The IB curriculum

The IB is an international qualification where there is a worldwide standardised curriculum, permitting students to transfer from a school in one country to another with few academic problems.

There are four IB programmes, which are age related:

- The Diploma Programme (DP) for students aged 16 to 19.
- The Middle Years Programme (MYP) for students aged 11 to 16.
- The Primary Years Programme (PYP) for students from 3 to 12.
- The International Baccalaureate Career Related Programme (IBCP) for students aged 16 to 19.

Parents need to be aware that IB schools may only offer a limited number of the above programmes. In the UK, private IB schools tend to focus on the Diploma Programme for 16 + and there are only around ten day schools offering the MYP or PYP. Therefore, parents of under 16s looking for an IB school will often have to choose a school offering the UK curriculum instead to age 16 and then switch to the IBDP. This is not generally a problem, especially as university places are offered based on IB Diploma results. 

Conversely in some other countries,(such as Morocco, Norway and Australia), the majority of IB schools offer the PYP or MYP. Some of these schools are very much focussed on international expatriate workers, who may be on limited-term contracts and not needing an all through education for their children.

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