Some brief thoughts on preparing for teaching IB Diploma Level History
Richard Jones-Nerzic

IB Diploma History is not radically different from A Level History, but the IB Diploma in general is very different from A Level. 

• In the IB Diploma, history students have to take five other subjects. They have to take maths, English, a second language and a science as well as history. They might also do an art (film, music, visual arts etc.) or another subject taken from the first five options.
• In addition, students have to write an Extended Essay (Extended Essay history examples), undertake a compulsory course in philosophy (Theory of Knowledge) and do a significant number of hours of community service (CAS).
• History is a Group 3 subject linked to the social sciences.
• IB Diploma is not modular and consequently you have two years to teach the course. From my point of view this is a massive advantage.
• Students have to decide whether to study history at a Standard or Higher Level. 
• The Standard Level course is a 20th century world history course which follows a number of themes such as single party states or warfare. You are expected to teach at least two of these themes. 
• The Higher Level course is studied in addition to the standard level and is based on the study of one of the IB world regions like Europe or the Americas. Currently the content is limited to modern history but the new syllabus starting in 2008 will allow for the study of medieval history.
• Assessment is through a mixture of essays (45-50 minute) and source work. 
• The coursework is called the Internal Assessment and is worth either 20% or 25% of the total grade. The IA is a curious (and not entirely satisfactory) hybrid of essay and source work. (Internal Assessment examples)
• The IB Diploma is graded out of 45. There is a maximum of 7 for each subject and an extra 3 for the Extended Essay and TOK. 
• More than 120 schools and colleges currently offer the IB Diploma programme. The number is increasing rapidly. In November 2006 the UK government declared that the IB Diploma would be available for all students. 
• The UCAS points tariff, IB to A Level equivalence is very generous. The UCAS tariff suggests that a modest score of 30 IB points (419 UCAS points) is roughly equivalent to 3 A-grades at A Level and 1 A-grade at AS Level (420 UCAS points), whereas the maximum score of 45 IB points (768 UCAS points) is roughly equivalent to 6 A-grades at A Level and 1 B-grade at AS Level (770 UCAS points)

  Richard Jones-Nerzic, Academic Director, British International School Bratislava, Slovakia, co author of the official IB History Course Companion