding, open-mindedness, and the attitudes necessary for them to respect and evaluate a range of points of view.

Why IB Diploma?

Research suggests that there are many benefits to choosing the Diploma Programme (DP).

What the DP offers students through the DP, schools are able to develop students who:

• have excellent breadth and depth of knowledge
• flourish physically, intellectually, emotionally and ethically
• study at least two languages
• excel in traditional academic subjects
• explore the nature of knowledge through the programme’s unique theory of knowledge

Why offers the DP?

International research shows that there are many benefits to choosing the DP over other 16-19 curricula. For example:

• DP students are better able than their peers to cope with demanding workloads, manage their time and meet the expectations placed on them
• Analysis of DP students in Canada, the UK and the USA found that the DP’s extended essay improves students’ approach to learning in higher education
• 72% of students taking the DP in China attend one of the world’s top 500 universities, according to a 2013 study.

The Diploma Programme model

The course is presented as six academic areas enclosing a central core (see figure 1). It encourages the concurrent study of a broad range of academic areas. Student’s study two modern languages (or a modern language and a classical language), a humanities or social science subject, an experimental science, mathematics and one of the creative arts. It is this comprehensive range of subjects that makes the Diploma Programme a demanding course of study designed to prepare students effectively for university entrance. In each of the academic areas, students have flexibility in making their choices, which means they can choose subjects that particularly interest them and that they may wish to study further at university.

Core

Theory of Knowledge (TOK)

The TOK course provides students with an opportunity to explore and reflect on the nature of knowledge and the process of knowing. It is a core element of the DP to which schools are required to devote at least 100 hours of class time.

Creativity, Activity and Service (CAS)

Creativity, activity, service (CAS) emphasizes helping students to develop their own identities per the ethical principles embodied in the IB mission statement and the IB learner profile.

Extended Essay

The extended essay is an in-depth study of a focused topic chosen from the list of available Diploma Programme subjects for the session in question. This leads to a major piece of formally presented, structured writing, in which ideas and findings are communicated in a reasoned and coherent manner, appropriate to the subject chosen.

Credit: www.ibo.org