The International Baccalaureate (IB) is conducting a review of its programmes aimed at students aged 16 and over (16+ review).
This comprehensive, multi-year, community-driven, collaborative review will look at both the Diploma and Career-related Programmes (DP and CP). The IB aims to launch the innovations developed in 2030.
In 2019, the IB began the Diploma Programme Review to ensure the programme continued to provide the best learning experience for students in the context of the world they will shape. Following consultation with a range of stakeholders—from students and alumni to IB staff and educators—the scope of the original DP Review was updated in 2022 to cover a full review of the IB’s programmes for 16- to 19-year-olds (DP and CP).
Why review the DP and CP
The IB aims to provide a transformative education that helps young people engage with the world around them while preparing them to flourish individually, with others, and our shared planet.
Today there are new opportunities for the IB to renew, re-imagine, and invigorate its programmes. These opportunities include:
- integrating more diverse perspectives into our curriculum
- addressing the increasing importance of artificial intelligence (AI) and other digital technologies across teaching, learning, and assessment
- responding to an evolving landscape for post-secondary success and recognition.
The aim is to make the programmes, subjects and assessments more flexible, future-oriented and responsive to school and student contexts by placing choice, well-being and real-world relevance at their core.
Understanding the review
To bring the goals and commitments of the review to fruition, the IB is collaborating with IB World Schools to evolve and innovate the DP and CP into programmes that focus on a broader set of skills. This collaboration will also influence how, when and what the IB assesses in these programmes.
The review includes multi-year pilots where the IB works in direct partnership with schools, educators, and the wider IB community.
These pilots follow students through the two years of a DP experience:
- Digital portfolios: Uses the creativity, activity, service (CAS) component to explore ways of evidencing student learning and development.
- Extended experiences: Extended experiences offer opportunities for innovative assessment and interdisciplinary learning.
- Alternative assessment: Prototypes exploring approaches that do not fit with current IB assessment models, structures and approaches.
These activities will allow the design team to get insight into how to improve the IB’s programmes and provide a more future-fit education.
Support through each step in the process
As the IB works to innovate the DP and CP programmes, we are aware there will be questions about the changes expected. There will be many steps during this multi-year project, and the goal is to make any transition into future programmes as seamless as possible.
How to get involved
The IB regularly meets with educators, school leaders, students, alumni and other stakeholders to co-create and collaborate on different features for future programmes aimed at 16-19-year-olds.
Find out more about this review by contacting [email protected].
 is conducting the 16+ Review, a collaborative review of its programmes aimed at students aged 16 and over. ){kind=icon}