The International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) was founded in Geneva in 1968 by educators at the International School of Geneva (Ecolint). Their goal: design a single curriculum that would give children of diplomats, UN staff and globally mobile professionals a portable, university-recognised education regardless of where the family was posted next.
The IB has grown into four distinct programmes covering ages 3 to 19. Schools can be authorised to teach any combination, but the upper-secondary IB Diploma Programme (DP) is by far the most well-known. Where a school says "IB school", it almost always means it offers the DP.
What makes the IB distinctive is its inquiry-based pedagogy and its core requirements. DP students take six subjects (three at Higher Level and three at Standard Level) plus three core elements: Theory of Knowledge (TOK), an Extended Essay (EE), and Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS). The core forces students to write a 4,000-word independent research essay, reflect on the nature of knowledge, and complete 150+ hours of extracurricular and community activities.
The result is a programme that universities consistently praise for producing students who can write, research, manage time across multiple subjects and engage with ambiguity. The trade-off: it's demanding, time-pressured and unforgiving of students who specialise narrowly or struggle with one of the six subjects.
