IB Program Changes – How Do The Students Feel?

As a new school year starts amid the pandemic, anxiety and confusion are at all-time highs among seniors working hard to get their International Baccalaureate (more commonly referred to as IB) diplomas. To the delight of some and the dismay of others, the IB has made massive changes to the exams next May. Of the 41 subjects offered by the IB, 20 of them have had one or more assessment components removed altogether. Nearly all the subjects (35 of 42) have been affected, through amendments or removals of content. These drastic changes have polarized the seniors of our school – some ecstatic upon hearing that their exams would consist of less while others anxious about the new formats.

            “We were generally happy about the exam changes because a lot of sections were removed,” said senior Paoping Y. when asked about the general consensus among her friends, “but it was also quite unfortunate that some things that were removed were the easier parts of the assessments – those that likely would have raised our grades and not hurt them.”

            On top of the exam changes, the general workload is also a major obstacle for current seniors to overcome.

            “The number of deadlines and due dates for assignments in this coming month really is staggering, and I’m sure I can speak for everyone in my grade when I say that there’s a lot of stress and hard work in front of us,” says Paoping.

            How does all this look to an IBY1 student, though? Having just started the IB program, we asked junior Andrew Z. for his thoughts.

            “We’ve only just started our IB classes, but the workload is already a big step up from last year. I could definitely see a lot of this work piling up and causing a lot of stress down the line as it does so,” says Andrew. “As for the exam changes, I think it would mostly be a positive impact (if it were to happen to us) but it would also add to the anxiety and confusion of this already stressful school year.”

            Overall, it seems that our students are appreciating, at the very least, the effort of the IB to be adaptable and make changes during this pandemic. Hopefully, these changes will be for the benefit of the seniors this year!