MYP passing criteria

Structure of the Middle Years Programme (MYP)

The MYP is a five-year programme. Schools are authorized to offer at least two years of the MYP.  

 The curriculum framework consists of eight subject groups.

• Language and literature
• Language acquisition
• Individuals and societies
• Sciences
• Mathematics
• Arts
• Physical and health education

The MYP requires at least 50 hours of teaching time for each subject group in each year of the programme.

All MYP students must also complete a long-term project: the MYP personal project. The project allows students to:

• decide what they want to learn about
• identify what they already know
• discover what they will need to know to complete the project
• create a proposal or criteria for completing it.

How the MYP outcome is calculated

Candidates at the end of their year-five MYP studies enter the IB external assessment. The outcomes of these assessments are recorded in an MYP course results document. Candidates can choose to:

• do the personal project only, leading to a school certificate, or
• take additional assessments (ePortfolios or on-screen examinations), which can lead to the award of the MYP certificate.

Schools can also issue an MYP record of participation. This is for MYP students who study the programme for at least two years and complete the requirements in year three or year four of the MYP. These students are not registered with the IB for any form of assessment. The school-based record of participation is a school-based document, not verified by the IB organization.

The MYP certificate

To achieve the MYP certificate, the student must have participated in the final year of the programme, with a recommended period of participation of two years, and:

• complete either an on-screen assessment or ePortfolio in six subjects consisting of:
• language and literature
• language acquisition (or a second language and literature)
• individuals and societies
• mathematics
• sciences
• one subject from either arts, physical and health education or design.
• achieve at least a grade 3 in each of the six subjects above
• complete the on-screen examinations in interdisciplinary assessment and achieve at least a grade 3
• complete the personal project with at least a grade 3
• obtain a total of 28 points overall
• meet the school’s expectations for community service.

The MYP bilingual certificate also requires successful results from on-screen examinations for one of the following:

• a second language and literature course (instead of a course in language acquisition)
• one (or more) science, individual and societies, or interdisciplinary examination(s) in a language other than the student’s chosen language and literature course.

Delivering external summative assessment (MYP eAssessment)

The optional eAssessment assesses students’ knowledge in two different ways:

• ePortfolios of student work in arts, design and physical and health education, which is then moderated to ensure a consistent global standard
• on-screen examinations (up to two hours in duration) for courses in language and literature, language acquisition, individuals and societies, sciences, mathematics, and interdisciplinary learning.

In addition, the personal project is submitted electronically to the IB and moderated. While other eAssessments are optional for schools, all MYP year-five students must take part in the personal project eAssessment.

Examination blueprints

The IB publishes examination blueprints to guide schools on what the eAssessments will look like. These blueprints enable teachers and students to understand the nature and purpose of MYP eAssessment. They assist students in preparing for on-screen examinations and help candidates focus on the subject-group criteria and assessment strategies in each subject group. There are always four criteria in the blueprint and each of these criteria is equally weighted.

The IB ensures that in any session examinations will not deviate from the blueprint by more than three marks.

ePortfolios and partially completed unit planners

ePortfolios allow the assessment of an extended coursework task (product) or performance which by their very natures are difficult to test through an examination. In the MYP, the IB allows the teacher considerable freedom to develop this task based on guidance provided in the “partially completed unit planners”. New partially completed unit planners are provided for each session.

Single assessment: managing student burden

Taking examinations and doing coursework is stressful and demanding for students. It can also take away from time spent teaching. For the 16-year-olds studying the MYP, the IB believes in minimizing the amount of summative assessment. While this does create difficulties with candidates only having one opportunity to demonstrate what they can achieve, the IB accepts these challenges to ensure the overall welfare of the students.