Course Offerings - High School

The IBDP is a comprehensive and challenging pre-university course of study that demands the best from motivated students and teachers. The programme culminates in externally assessed examinations and is widely recognised for its high academic standards.

• The two-year curriculum is rigorous and intellectually coherent, encouraging critical thinking through the study of a wide range of subjects in the traditional academic disciplines while encouraging an international perspective.
• Beyond completing college-level courses and examinations, DP students are also required to engage in creative, action and service based activities (CAS), individual research in the form of an Extended Essay (EE), and an inquiry into the nature of knowledge through the study of Theory of Knowledge (TOK).
• The two-year course of study leads to final examinations in the six subject areas that make up an IB Diploma, and a qualification widely recognised by the world's leading colleges and universities.

The Diploma programme sought to provide students with a truly international education - an education that encouraged an understanding and appreciation of other cultures, languages and points of view. Schools that first offered the Diploma programme were predominantly private international schools, but they included a very small number of private national institutions and schools belonging to state education departments. This has evolved over the years and today nearly 50% of all IB Diploma programme schools are state controlled, publicly funded institutions.

The International Baccalaureate Organisation (IBO) has seen tremendous growth in recent years. The Diploma Programme is currently offered in around 3,000 member schools globally. Since 1968, more than half a million students in 159 countries have participated in the Diploma programme.

ISL has offered the IBDP since 1995 and encourages all its students, whenever possible, to engage in the most demanding programme of study available to them. For many, this will be the IB Diploma. For a variety of reasons however, some students may choose to take a range of IB Courses instead, leading to an individual award in each subject, rather than the full IB Diploma. ISL regularly reviews the entry requirements of universities worldwide in order to be able to offer sound advice regarding IB subject selection for students in Grades 11 and 12.

The International Baccalaureate aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect. To this end the organisation works with schools, governments and international organisations to develop challenging programmes of international education and rigorous assessment.

These programmes encourage students across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right.

The curriculum contains six subject groups together with a core made up of three separate parts.

Students study six subjects selected from the subject groups. Normally three subjects are studied at higher level, and the remaining three subjects are studied at standard level. All three parts of the core - the Extended Essay, the Theory of Knowledge course and the Creativity, Activity & Service programme, are compulsory for the full IB Diploma and are central to the philosophy of the programme. Students must study one subject from each of Groups 1 to 5. The sixth subject may be selected from Group 6 (the Arts) or may be a second subject from groups 1, 2, 3 or 4.

ISL offers the following subjects in each group at both higher and standard level unless indicated otherwise:

Group 1:

English A Literature

English A Language & Literature

French A Language & Literature

German A Language & Literature

Group 2:

English B

French B

German B

Spanish B

French ab initio (beginner level)

Spanish ab initio (beginner level)

Group 3:

Business Management

Economics

Geography

History

Psychology

Group 4:

Biology

Chemistry

Computer Science

Design Technology

Physics

Sports, Exercise and Health Science

Group 5:

Maths Analysis & Approaches HL

Maths Analysis & Approaches SL

Maths Applications & Interpretations HL

Maths Applications & Interpretations SL

Group 6:

Film

Music

Theatre Arts

Visual Arts

Student work is assessed both internally and externally. Internal assessments form at least 20% of the final mark. In each IB examination, the student is graded on a scale of 1 (minimum) to 7 (maximum). The award of the diploma requires students to meet defined standards and conditions. These include a minimum total of 24 points and the satisfactory completion of three compulsory core components: 1) Theory of Knowledge (TOK); 2) Extended Essay; and 3) Creativity, Activity & Service (CAS). Thus, the programme has the strengths of a traditional and broad curriculum, augmented by the three requirements shown at the centre of the programme model above.

Worldwide, approximately 80% of students are awarded the diploma. A student who does not satisfy the requirements of the full Diploma Programme, or who has elected to take fewer than six subjects, is awarded a certificate for the examinations completed.

Prior to enrolling in the IB Programme, students are issued with the ISL Guide to the IB Diploma Programme detailing all the necessary information related to obtaining the IB Diploma at ISL. Throughout the entire two year programme, the Dean of External Programmes (IB and IGCSE) provides information, advice, resources and support to students and parents.

Detailed information about all aspects of the IB Diploma Programme is available on the website of the International Baccalaureate Organisation.

All information above relating to the IBDP © 2008 IBO, Geneva, Switzerland.

 

CAS complements the challenging academic IB programme in a holistic way, providing opportunities for self-determination, collaboration, accomplishment and enjoyment. CAS is organised around the three strands of creativity, activity (sport) and service. CAS initiatives should pursue personal growth and skill, and involve reflection. They need to be a challenge and a source of learning.

Creativity
Creativity involves exploring and extending ideas leading to an original or interpretive product or performance. Examples are music, theatre, film, design technology, visual arts, dance, fashion and experiences that involve creative thinking (eg. joining a choir or doing fashion design).

Activity
Activity refers to physical exertion contributing to a healthy lifestyle. Examples include taking on a new sport or extending your ability in a sport already practised (eg. football, yoga, dance, biking or hiking).

Service
This activity must benefit others and improve their existing situation. It is a social, unpaid service. Examples include: volunteering at a senior citizen home, tutoring, scouting, IT assistance for elderly people, helping handicapped people, helping with projects in less developed countries, joining an NGO for some time during a holiday, etc.

All IBDP courses are offered at higher and standard level with the exception of ab initio languages;

• IBDP English Literature A
• IBDP Language and Literature A (English, French & German)
• IBDP School-Supported Self-Taught Literature (various languages)
• IBDP Language B (English, French & German)
• IBDP Language ab initio (beginner level) French & Spanish
• IBDP Business Management
• IBDP Economics
• IBDP Geography
• IBDP Psychology
• IBDP History
• IBDP Environmental Systems and Societies (starting the 2025-2026 school year)
• IBDP Biology
• IBDP Chemistry
• IBDP Computer Science
• IBDP Design Technology
• IBDP Physics
• IBDP Sports, Exercise & Health Science
• IBDP Mathematics (Analysis & Approaches and Applications and Interpretations)
• IBDP Film
• IBDP Music
• IBDP Theatre
• IBDP Visual Arts
• IBDP Theory of Knowledge
• IBDP Extended Essay
• IBDP CAS