The IB Core: Educating the Whole Person

The IB Core: Educating the Whole Person

The three elements of the Diploma Programme Core (TOK, Creativity, Action and Service and the Extended Essay) were introduced as a way to educate the whole person. They exist as three separate aspects of the curriculum, but their aims collectively illuminate what it means to be an IB student. They are driven by the IB's mission to 'develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people'.

Therefore, the Core's aims are as follows:

1) to foster international-mindedness and encourage students to become responsible and actively involved global citizens.

2) to develop students’ self-awareness and sense of identity and provide an opportunity for reflection on their development of the attributes of the IB learner profile.

3) to enrich and add value to students’ overall learning experiences through the core— supporting, and being supported by, their academic studies in the rest of the programme.

The IB Core: The Award of Three Bonus Points

The Creativity, Action, Service element must be completed but does not count towards Diploma points. The Extended Essay and Theory of Knowledge components are awarded grades A to E, with A being the highest grade and E being the lowest. These grades are then combined according to the following table and up to three core points can be awarded.

Thus the maximum possible Diploma point score of 45 points is made up of 42 points for 6 subjects and 3 points for the Diploma Core.