Music
Prerequisites: Year 10 Music or Music Technology highly recommended
Course Structure: SL and HL
Course Description
IB Music is a folio-based course (there is no final written examination), which aims to develop emerging musicians across three core folios for Standard Level and an additional fourth folio for Higher Level students. Students will assume three different roles (Researcher, Creator and Performer) across three different contexts (Personal, Local and Global). Integrated Musical Processes include exploring, experimenting, and presenting music.
Prerequisites
• Minimum of Grade 1 Theory or equivalent
• Performance levels are not set – you come in as the performer you are
• Passionate & hard working
• Students MUST be enrolled in private music lessons on their instrument of choice
• Enthusiasm and a good work ethic
Three portfolios for SL and an additional portfolio for HL
Exploring Music in Context
Students will explore music of many different genres and experiment and create using ideas from the music studied. This folio will comprise of a 2400 word written submission and practical exercises in creating and performing.
Presenting Music
Students prepare a practical folio in solo and/or group while studying the compositional and contextual elements of the pieces chosen. This folio will comprise of programme notes – 600 words, composition and or improvisation, and a performance folio of 12 minutes.
Experimenting with Music
Students will explore and experiment with music from different contexts and cultures. This folio will comprise of a written experimentation report of 1500 words and practical music evidence, comprising of performance and composition.
Contemporary Music folio (HL students only)
High level students will undergo a fourth portfolio entitled ‘The Contemporary Music Maker’. In this portfolio, students need to run and manage a chosen ‘real life’ project that is music related. A 15 minute multimedia presentation is required to document and present this project for assessment. A project could be a concert at school, a competition, campaign, collaboration with others… the choice is yours.
Areas of Inquiry
Music is studied using four Areas of Inquiry:
1. Music for sociocultural and political expression
2. Music for listening and performances
3. Music for dramatic impact
4. Music technology in the electronic and digital age
Context
Music is studied in three contexts:
1. Personal
2. Local
3. Global
Integrated Musical Processes include:
4. Exploring
5. Experimenting
6. Presenting
ASSESSMENT Standard Level
1. Exploring Music in Context: 30% (external assessment)
2. Presenting Music: 40% (external assessment)
3. Experimenting with Music: 30% (internal assessment)
ASSESSMENT Higher Level
1. Exploring Music in Context: 20% (external assessment)
2. Presenting Music: 30% (external assessment)
3. Experimenting with Music: 20% (internal assessment)
4. The Contemporary Music Maker: 30% (internal assessment)
Theatre Arts
Prerequisites
Nil.
Course Structure: SL and HL
Course Description
Theatre Arts is a dynamic, practical subject that encourages students to explore the world through performance, creativity, and critical inquiry. This course invites students to take creative risks, experiment with ideas, and engage in the collaborative process of making theatre.
The IB Theatre course develops students as theatre-makers—working as performers, directors, designers, and researchers. It emphasises both individual exploration and ensemble collaboration, encouraging students to turn ideas into action. Students learn to analyse theatrical traditions, apply theory to practice, and produce original and interpretive works of theatre for performance.
Through the course, students build theatre skills alongside essential life skills such as confidence, creativity, problem-solving, communication, and teamwork. The study of theatre prepares students for further education and professional pathways in the arts, as well as for broader creative and cultural industries.
Assessment Overview
External Assessment
Task 1: Solo Theatre Piece (HL only)
Students at HL research a theatre theorist they have not previously studied and identify one or more aspects of that theorist’s work. They then create and perform a solo piece (4–7 minutes) that applies the theorist’s ideas in practice.
Each student submits:
- A continuous, unedited video of the solo performance
- A written report (maximum 2,500 words), including a list of all sources cited
HL only: 35%
Task 2: Collaborative Project (SL and HL)
Students work collaboratively to create and perform an original piece of theatre (7–10 minutes), using a starting point of their own choosing (e.g. image, theme, idea). The work must be presented to an audience as a fully realised performance.
Each student submits:
- A project report (maximum 10 pages, not exceeding 4,000 words), with images and citations
- A video recording of the final performance
SL: 40% | HL: 25%
Task 3: Research Presentation (SL and HL)
Students research a world theatre tradition they have not previously studied. They plan, deliver, and video record a presentation (up to 15 minutes), showing their understanding of the tradition through both academic and practical exploration.
Each student submits:
- A video recording of the research presentation (either as a single continuous take or divided into up to three segments)
- A list of cited and supporting sources
SL: 30% | HL: 20%
Task 4: Production Proposal (SL and HL)
Students select a published play text they have not previously studied and create a detailed vision for its staging. They present a theoretical interpretation of the entire play, focusing on design, direction, or performance, supported by images and references.
