The IB Middle Year Program is one of the most significant IBO’s education framework for students aged 11 to 16 years.
Designed to run for a 5-year period, the program equips students with knowledge and skills necessary to become critical, creative, and more aware thinkers who can solve real-world problems. The MYP also forms the foundation for the IB Diploma program, although it isn’t mandatory to take the course.
In this post, we look at what you should know about the IB MYP assessment and exams. In particular, we look at the assessment criteria used for all the subjects taught in the program.
Let’s get started.
IB MYP School-based Assessment
Here, IB MYP assessment places emphasis on tasks developed and evaluated by qualified classroom teachers who possess the necessary expertise to assess student accomplishments accurately.
These tasks are demanding and they incorporate diverse assessment strategies.
MYP educators evaluate the objectives outlined for each subject group using the designated assessment criteria throughout the duration of the program.
Teachers use the following assessment criteria based on the subject category:
1. Language Acquisition
The following table is a summary of the assessment criteria used to grade language acquisition:
| Criterion | Description | Components |
| A | Comprehending visual and spoken texts | Involves identifying information, recognizing conventions, and engaging with the content |
| B | Comprehending visual and written texts | Focuses on identifying information, recognizing format and style, and engaging with the content |
| C | Communicating in response to texts | Includes appropriate responses, interactive exchanges, basic phrases, and considering the audience |
| D | Using language | Entails basic vocabulary, grammar, conventions, clear speech, organization, cohesive devices, and adapting to the context |
2. Language and Literature
The following table is a summary of the assessment criteria used to grade language and literature:
| Criterion | Description | Components |
| A | Using language | It involves identifying significant aspects of texts, commenting on the creator’s choices, justifying opinions, and identifying similarities and differences within and between texts. |
| B | Using language | It focuses on employing suitable organizational structures, organizing ideas logically, and utilizing referencing and formatting tools effectively. |
| C | Using language | This entails demonstrating thought, imagination, and exploring new perspectives, making stylistic choices, and selecting relevant details to support ideas. |
| D | Using language | It includes utilizing appropriate vocabulary, grammar, syntax, and forms of expression, writing and speaking in the right register and style, ensuring accuracy in spelling, writing (character languages), and pronunciation, and employing suitable non-verbal communication techniques. |
3. Individuals and Societies
The following table is a summary of the assessment criteria used to grade individuals and societies in MYP:
| Criterion | Description | Components |
| A | Knowledge and understanding | It involves using vocabulary appropriately and demonstrating knowledge of subject-specific content. |
| B | Investigation | Requires a student to explain the research question choice, follow an action plan, collect relevant information, and reflect on the investigation process and results |
| C | Communication | Entails clear communication, effective organization of information, and proper citation of sources. |
| D | Critical Thinking | Involves identifying main points, using information to justify opinions, analyzing sources, and recognizing different perspectives and their implications |
4. Sciences
The following table is a summary of the assessment criteria used to grade sciences in the IB Middle Year Program:
| Criterion | Description | Components |
| A | Knowing and understanding | Involves outlining scientific knowledge, commenting on creator’s choices, and making scientifically supported judgments |
| B | Inquiring and designing | Includes formulating research questions, making testable predictions, outlining experimental procedures, and designing scientific |
| C | Processing and evaluating | Entails presenting and interpreting data, discussing prediction validity and method reliability, and suggesting improvements |
| D | Reflecting on the impacts of science | Involves summarizing scientific applications, discussing implications, using scientific language effectively, and documenting |
5. Mathematics
The following table is a summary of the assessment criteria used to grade Mathematics:
| Criterion | Description | Components |
| A | Knowing and understanding | It involves selecting and applying appropriate mathematics to solve problems in various contexts. |
| B | Investigating patterns | It requires recognizing and describing patterns using mathematical problem-solving techniques and verifying their applicability. |
| C | Communicating | It entails using proper mathematical language, representation, and organizing information coherently. |
| D | Applying mathematical reasoning in real-life contexts | It involves identifying relevant elements, selecting appropriate strategies, applying them successfully, explaining accuracy, and assessing the solution’s coherence in real-life situations. |
6. Arts
The following table is a summary of the assessment criteria used to grade Arts:
| Criterion | Description | Components |
| A | Knowing and understanding | Show awareness of the art form studied, the relationship between the art form and its context. Links between acquired knowledge and artwork created |
| B | Developing skills | Focus on the acquisition, application, and development of skills and techniques of the art form studied. |
| C | Thinking creatively | Identify of artistic intention, alternatives and perspectives demonstration of exploration of ideas |
| D | Responding | Identify the connections between art forms, art and context, or art and prior learning. Understand that the world contains inspiration or influence for art |
7. Physical and Health Education
The following table is a summary of the assessment criteria used to grade Physical and Health Education:
| Criterion | Description | Components |
| A | Knowing and understanding | It involves outlining physical and health education-related knowledge, identifying relevant knowledge to describe and solve problems, and using appropriate terminology. |
| B | Planning for performance | It includes setting goals and creating a plan to improve physical activity and health. |
| C | Applying and performing | It entails applying skills, techniques, strategies, and movement concepts effectively. |
| D | Reflecting and improving performance | It involves enhancing interpersonal skills, evaluating plan effectiveness, and summarizing performance. |
8. Design
The following table is a summary of the assessment criteria used to grade Design:
| Criterion | Description | Component |
| A | Inquiring and analyzing | Explain and justify the necessity for a solution to a given problem. Describe the key features of an existing product that serves as an inspiration for the solution is crucial |
| B | Developing Ideas | Create a list of success criteria for the solution. Choose a design from the proposed ideas. Plan a drawing or diagram and outline the key details necessary for constructing the chosen solution. |
| C | Creating the solution | Practical implementation of the chosen design Demonstration of excellent technical skills throughout the process of making the solution Documentation of any modifications made to the chosen design and plan during the process |
| D | Evaluating | Simple and relevant testing methods outlined to generate data for measuring the success of the solution. The success of the solution evaluated against the design specification The impact of the solution on the client or target audience examined. |