The International Baccalaureate (IB) is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1968 to promote high quality education for a better world. The Organization and its 2400 schools, 119 of which are in Australia, (September 2008) are driven by the following Mission.

The International Baccalaureate aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect.

To this end, the organization works with schools, governments and international Organizations to develop challenging programmes of international education and rigorous assessment.

These programmes encourage students across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right.

The IB offers a continuum of education, consisting of three individual programmes. The programmes span the years from kindergarten to a pre-university diploma. While traditionally known for the Diploma Programme, IB World Schools increasingly offer multiple programmes.

The three IB programmes share a common philosophy and common characteristics. They develop the whole student, helping students to grow intellectually, socially, aesthetically and culturally. They provide a broad and balanced education that includes science and the humanities, languages and mathematics, technology and the arts. The programmes teach students to think critically, and encourage them to draw connections between areas of knowledge and to use problem-solving techniques and concepts from many disciplines. They instill in students a sense of responsibility towards others and towards the environment. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, the programmes give students an awareness and understanding of their own culture and of other cultures, values and ways of life.

All three programmes:

• have a strong international dimension
• draw on content from educational cultures around the world
• require study across a broad range of subjects
• include both individual subjects and trans-disciplinary areas
• give special emphasis to learning languages
• focus on developing the skills of learning
• provide opportunities for individual and collaborative planning and research
• encourage students to become responsible members of their community

IB programmes include:

• a written curriculum or curriculum framework
• student assessment appropriate to the age range
• professional development and networking opportunities for teachers
• support, authorization and programme evaluation for the school

Independent and Government schools around  Australia offer IB Programmes and have to meet rigorous standards to become authorized to offer IB Programmes and are regularly evaluated to ensure those standards are maintained.

Schools in Australia that offer the Primary Years and Middle Years Programmes do so along with their State curriculum frameworks so that all students in those sections of the school meet the requirements of both curricula. Most Diploma Programme schools offer the IB Diploma in years 11 and 12 as an alternative to the State Senior Secondary Curriculum.

The IB Diploma Programme is a fully accredited Senior Secondary Curriculum in Victoria and is formally recognised in Tasmania and Queensland. All Tertiary Institutions in Australia, and most  Universities worldwide, recognize the Diploma Programme for Tertiary Entry. Research supports the success of Diploma graduates in Tertiary study. Over 90% of Australian IB Diploma Graduates enrol at Universities within Australia for their Tertiary study. The rest enrol at Institutions such as Harvard, Cambridge, University of British Columbia, Oxford, Stanford etc

Even more importantly, IB graduates are prepared for life in a more global world.  IB Learners are life-long learners and strive to be:

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

Further information about the International Baccalaureate and its schools in Australia can be found at www.ibo.org and www.aaibs.org or contact Greg Valentine the IB Regional Representative at greg.valentine@ibo.org

To search for IB schools, the IB website has a search function.