What is the IB Diploma Programme (DP)?

The IB Diploma Programme (DP) is an academically challenging and balanced programme of education with external examinations that prepares students, ages 16 to 19, for success at university and in life beyond. The DP has been designed to address the intellectual, social, emotional and physical well-being of students. The programme provides an internationally accepted qualification for entry into higher education and has gained recognition and respect from the world’s leading universities.

Why Adopt the IBDP?

The IB offers high-quality programmes of international education that share a powerful vision. An IB education focuses on learners, develops effective approaches to teaching and learning, works within global contexts, guides learners towards global citizenry and explores significant content.

The Diploma Programme aims to develop students who have excellent breadth and depth of knowledge – students who flourish physically, intellectually, emotionally and ethically.

• DP students are better able than their peers to cope with demanding workloads, manage their time and meet the expectations placed on them.
• DP’s Extended Essay improves students’ approach to learning in higher education.
• DP students explore the nature of knowledge through the programme’s unique theory of knowledge course.
• DP students excel in the academic subjects.

Informed by attributes described in the IB learner profile, IB learners strive to become inquirers, knowledgeable, thinkers, communicators, principled, open-minded, caring, risk-takers, balanced, and reflective. These attributes represent a broad range of human capacities and responsibilities that go beyond intellectual development and academic success.

Teaching and Learning in the Diploma Programme

The development of broad range of human capacities and responsibilities that go beyond intellectual development and academic success. The below are the 5 ATL categories: 

• Thinking skills
• Communication skills
• Social skills
• Self-management skills
• Research skills

The approaches to learning 'ATL' are deliberate skills and attitudes that permeate the IB teaching and learning environment. Focus on ATL will improve the quality of teaching and enable learners to be self-directed and motivated lifelong learners who aspire to achieve personal goals.  

The IBDP Programmes are:

• Based on inquiry and focused on conceptual understanding
• Developed in local and global contexts
• Focused on effective teamwork and collaboration
• Differentiated to meet the needs of all learners 
• Informed by assessment (formative and summative)
• Focused on developing the behavior and emotional management skills that allow the student to be responsible of their own learning

The DP Programme Model

• The IB Programme model highlights important shared features of an IB education
• Developing the attributes of the IB learner profile
• Approaches to teaching and approaches to learning
• Age-appropriate culminating experiences
• An organized and aligned structure of subject groups or disciplines
• Development of international-mindedness as a primary aim and context for learning

The model shows the DP student at the center derived from the philosophy of an IB education. Followed by a focus on the Approaches to learning (ATL)—demonstrating a commitment to developing skills for learning and Approaches to teaching—emphasizing DP pedagogy, including collaborative learning through inquiry.

The core elements of the DP are also demonstrated within the model, as follows

• Theory of Knowledge (TOK)
• Creativity, Activity & Service (CAS)
• Extended Essay (EE)

The Diploma Programme incorporates six subject groups:

• Studies in Language and Literature (Group 1)
• Language Acquisition (Group 2)
• Individuals and Societies (Group 3)
• Sciences (Group 4)
• Mathematics (Group 5)
• The Arts (Group 6)