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Writer's pictureAuriane
Feb 13, 20224 min read

What's the IB ?

Updated: Mar 20, 2022

As this website is made for international students, I had to talk about a special baccalaureate: the International Baccalaureate, or IB.



Table of contents :

  1. Some context...

  2. How does it work?

  3. What universities think about it

  4. Sources





1. Some context :

This paragraph will briefly resume the IB's history and aim. The sources are this presentation, available on the IB's official website and the Wikipedia page of the IB. If you want more details, please check these useful links.


Creation and aim:

The IB has been created in the 1960s in Geneva, where the 4 main founders wanted to create a new way of learning that would be shifted towards international studies and would

  • "centre on learners

  • develop effective approaches to teaching and learning

  • work within global contexts, helping students understand different languages and cultures

  • explore significant content, developing disciplinary and interdisciplinary understanding that meets rigorous international standards"


Programs:

They strengthened this program through the 1970s to 2000, and created 4 programs, for 3 to 19 year old students.

​









Age range

3-12

11-16

16-19

16-19

Date of creation

1997

1994

1968

2012

Learner's profile:

During the creation of the different programs, they came up with the Learner's Profile, which was the student profile they were trying to build :



-The learner's profile, from the

IB's official website



2. How does it work?

The IB starts in grade 11 and ends in grade 12. You can choose 6 subjects between 6 groups of subjects, 3 in standard level (SL), 3 in higher level (HL). You also have to complete CAS hours, the extra curriculum activities, and the TOK (theory of knowledge, a 1600-words essay). The whole system is kinda long to explain, so I’ll divide it into small parts :




A) Groups of subject

There are 6 groups of subjects, shown in this image :



The groups are :

  1. Studies in language and literature

  2. Language acquisition

  3. Humanities

  4. Sciences

  5. Mathematics

  6. Arts


Every student has to choose one subject from each group. The Arts group is special: you can choose not to take any arts but instead take a second subject in another group. For example, you can not take Arts and take 2 "language acquisition" subjects.


For every group, different subjects are offered, and you have to go to the school's website to know what combination you can take. Here is the page from the IB's website with all the subject possibilities.



B) HL vs SL

HL and SL are a very important part of the IB. Chosen in grade 10, so before the IB, they are the way in which students specialize their studies. The students must choose three subjects in HL and 3 subjects in SL. Students sometimes take 4 HLs, but that's only if the student is very motivated and has a solid level. Click here to go to the IB's page dedicated to the courses.


The subjects taken in HL will teach the student how to handle university. In some cases, students who have taken an HL can even skip university's first year!


C) TOK

The Theory of Knowledge is a 1600-word essay done through the 2 years of the IB. It is one of the components of the IB that you can't choose: every IB student has to take it.

The TOK is the philosophical part of the IB: in TOK, students question the nature of knowledge (Go to this page to find examples of TOK topics). It helps students link knowledge acquired from all the subjects

TOK is a very important part of the IB, and universities are often quite impressed by the students' ability to reflect as thinkers

Go to this page to learn more.


D) CAS

Just like the TOK, the Creativity, Activity and Service is mandatory for all the IB students. It is a very important part of the baccalaureate as it demonstrates that the student is not only good academically, but also shows engagement in other non-academical activities. Sports, helping the community in any way, hobbies can all be counted as CAS activities.


E) Other important stuff

Here, I'm just throwing random stuff I find important. You can skip to my review if u want to.


  • The Universities highly regard the IB. I'm talking about it in my review, but US

  • IB is intense. It is one of the most challenging diplomas of the world. Taking it will truly broaden your knowledge and skills. Be ready (I'm still in grade 10, but I got to talk with some grade 11 and 12 and they all say that it's hard).



3. My review :

The IB is a truly incredible diploma. It is well recognized internationally, and especially in the US. I mean, I can't really say anything because I'm not technically in the IB (I'm still in grade 10 and the IB starts in grade 11), but I'm still giving out my point of view from what I've seen so far about it.



This is a really short and lame review, isn't it ? I try not to say too much because I don't want to say fake things (again, I'm not in the IB yet) but if you want to learn more, don't hesitate to go to the forum and ask questions, I'll do my best to answer then.


4. Sources :



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