International Baccalaureate Diploma

The IB Diploma is a complete educational programme. The subjects provide both breadth and depth, and there are three additional elements which help to provide overview, additional academic specialisation, and a recognition of interests outside the classroom. These are the course in the Theory of Knowledge, the Extended Essay, and Activities (CAS).

CAS stands for Creativity, Action and Service. It is recognised by the IBO that many students will have extensive interests outside their academic studies. In order to give recognition and encouragement to these the IBO asks them to spend one afternoon or equivalent time each week undertaking activities that come under one or more of these headings. For example, activities that involve Creativity are Studio Art and Photography. Action could be a team sport like football or an individual activity like swimming. For Service, students may help each other, or people in the comunity such as as the old or the disabled, or may help charities such as Oxfam. Some activities cover more than one heading. For example, a play performed at a local school or old people's home may well involve Creativity, Action and Service. For more details of our Activities link here.

Extended Essay
During the two years of their Diploma studies, students are required to undertake a piece of specific personal research. This is usually into an aspect of one of their subjects. For example, history students might look at a battle or a political incident that is of special interest to them. Economics students might look at the performance of a company that they know well. Biology students might study one particular ecosystem, or one organism in that system. The results of this research must then be written up in the form of a research paper of some 4000 words. This can be a challenging task, but intellectually very satisfying for a good student.

Theory of Knowledge
While students choose their programmes from a range of subject areas, these are still separate subjects. With the Theory of Knowledge course the IBO adds two further qualities to a student's study. First, by looking at the pattern of all knowledge, that which is gained from subject studies and that which is learned from friends, family, the media and other sources, a sense of perspective is achieved. Students can see how new knowledge relates to the world of knowledge as a whole. Second, students are trained in the critical evaluation of knowledge, so that they can see how different types of knowledge have to be judged in different ways, and so that they can assess the value of new knowledge claims.

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