Action Plan

You will need to create an action plan for achieving your chosen product. This demonstrates how you manage your time

To create a detailed action plan, you should first develop success criteria for your product and determine the necessary steps or actions that will be required to meet those criteria. This will also establish a foundation to explain whether or not the goal was achieved in the report.

The process of developing success criteria and establishing an action plan to meet the success criteria is likely to require some research. Similarly, you may need to carry out research related to your learning goal, which could be included as part of your action plan.

Your Action plan is to be imbedded in your report

Ensure your timelines are within the school schedule for the Personal Project.

What type of action plan?

You should create an action plan which best suits how you learn best.

You are also not restricted on creating one type of action plan. Ie you could create a to-do-list for gathering your product resources and then write a more detailed action plan for how you carry out the report writing.


Action plans might be or might include:

Action tables, GANNT charts, to-do lists, calendar tasks, a step by step logical plan, storyboards, graphs, a bullet journal, a spreadsheet, flow-charts, equipment and materials lists, slippage chart, goal charts, project timelines, Kanban boards or scrum boards.

Action plan top tips

  • You should take into consideration the time needed to complete the project (25 hours) and you may wish to record timings in your action plan.

  • You should consider approaches to learning skills.

  • Different types of projects require research at different stages. It is important to consider when research will be needed for your project.


Iterative process

As you create your action plan, you will gain a sense of whether you can achieve your product within a reasonable time frame and you may revise your learning goal and/or product accordingly.

IB example 2021 guide

A simple example below




See examples of past BIS student action plans. Go to the appendix examples