Bonn International School opened in 1997. Within this short period of time BIS has been granted the status of "IB World School" by the International Baccalaureate Organization (IB) in Geneva, Switzerland. This gives BIS the right to offer the full, integrated suite of IB programmes going from age 3 to 19 for the Primary, Middle and Diploma years.

 At the end of the PYP (Early Learning through Grade 5), students complete a project which is called the 'Exhibition' and represents the culmination of the programme. The school issues a certificate of successful completion of the PYP.

At the end of Grade 10, a certificate is issued to students who complete the IB Middle Years Programme. Students in Grades 11 and 12 decide upon their future educational plans and then pursue a choice of the following certificates most appropriately matched to their plans. These are International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, International Baccalaureate Certificate, or the Bonn International School High School Diploma.

Please note that comparison with specific national systems and qualifications around the globe may be difficult given our diverse community.  The information below should help make comparisons more transparent. 

Students completing Grade 10 are usually aged 15-16 and have completed the first two years of high school in the US system, the GCSE years in the British system and Mittlere Reife in the German system.

Students who have successfully completed the MYP have received a well-rounded and demanding education. BIS offers the opportunity to students in Grade 10 to obtain externally-validated grades on the MYP Record of Achievement.

All MYP subjects receive a final grade in the range from 7 (excellent) to 1 (poor). MYP assessment is measured against a range of criteria for each subject. Each subject's criteria includes the development of skills in application of knowledge and enquiry, and requires students to develop higher-order thinking skills.

This is awarded to a student who:

• Gains 36 (out of a possible 63) points based on the best subject from each subject group and a Personal Project
• Fulfills the community and service requirements
• Gains at least a 3 in the Personal Project
• Gains at least a 2 in the best subject from each subject group
• Has been in the programme for the last two years

The Record of Achievement gives a final grade for each subject studied in Grade 10 (year 5 of the programme). This means that when students have studied more than one subject in an area (e.g. Humanities) the best one is listed but both will appear in the Record of Achievement.

Probably more important than the MYP Certificate is the Portfolio - containing evidence of achievement in all areas of a student's school life. This document is designed to motivate students to take a broad view of the purpose of their education and can act as a wonderful transcript for movement between school and for later university applications. This document can contain:

• The IBO Validated Certificate and Record of Achievement
• IBO User guides to the MYP
• Student statement on achievements and experiences over the MYP including Community and Service and the Personal Project
• School Transcripts
• A School letter of Recommendation
• Record of extra curricular involvement e.g. sporting participation
• Special awards
  

BIS offers a full High School Diploma, the IB Diploma and IB Certificate courses. The IB Diploma is widely recognized by institutes of higher education throughout the world. Successful IB Diploma students have been accepted in over 1000 universities in 144 countries worldwide. Candidates who neither fulfill the requirements above for the award of the Diploma nor who choose to enter for the full programme may choose to enter for IB Certificates from the IBO.

Students may also choose to complete their secondary education through earning credits for the BIS High School Diploma. Passes in individual subjects, particularly at higher level, are treated with respect by many institutions of further education particularly in North America, for purposes of placement or credit. However, these colleges may also require entrance tests, SAT tests or TOEFL tests. Successful completion of an IB Certificate programme is no guarantee in itself of entry to institutes of higher education as different countries have different requirements. Elsewhere on our website, we offer more details on the IB Diploma programme.

The full IB Diploma is an advanced and rigorous course and is not suitable for all students. In order to earn a full IB Diploma students are required to:

• Earn a minimum of 24 points out of 45 across the range of subjects required
• Complete their Creativity Action and Service (CAS) programme
• Complete a course in the Theory of Knowledge
• Write a 4000 word Extended essay as a research paper
  

BIS awards a High School diploma to all students who successfully complete and gain the 24 credits from Grades 9 to 12 equivalent to those of school systems in the United States of America . The BIS Diploma is taught through the courses offered in the IB programme as above.

The High School Diploma Requirements include the following:

One credit is earned for a minimum of one year's academic study. In order to be eligible for the award of a credit a student is required to have an attendance record of at least 90% during each school year. Exceptions to this will be through confirmed medical conditions or at the discretion of the principal.

Students transferring to BIS throughout grades 9-12 will be obliged to provide transcript confirmation of credits already earned. When students are transferring from school systems not familiar with the credit system, the Principal has the discretion whether or not to award credits based on the information received.

BIS is a registered centre for students to sit their Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT) and Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) for those aiming to follow their further education in the USA.

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