Discover why IB students succeed

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The International Baccalaureate (IB) equips students 3-19 years of age with transferable, future-ready skills and internationally recognized qualifications.

At the heart of all IB programmes is the IB learner profile. Each programme is designed to match the educational needs of students today and tomorrow, and to nurture the skills and attitudes they need to excel at their careers of choice and lead meaningful lives. 

Strengths of an IB education

Our approaches to learning and teaching allow IB students to develop transferable and lifelong skills and attributes such as critical thinking, international mindedness, creativity, agency, and resilience. 

Each of the four IB programmes, Primary Years Programme (PYP), Middle Years Programme (MYP), Diploma Programme (DP), and Career-related Programme (CP), provide a detailed and developmentally appropriate curriculum framework or curriculum that is broad, balanced, conceptual and connected. 

The programmes can give students a competitive edge, helping them to gain admission to universities and careers of their choice, support the smooth transition to university and ultimately perform better when they graduate from university. 

Some of the most selective universities worldwide recognize the IB diploma and our students are regarded as some of the highest performers in their areas of study. The IB sends transcripts to about 4,500 universities in 110 different countries with top destinations such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Hong Kong, and India. 

Insights from research

Research across our programmes suggests that IB students are internationally minded, creative, and critical thinkers. 

Students in the PYP show higher levels of well-being compared to similar non-PYP students and MYP students perform significantly better than students from non-IB schools in the International Schools' Assessment (ISA) areas at several grade levels. DP, CP and DP course students demonstrated higher levels of global mindedness as compared to their peers in six countries across the world. DP and CP students also often enrol in some of the most selective universities in the world.

Read more research findings (PDF, 359 KB)

IB research collaborates with leading universities around the world to conduct many research studies aimed at discovering the impact of our teaching and learning methodologies.

How students are assessed 

Assessment plays a crucial role in supporting, as well as measuring learning. Our approach recognizes the crucial role of providing students with effective feedback.

IB assessment methods are built on reliable, fair, transparent and widely recognized academic integrity principles. Our academic integrity policies (PDF, 2.9 MB) outline the duties and responsibilities of different stakeholders across the IB community. 

Find out more about how IB students are assessed. 

Read more about the IB continuum of international education (PDF, 1.8 MB).