Each student submits:
- A production proposal (maximum 12 pages, not exceeding 4,000 words), with written text and visual materials
- A list of all sources used
SL: 30% | HL: 20%
Visual Arts
Prerequisites
Taking any of the 10 Visual Arts subjects is highly advisable
Course Structure: SL and HL
Course Description
The IB DP Visual Arts course fosters creativity, communication, critical thinking and collaboration. Students learn that by making art, they are empowered to engage, transform and emerge as individuals and members of a community. The higher level (HL) course offers a solid preparation for students who wish to continue their studies or career in the visual arts, but the syllabus more broadly equips students with skills essential in a rapidly evolving world. It is also designed for those who are seeking lifelong enrichment through visual arts.
The aims, assessment objectives and assessment tasks are organized in three core areas—create, connect and communicate—which are integrated in artmaking as inquiry.
The creative process is unprescribed and flexible, and fosters the synthesis of conceptual and material practices. The course invites students to reflect on the relationship between artist, artwork, context and audience to develop their understanding and reflexivity.
It encourages students to challenge their own creative and cultural expectations and boundaries. Students develop analytical skills in problem-solving and divergent thinking, while working towards technical proficiency and confidence as art-makers. In addition to exploring and comparing visual arts from different perspectives and in different contexts, students are expected to engage in, experiment with and critically reflect upon a wide range of contemporary practices and media. Students themselves engage with a variety of art-making forms and with creative strategies.
The Visual Arts core syllabus at SL and HL consists of three equal interrelated areas: Artist Project (HL only), Connections Study (SL only), Artmaking Inquiries Portfolio, and Internal Assessment (studio work). Students are required to understand the relationship between these areas and how each area informs and impacts their work in visual arts.
Standard Level
Throughout the course students are expected to experience working with a variety of different art-making and conceptual forms. SL students should experience working with various art-making mediums/techniques, e.g. two-dimensional forms (drawing, painting, printing, communication design); three-dimensional forms (sculpture, designed objects, site specific/ephemeral, textiles); and/or lens-based, electronic and screen-based forms.
SL ASSESSMENT
Internal assessment
Resolved artworks (studio work) (40%): presentation of five resolved artworks and a written rationale articulating student’s artistic intentions and the choices that informed the making of their coherent body of artworks.
External assessment
Art-making inquiries portfolio (40%): presentation of up to 15 screens containing visual evidence of student’s personal investigations, discoveries and creations, supported by critical reflections. Students provide curated evidence of their artmaking as inquiry in a variety of artmaking forms and creative strategies in a form of a portfolio.
Connections study (20%): SL-only task focused on the student situating in context one of their resolved artworks, chosen from the five they submit for IA. Students present curated visual and written evidence to demonstrate the connections between their chosen resolved artwork and their own context(s), and between the chosen artwork and at least two artworks by different artists.
Higher Level
Throughout the course students are expected to experience working with a variety of different art-making and conceptual forms. HL students should experience working with various art-making mediums/techniques including for example two-dimensional forms (drawing, painting, printing, communication design); three-dimensional forms (sculpture, designed objects, site specific/ephemeral, textiles); and/or lens-based, electronic and screen-based forms.
HL ASSESSMENT
Internal assessment
Selected resolved artworks (studio work) (40%): presentation of five resolved artworks and a written rationale articulating student’s artistic intentions and the choices that informed the making of their coherent body of artworks. Students provide evidence of synthesis of concept and form, and of their competence in resolving artworks. They also write a rationale to articulate how they realized their artistic intentions through a selection process for the five resolved artworks, from at least eight of their works.
External assessment
Art-making inquiries portfolio (30%): presentation of up to 15 screens containing visual evidence of student’s personal investigations, discoveries and creations, supported by critical reflections. Students provide curated evidence of their artmaking as inquiry in a variety of artmaking forms and creative strategies in a form of a portfolio.
Artist project (30%): task focused on the student creating and situating in context an artwork that they ideate and realize as part of a project of their choice. The students demonstrate through curated evidence how their work was informed by investigations of context, by connections with at least two artworks by different artists, and by dialogues. A short video curated by the student shows where and how the project artwork was realized to communicate with the audience in the chosen context.
POSSIBLE FUTURE CAREER OPPORTUNITIES:
• Artist • Architect • Art Theorist/Critic • Concept Designer • Curator • Conservator • Fashion Designer • Graphic Designer • Animator • Industrial/Product Designer • Interior Designer • Landscape Architect • Multimedia Designer • Set/Stage Designer • Art Therapist • Art Teacher • Commercial Artist e.g. Photographer, Illustrator or Concept Artist, as well as a range of careers which require problem solving and creative abilities.