Diploma Programme

IB's Diploma Programme

The DP curriculum is made up of the DP Core and six subject groups. The DP is an academically challenging and balanced programme of education. It addresses intellectual, social, emotional and physical well-being of students and is respected by universities across the globe.

Students complete assessments for each of the courses taken and work towards an IB Diploma in additional to their NC high school diploma.

These assessments may also provide college/university credit, dependent upon the criteria from the university.

Please refer to the Exploring DP courses at BRHS page for more information regarding course offerings

DP Curriculum

The DP curriculum is made up of the DP core and six subject groups. Students must select 3 SL courses and 3 HL courses.

Students at BRHS take 8 courses over an academic year. Students in the DP at BRHS will have a schedule similar to this:

1: DP English course (HL or SL)
2: DP World Language course (HL or SL)
3: DP History of the Americas (HL or SL)
4: DP Science (HL or SL)
5: DP Math (HL or SL)
6: DP Elective (HL or SL)
7: Theory of Knowledge (DP Core)
8: Choice of BRHS course/elective

DP Assessment and Exams

The IB uses both internally and externally assessed components to assess student performance. (See IBO)

The DP subjects each have an internal coursework and external examinations that together comprise a college reportable score on a scale of 7 to 1, with 7 being the highest. Students receive a score (DP grade) for each DP course attempted. Both HL and SL courses receive college-reportable scores.

What is internal coursework?
Internal coursework (also referred to as internal assessment --IA)is a task designed by the IB that students complete over an extended period under authenticated teacher supervision and is discipline specific. This often makes up 20%-25% of the college-reportable score.

What are the external examinations?
The external examinations are the written exams that happen at the end of the course. Most DP courses are two years in length so most students will complete the examinations at the end of the second year. BRHS is a May examination school, so all IB exams happen in May, according to the published IB schedule.

The IB exams are broken in to sections, called papers. Each course will have a specific number of sections (e.g. Paper 1, Paper 2, Paper 3 etc.) and students know what each paper assesses.

How are college-reportable scores determined?
The internal assessment (IA) and external assessment (exams or EA) combine to make the IB grade (college-reportable score.)

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