During the candidacy phase, the school will deepen its knowledge of the IB’s philosophy and the programme in which it is interested, as it takes the actions necessary to meet the IB’s requirements for authorization.
During the candidacy phase:
- the school completes the professional development (PD) required for authorization
- collaborates to develop or update policies and curriculums
- refines or establishes new processes and practices, and
- continues to explore how the IB will be implemented in its school context.
The candidacy phase consists of four stages:
At the start of candidacy, schools will work with new IB points of contact and will receive access to the IB programme resource centre (PRC), an online platform for all IB content which will be invaluable to schools going through the authorization process.
Professional development
Completion of the required professional development (PD) is a significant part of the candidacy phase.
The programme coordinator must complete the most current version of the category 1 “Leading the learning” workshop for the programme under their responsibility. This workshop must be completed within six months of the submission of the Application for candidacy (if it was not completed during the consideration phase).
In addition to the programme coordinator workshop, required for all programmes, each programme has its own specific PD requirements. In some cases, noted below, the school may meet selected PD requirements by submitting documentation that the relevant staff have completed an IB educator certificate for the relevant programme.
The workshops listed in the table below must be completed prior to the submission of the Application for authorization in order to meet the PD requirements for authorization.
Programme |
PD requirements |
Who |
|
PYP1,4 |
Category 1 “Making the PYP happen: Implementing agency” workshop |
The pedagogical leadership team and all faculty who work with PYP students full- or part-time |
|
MYP1 |
“Developing the MYP” introductory in-school workshop |
All members of the MYP teaching staff |
|
MYP1 |
Category 1 subject workshops |
At least one teacher per subject group |
|
DP |
Category 1 “Theory of knowledge” workshop |
Theory of knowledge teacher(s) |
|
DP |
Category 1 “Creativity, activity, service” workshop. |
Creativity, activity service (CAS) coordinator (s) |
|
DP1 |
Category 1 subject workshops |
All DP subject teachers |
|
CP1,2 |
“Developing the CP” introductory in-school workshop |
All members of the CP teaching staff
|
|
CP |
Category 1 “CP Reflective project” workshop |
Reflective project supervisor(s) |
|
CP1,3 |
Category 1 subject workshops |
All DP subject teachers |
|
CP |
Category 1 “CP Personal and professional skills” workshop |
Personal and professional skills teacher(s) |
|
CP |
Category 1 “Service learning in the CP” workshop |
Service learning coordinator(s) |
1 Teachers who have completed an IB certificate in teaching and learning for the relevant programme and/or subject (where applicable) may use that certificate to meet this category 1 PD requirement.
Schools should note that the IB certificate in teaching and learning may be used to meet the PD requirement for only one IB category 1 workshop per teacher. It is the responsibility of schools to confirm that a teacher’s IB certificate in teaching and learning included a focus in the relevant subject area, where applicable.
2 Only if the school is not authorized, or not seeking authorization for, the DP.
3 If the school is already authorized, or seeking authorization, for the DP, it must ensure that DP subject teachers have attended a Category 1 subject workshop for any new DP subjects being added as a part of the CP.
4 The workshop “Building your IB programme: Primary years Programme” will replace the workshop “Making the PYP happen: Implementing agency,” starting 1 January 2025. From that time onward, the new workshop will meet the Category 1 PYP PD requirement for Authorization. Schools that have previously completed the “Making the PYP happen: Implementing agency,” may use that workshop to fulfil Category 1 PYP PD requirement for authorization.
Costs
During the candidacy phase, the school will incur the following IB costs.
- Candidate fees
- Fees for professional development workshops
Schools may also wish to consider the costs they may incur relating to their planned approach to the activities that take place during the candidacy phase.
Consult the fees and services page for further details on fees during the candidacy phase.
Documents and resources
We encourage you to review the key documents for the candidacy phase:
- The programme-specific Guides to authorization
- Sample Application for candidacy for the relevant programme
- Rules for IB candidate schools
- Rules for IB World Schools
- Programme standards and practices, 2014
- The authorization process: Projecting your timeline
- General regulations for the relevant programme
- Programme-specific resources found on the Programme Resource Centre
These documents are available on the IB programme resource centre (PRC) and the IB website. Access to the PRC is restricted to candidate and IB World Schools.
Milestones
The following milestones must be reached during the candidacy phase for the school to move on to the next phase in the process:
- PYP and MYP schools conduct and complete at least one academic year of trial programme implementation.
- The IB assigns a consultant and the consultancy period begins.
- The school pays the candidacy and consultancy services fee (payable annually until the school informs the IB that it plans to apply for authorization)*
*This milestone does not apply to schools seeking authorization for the CP when the school is already authorized for the DP, or for the DP when the school is already authorized for the CP.
Points of contact
Once the school has applied for candidacy, it will work with a programme relationship manager from the IB’s Authorization team, who will remain the school’s primary IB point of contact until the school has been authorized. This support is targeted at enabling every candidate school to effectively implement an authentic IB education for their community.
The Authorization team and the programme relationship manager provide critical support to schools and educators in the following areas:
- Ensuring high-quality service, up-to-date information and access to support materials
- Review of school applications for candidacy and authorization
- Supporting schools’ understanding of programme standards and practices
- Supporting the consultation process (both schools and IB educators)
- Providing schools with feedback reports to support programme implementation
- Providing information and guidance on all aspects of the authorization process
Read more about the different stages of the candidacy phase:
-
Consultation
Consultation is the first stage in the candidacy phase. The school will be assigned a trained IB educator to serve as the school’s consultant during this phase.
-
Request for authorization
During the request for authorization phase, the school gathers the information needed to complete the Application for authorization and officially applies for authorization as an IB World School.
-
Verification visit
Once the application for authorization is complete, the IB visits the school to verify its readiness to become an IB World School.
-
IB's decision on authorization
During the decision on authorization phase, IB staff will review the verification visiting team’s feedback and determine whether the school has met the requirements for authorization.
