Introduction to the IB Diploma Programme

Hello and welcome to our page,

You may be a student considering to enter Pre-IB in Grade 10, planning to transfer to IB in your Grade 11 year, wondering what the IB programme is all about, or just simply need help with narrowing your research question for your Extended Essay. In this website, we will be telling you all about our experiences in the IB programme and hopefully answer some of your burning questions. This page will hopefully be able to assist and support you in order to have a smoother ride through your journey in IB.

Who are we?

The authors of this website are 2 students from the IB graduating class of 2021 in Colonel Gray High School, with help from approximately 9 other students in our class. We are hoping to share some of our tips and advice from our personal experiences from the IB Program.

What is the IB program?

The IB, which stands for The International Baccalaureate, is a rigorous programme that is offered in over 5,284 schools in 158 countries as of 2020. The IB program is separated into 4 strands, the PYP (Primary Years Program), MYP (Middle Years Program), DP (Diploma Program) and CP (Career Related Program). However, in this website we will only be focusing on the Diploma Program, specifically for the subjects offered in our school.

The Diploma program is a 2 year program in which students at the end of their Grade 10 year choose 6 subjects, 3 at Higher Level and 3 at standard level. However, Colonel Gray only offers the choice between Chemistry SL and Visual Art SL, French B SL and French Ab Initio SL, other subjects are already chosen for you: History of the Americas HL, English A Literature HL, Biology HL, and Mathematics: Analysis and Approaches SL

Why IB?

To IB or not to IB?

The IB program is an internationally recognised program by many universities and allows you to learn life long skills and develop as a person. It is known as an extremely rigorous and competitive program which began in 1968. If you do well in IB, you may even have the chance to transfer some of your Higher Level credits towards your first year in University! The IB Diploma program emphasises on the Learner profile and therefore strives to create Caring, Open-minded, Inquiring, Balanced, Knowledgeable and Risk-taking students, helping you become a more disciplined, and organised individual. The IB program also exposes you to a lot of skills used in University and in the outside world, making the IB a valuable life experience.

Unlike the provincial classes, IB students in Colonel Gray have most of their classes together, with the exception of French and Chemistry/Art. This provides a wonderful experience for students to bond and have a closer relationship with each other, creating closer bonds with the students as well as the teachers. The IB program in our school specifically provides many fun experiences for students to be able to become a tight-knit community, such as the IB trip, UPEI tour, numerous class parties and many more.

The Marking system of IB

The marking system for IB is very different from the provincial curriculum and the subjects are individually marked out of 7. (1 being the lowest and 7 being the highest attainable mark), adding up to 42.

There are also the core subjects which are equally as important as the main subjects! The core subjects include CAS, TOK, EE, more about these subjects will be talked about later on. The highest possible mark for the core subjects is 3, therefore the highest total mark for the IBDP program would be 45.

We wish you all the best in your IB journey,

IB Class of 2021

Hannah and Ella