CP passing criteria

Structure of the Career-related Programme

The CP is a three-part educational framework. Candidates must complete:

• at least two courses from the IB’s Diploma Programme (DP) at standard level (SL) or higher level (HL)
• the career-related programme core
• a career-related study.

The CP core

There are four elements to the CP core. They are:

• personal and professional skills
• service learning
• language development, and
• reflective project.

The core subjects contextualize both the DP courses and the career-related study. They are intended to act as the conduit to link all the areas of learning.

The IB assesses the reflective project, which is teacher-marked and then moderated by the IB. For the other elements the school confirms to the IB that they have been completed satisfactorily. 

DP courses as part of the CP

Each student takes at least two subject courses which are common with DP. CP candidates complete the same assessment process as DP candidates and receive a grade for these courses.

A candidate cannot register simultaneously to complete the IB diploma and the CP, despite courses being common to both. The programme requirements of each prevent them from being completed simultaneously.

Career-related study

The IB does not assess or conduct quality control of the outcomes of the career-related study portion of the CP. The school confirms that the student has completed it.

How is the CP outcome calculated?

To achieve a CP certificate, a candidate must meet all of the following requirements.

• The school has confirmed that the candidate has completed the specified career-related study.
• The candidate has been awarded a grade 3 or more in at least two of the DP courses.
• The candidate has been awarded at least a D grade for the reflective project.
• The school has confirmed that all personal and professional skills, service learning and language development requirements have been met.
• The candidate has not received a penalty for academic misconduct from the Final Award Committee.

Bilingual CP certificates 

In addition to the usual certificate, a “bilingual certificate” can be awarded to a candidate who completes:

• two DP language courses selected from studies in language and literature with the award of a grade 3 or higher in both
• a DP language course from studies in language and literature and completes a DP course from individuals and societies or sciences in a response language that is not the same as that taken from studies in language and literature. The candidate must get a grade 3 or higher in both courses.