International Baccalaureate

The International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma

St Peter’s offers the International Baccalaureate Diploma for Year 12 and 13 students. Students and their parents will choose the International Baccalaureate (IB) pathway or the NCEA pathway in consultation with the IB coordinator, teachers, mentor teacher and head of year. It is important that all students consider their option choices carefully in their earlier years of study to ensure they have prior learning that is advantageous in most IB courses.  

There is an additional cost of $1,200 per year, plus course costs, for students to complete the IB Diploma. This is to cover the registration for courses, examination fees and extra resourcing for the IB programme as a whole. 

What is the International Baccalaureate Diploma?

This is a two-year pre-university preparation course which aims to provide a balanced, rigorous curriculum for students in Years 12 and 13, while fostering international understanding and responsible citizenship. 

It is suitable for average to above-average students who are planning to go on to tertiary study.

Students select one course from each of the six course groups, three of which are studied in depth at higher level (HL) and three are studied at standard level (SL).

IB or NCEA? video

University Entrance and the IB Diploma

The IB Diploma has a strong focus on learning - there are only a limited number of formalised assessments in each subject, with a mix of internal and external components. Typically, a course has one internal assessment across the two years, and two or three external papers sat at the end of the second year.

There are a number of conditions, chiefly that candidates must gain a minimum overall score of 24 points out of 45, and therefore gain the IB Diploma. Also, students cannot gain a failing grade in their extended essay or theory of knowledge assessment.

University recognition

In New Zealand, the IB Diploma with 24 points is university entrance. However, certain university courses may have higher entrance grades. For example, a score of 33 points out of 45 is direct entry into Auckland’s pre-med and engineering courses.

Many universities in New Zealand and abroad also accept students who don’t achieve a full IB Diploma under special entry conditions based on subject results. Internationally, the IB Diploma is widely known and appreciated for its value. Please refer to university publications for the IB points needed to enter their programmes or this website to see specific country's IB recognition statements. 

For further details about the IB Diploma Programme at St Peter’s, Cambridge, contact the school IB coordinator: [email protected],  IB Diploma website or the  IB Organisation website

Courses on offer

Students must also complete three additional requirements to gain the IB Diploma:

• The theory of knowledge course: a critical thinking class that encourages students to reflect on the nature of knowledge
• The extended essay: a piece of independent research on a topic of the student’s choice, which culminates in a 4000 word essay
• Creativity, activity and service (CAS): an individualised extra-curricular programme that covers experiences that are creative, physically active and service orientated. 

Junior Students

For students to be well-equipped to undertake the IB Diploma, foundational learning in Years 9-11 should be considered.

Students who propose to include music in their IB programme must check the pre-requisites for learning an instrument from Year 9 and check with the HOD music.

Language Choice

Students who wish to take Spanish, French, Japanese or Chinese at the B level as part of their IB programme will need to choose the language in Years 9, 10 and 11. Students who do not have any prior language learning need to choose the beginner Spanish ab initio course or the French ab initio course at standard level in Year 12.

If you have displayed competency in a language above a certain level, you will need to choose ab initio of a different language or choose to take Language B.