The International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme is a challenging two-year curriculum, primarily aimed at students aged 16 to 19. It leads to a qualification that is widely recognized by the world’s leading universities. Research suggests that there are many benefits to choosing the DP. The programme aims to develop students who have excellent breadth and depth of knowledge – students who flourish physically, intellectually, emotionally and ethically.

What the DP Offers Students
Through the DP, schools are able to develop students who:

- Have excellent breadth and depth of knowledge
- Flourish physically, intellectually, emotionally and ethically
- Study at least two languages
- Excel in traditional academic subjects
- Explore the nature of knowledge through the programme’s unique theory of knowledge course.

The DP programme is committed to the development of students according to the IB learner profile. The attributes of the IB Learner profile aim to develop internationally-minded learners who are:

- Inquirers
- Knowledgeable
- Thinkers
- Communicators
- Principled
- Open-minded
- Caring
- Risk-takers
- Balanced
- Reflective

The Approaches to Learning (ATL’s) DP programme are linked to the attitudes and attributes of the IB Learner Profile above. The ATL’s develop the students’ cognitive, metacognitive and effective skills which play a large role in educational achievement. They are grouped into the following categories:

- Research Skills
- Thinking Skills
- Social Skills
- Communication Skills
- Self-Management Skills

The Curriculum
The curriculum is made up of the DP core and six subject groups. All made up of the three required components, the DP core aims to broaden students’ educational experience and challenge them to apply their knowledge and skills.

The three core elements are:

- Theory of knowledge, in which students reflect on the nature of knowledge and on how we know what we claim to know.
- The extended essay, which is an independent, self-directed piece of research, finishing with a 4,000-word paper.
- Creativity, activity, service, in which students complete a project related to those three concepts.

Students should select one subject from each group. However, students may opt to study an additional science, individuals and societies, or language course instead of a course in The Arts.

Environmental Systems and Societies are a transdisciplinary course which can be taken as a Group 3 or Group 4, or both, as part of the diploma. Three subjects should be taken at HL and three at SL.

The six subject groups and the subjects offered at KICS within each group are listed below: