The International Baccalaureate Organisation (IB) is a worldwide nongovernmental educational organisation with links to UNESCO. The organisation's mission is humanist in orientation and stresses international understanding. According to the IB, these aims are embodied in the structure and content of the upper secondary or Diploma Programme curriculum.

Created in 1968, the IB's Diploma Programme is a demanding pre-university course of study that leads to examinations. It is designed for highly motivated secondary school students age 16 to 19. The programme has earned a reputation for rigorous assessment, giving IB diploma holders access to the world's leading universities. The Diploma Programme's grading system is criterion-referenced: each student's performance is measured against well-defined levels of achievement consistent from one examination session to the next. The IB has shown, over the course of 30 years, that students are well prepared for university work.

The programme is a comprehensive two-year international curriculum that generally allows students to fulfill the requirements of their national or state education systems. The Diploma Programme incorporates the best elements of national systems without being based on any one. Internationally mobile students are able to transfer from one IB school to another.

The programme was born of efforts to establish a common curriculum and university entry credential for students moving from one country to another. International educators were motivated by practical considerations but also by an idealistic vision: students should share an academic experience that would emphasis critical thinking, intercultural understanding and exposure to a variety of points of view .

The programme has the strengths of a traditional and broad curriculum, but with three important additional features, shown at the centre of the hexagonal curriculum model.

The six academic disciplines around the curriculum model are studied concurrently; students are required to study both the humanities and the sciences choosing a subject from each of the following groups:

Group 1: English/German (Higher and Standard Level)

Group 2: English/German/Spanish (Beginner and Standard Level)

Group 3: History/Geography/Economics (Higher and Standard Level)

Group 4: Physics/Chemistry/Biology (Higher and Standard Level) 

Group 5: Maths (Higher and Standard Level)/Mathematical Studies/Mathematical               methods/Computer Studies (Standard Level)

Group 6: Visual Arts/Music (Higher and Standard Level) Or Computer Science from Group 5 Or a second subject from Group 2, 3 or 4. 

Students also complete a Theory of Knowledge Course, an Extended Essay and must fulfill Creativity, Action and Service requirements. 

If you require more information about the Diploma Years Programme, please do not hesitate to contact Lorraine Heinrichs - the DYP Coordinator.

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