🌍 International curricula · Qualification
IB Diploma Programme revision,
with a team behind it
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
Six subjects, three core components and 45 points — the most structurally demanding pre-university curriculum.
The IB Diploma asks for six subjects across defined groups, three at Higher Level and three at Standard Level, plus Theory of Knowledge, the Extended Essay and CAS. Nothing can be dropped, which is what makes it hard: it is a two-year project-management problem as much as an academic one.
IB Diploma Programme at a glance
- Qualifications
- IB Diploma Programme (DP) · IB Career-related Programme (CP) · Middle Years Programme (MYP) · Primary Years Programme (PYP)
- Grading
- Each subject graded 1 to 7, giving 42 points, plus up to 3 bonus points from Theory of Knowledge and the Extended Essay. 45 is the maximum; 24 with conditions is the diploma threshold.
- Exam series
- May session for Northern Hemisphere schools, November session for Southern Hemisphere schools.
- Results
- Results are released in early July for the May session and early January for the November session.
Worth knowing about IB Diploma Programme
The specifics below are the ones that change how you should plan. Always check the current specification with your school or the awarding body — specifications get revised, and the version you are entered for is the one that counts.
Internal Assessments in every one of your six subjects have deadlines spread across two years, and they are the single biggest cause of IB overload. Mapping them all onto one calendar early is the highest-leverage thing you can do.
The Extended Essay is a 4,000-word independent research piece with its own supervision schedule — it is a term-length project, not a long homework.
Theory of Knowledge and the Extended Essay combine for up to 3 bonus points, which is the difference between a 39 and a 42 for a lot of students.
Mathematics splits into Analysis and Approaches and Applications and Interpretation, each at HL and SL, and universities sometimes specify which one they want.
The diploma has failing conditions beyond the points total — too many low grades, or a failing TOK or EE, can cost the diploma even at a decent score.
What each teacher does for IB Diploma Programme
All eight are AI, and we say so plainly. What is real is the output: sessions in your calendar, sources in your book, citations checked, cards queued until you can recall them cold.
Daniel · Study planner
Takes your IB Diploma Programme subjects and works backwards from the real timetable. May session for Northern Hemisphere schools, November session for Southern Hemisphere schools. Sessions land in your calendar as real events with reminders, and the plan adjusts when a week goes wrong.
Sarah · Subject tutor
Explains at the depth IB Diploma Programme actually assesses, with worked examples, then asks the questions that check you have understood rather than just followed along.
Tommy · Quizzer
Turns each concept you get into a spaced-repetition card and brings it back at widening intervals until you can produce it cold. Each subject graded 1 to 7, giving 42 points, plus up to 3 bonus points from Theory of Knowledge and the Extended Essay. 45 is the maximum; 24 with conditions is the diploma threshold. Most of the gap between where you are and where you want to be is recall under pressure, not understanding.
Margaret · Librarian
Finds sources, summarises them at three depths, imports them into your subject book and formats the citations in MLA, APA, Chicago or Harvard.
Eleanor · Writing coach
Reads your extended answers and essays for structure and argument, and shows you where a marker stops following you — without rewriting it for you.
Charles · Citation checker
Checks every in-text citation points at a real entry in your bibliography, and flags the ones that do not before a marker does.
Penny · Proofreader
Catches grammar, spelling, and the sentences that technically parse but will not survive a tired examiner.
Sam · Accountability
Tracks what you actually did against what the plan said, and tells you early when IB Diploma Programme preparation has slipped far enough to need a different plan rather than more willpower.
Subjects students bring us
These are the IB Diploma Programme subjects we see most. The teachers are not limited to them — if you are sitting something rarer, tell them during onboarding and the plan covers it the same way.
- Studies in Language and Literature
- Language Acquisition
- History
- Economics
- Psychology
- Geography
- Biology
- Chemistry
- Physics
- Mathematics: Analysis and Approaches
- Mathematics: Applications and Interpretation
- Visual Arts
- Theory of Knowledge
IB Diploma Programme: fair questions
How do I stop the Internal Assessments piling up?
Get all six onto one calendar in the first term of DP1, with backwards-planned milestones rather than just the final dates. Daniel does this, and Sam checks in on whether the milestones are actually being hit — IAs fail quietly, weeks before the deadline makes it obvious.
Can it help with the Extended Essay?
With the research, the structure and the referencing, yes. Margaret finds and summarises sources, Eleanor reviews argument and structure, Charles verifies your citations. The essay is submitted as your own independent research and has to be — academic honesty requirements in the IB are strict and enforced.
How should I revise for HL versus SL?
Separately, because HL is not just more of the same material — it adds content and asks harder questions of it. Sarah pitches explanations at the level you are sitting, and Tommy keeps distinct decks so HL depth does not leak into SL time you do not have.
Are the bonus points worth targeting?
Almost always. Three points from TOK and the EE is a large return for work you have to do anyway, and it is far more tractable than pulling a 6 up to a 7 in a subject you already find hard.
Other boards in International curricula
Cambridge International
IGCSE, O Level and International AS & A Level, sat in schools across more than 160 countries.
Pearson Edexcel International
International GCSE and International A Level, with January and June series and a unitised structure.
Oxford AQA International
International GCSEs and A-levels built from AQA specifications, on January and June series.
Start your IB Diploma Programme plan today.
Seven days free, no credit card. Ninety seconds of onboarding and Daniel has your IB Diploma Programme subjects, your exam dates and a week you can actually follow.
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