IB Diploma

Overview

The Diploma Programme (DP) is a two-year pre-university course run by the International Baccalaureate (IB), a non-profit based in Geneva. Schools that want to teach it must first be authorised by the IB as "IB World Schools," and thousands of schools across more than 150 countries now offer the DP. Students take six subjects across six subject groups and also complete the DP core: theory of knowledge, the extended essay, and creativity, activity, service. Universities around the world use the final IB score and subject grades for admission decisions.

Who can apply

The DP is not something you register for directly with the IB. You join it by enrolling at a school that is authorised to teach it, usually for the final two years of secondary school, so most DP students are around 16 to 19 years old. Each school sets its own admission requirements and deadlines for its DP intake; there is no single IB-wide entrance exam or application portal for students. Once enrolled, the school's DP coordinator registers each student with the IB for teaching and, later, for exams.

Subject groups and the core

The six subject groups

Every DP student studies one subject from each of these groups:

• Group 1 — Studies in language and literature: usually the student's best language, studying literature and other text types.

• Group 2 — Language acquisition: learning an additional language, at a level that suits the student's existing ability in it.

• Group 3 — Individuals and societies: subjects such as history, geography, economics or psychology.

• Group 4 — Sciences: subjects such as biology, chemistry, physics, or computer science.

• Group 5 — Mathematics: mathematics courses pitched at different levels of difficulty.

• Group 6 — The arts: subjects such as visual arts, music, theatre or film.

A student may drop the Group 6 arts subject and take a second subject from Groups 1-4 instead. Of the six subjects, at least three and no more than four are studied at Higher Level (HL), with the rest at Standard Level (SL); HL courses go into more depth than SL courses in the same subject.

The DP core

Alongside the six subjects, every student completes three core components, none of which is a standalone "subject" with its own HL/SL choice:

• Theory of knowledge (TOK): an exploration of how we know what we claim to know. It is assessed through an exhibition of three objects with a commentary (no more than 950 words) and an essay of no more than 1,600 words, written on one of the titles the IB issues for that exam session.

• Extended essay (EE): an independent research essay of no more than 4,000 words on a topic the student chooses, in one of their DP subjects or across subjects, supervised by a teacher.

• Creativity, activity, service (CAS): students take part in activities across three strands — creativity, physical activity, and service to the community — including at least one sustained CAS project, and keep reflections on what they did. CAS is not given an exam grade; it is signed off by the school as completed or not.

Exam pattern

Each of the six subjects combines two kinds of assessment:

• External assessment: written exam papers at the end of the course, marked by examiners appointed by the IB. Most subjects also have an externally assessed essay or written task alongside the papers.

• Internal assessment: coursework such as practical work, oral work or a smaller project, marked first by the student's own teacher and then checked (moderated) by the IB.

The exact mix of papers, essays and internal assessment, and how much each counts toward the subject grade, is set out in the subject guide for that course rather than being the same across all six groups. The IB holds two exam sessions a year, in May and November; a school registers its students for whichever session fits its academic calendar (commonly, Northern-hemisphere schools use the May session and many Southern-hemisphere schools use November).

Marking and results

Each of the six subjects is graded on a scale from 1 (lowest) to 7 (highest), so the six subjects together can contribute up to 42 points. Theory of knowledge and the extended essay are combined in a matrix that can add up to 3 further points, giving a maximum possible score of 45.

To be awarded the diploma, a student needs:

• a total of at least 24 points across the six subjects plus the TOK/EE bonus points;

• a grade in every one of the six subjects, plus TOK and the extended essay;

• the CAS requirement signed off as complete; and

• no "failing condition" — for example, the IB's passing-criteria rules fail the diploma outright if a student gets the lowest possible grade in TOK or the extended essay, or has too many low subject grades, even if the 24-point total is otherwise met.

A student who registers for the full diploma but does not meet every condition can still receive IB grades for the individual subjects they sat, without the diploma itself. Results are published to schools and then to students through the IB's online results system; for the May 2026 session, results reach schools from 5 July 2026 and students from 6 July 2026. November-session results follow the same pattern in January of the next year.

Important dates

For the 2026 exam year:

• May 2026 session: preliminary papers from 24 April 2026, with the main exam timetable running from 27 April to 20 May 2026.

• November 2026 session: papers run from 23 October to 13 November 2026 (23 October is an afternoon-only paper, with the first full day of exams on 26 October).

Exact dates and times for each paper depend on the subject and the exam zone a school is assigned to; schools get the detailed timetable directly from the IB well before each session, and this changes from one exam year to the next.

Fees

The school, not the individual student, pays the IB for the Diploma Programme. Schools pay the IB an annual programme fee to keep their DP authorisation, and a per-subject examination fee for each of the six subjects a student sits — currently in the region of US$120 per subject, so roughly US$700-plus in IB exam fees alone for a typical six-subject candidate. The flat candidate registration fee that used to apply on top of this was removed from the November 2019 exam session onward. Schools then set their own overall DP tuition and fees for families, which is usually far higher than the IB's own charges and varies widely by school and country — so a prospective student should always check costs directly with the school, not assume a single global number.

How to apply

1. Choose and apply to a school that is an authorised IB World School offering the DP, following that school's own admissions process and deadlines.

2. Once enrolled, work with the school's DP coordinator to choose your six subjects (three or four at HL, the rest at SL) across the required subject groups.

3. Complete the two-year course, including the extended essay, TOK essay and exhibition, and your CAS activities, to the school's internal deadlines.

4. The school registers you with the IB for the May or November exam session that matches its calendar; you do not register for IB exams yourself.

After the exam

Students view their results online through the IB's candidate results service, using login details their school provides. A school or student who disagrees with a result can ask the IB for a re-mark or other post-results service within the published deadline, for a fee. A student who narrowly misses the diploma, or a subject grade, can retake exams in a later May or November session. Because the DP is recognised by universities worldwide, results feed directly into undergraduate admissions: many universities publish a minimum total IB score and/or minimum grades in named HL subjects, and in the UK, UCAS converts IB component grades (HL, SL, TOK and the extended essay) into UCAS Tariff points as part of its admissions system.

Preparation tips

• Pick your six subjects and HL/SL split around both your strengths and the entry requirements of the university courses you are aiming for, since many ask for specific HL subjects or grades.

• Start extended essay topic planning early; a 4,000-word independent research essay takes longer than most students expect once you include supervision meetings and redrafts.

• Keep a running CAS log of activities and reflections across the two years rather than trying to assemble evidence just before the deadline.

• Treat internal assessment deadlines for your six subjects as seriously as the final exams — they are set by your own school and usually fall well before the May or November exam session.

FAQs