Middle Years Programme Options -

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Welcome to our IB Middle Years Options page, devoted to guiding you through the different subject choices that the Middle Years Programme offers to students. It is essential that both parents and students are well-informed, so we have prepared a range of resources that will assist you in making choices that best suit your passions and ambitions.

HERE, you will find a Middle Years Booklet and IBMYP Subject briefs. Make sure you understand the assessment and examination requirements, essential skills, workload, and content for each subject.

HERE, you will find a Middle Years Booklet and IBMYP Subject briefs. Make sure you understand the assessment and examination requirements, essential skills, workload, and content for each subject.

In order to make the right choice of IBMYP subjects, students must balance three extremely important factors:

Academic strengths and interests
Personal abilities and aptitudes
The implications of your choice for IB Diploma and future career paths

In order to support you along the way, we urge you to familiarise yourself with the requirements of the subjects you are considering studying, so you will be ready for the MYP Options evening, which will be held in school on Wednesday 5th February 2025 at 5:30 pm.

The evening will begin with an introductory address, after which you will have the opportunity to meet with Heads of Departments, who will answer any questions you may have reading the Middle Years Programme. These meetings are most useful for the subjects where your son/daughter is undecided, so I would encourage you to focus on these areas when selecting which to attend.

All IB programmes value language as central to developing critical thinking, which is essential for the cultivation of intercultural understanding, as well as for becoming internationally minded and responsible members of local, national and global communities. Language is integral to exploring and sustaining personal development and cultural identity, and provides an intellectual framework to support conceptual development. The six skill areas in the MYP language and literature subject group—listening, speaking, reading, writing, viewing and presenting—develop as both independent and interdependent skills. They are centred within an inquiry-based learning environment. Inquiry is at the heart of MYP language learning, and aims to support students’ understanding by providing them with opportunities to independently and collaboratively investigate, take action and reflect.

Language and Literature Language and Literature

The ability to communicate in a variety of modes in more than one language is essential to the concept of an international education that promotes multilingualism and intercultural understanding, both of which are central to the IB’s mission. All IB programmes require the students to study, or study in, more than one language because we believe that communicating in more than one language provides excellent opportunities to develop intercultural understanding and respect

Language Acquisition Language Acquisition

The study of individuals and societies helps students to develop their identities as individuals and as responsible members of local and global communities. These explorations of our common humanity are intrinsically interesting, and disciplines in this subject group are filled with potential for creating in students a lifelong fascination with “the human story” as it continues to evolve in an era of rapid change and increasing interconnectedness. Studies in individuals and societies are essential for developing empathy and international-mindedness, including the idea that “other people, with their differences, can also be right” (IB mission statement).

Individuals and Societies Individuals and Societies

With inquiry at the core, the MYP sciences framework aims to guide students to independently and collaboratively investigate issues through research, observation and experimentation. The MYP sciences curriculum explores the connections between science and everyday life. As they investigate real examples of science applications, students will discover the tensions and dependencies between science and morality, ethics, culture, economics, politics, and the environment.

Sciences Sciences

The study of mathematics is a fundamental part of a balanced education. It promotes a powerful universal language, analytical reasoning and problem-solving skills that contribute to the development of logical, abstract and critical thinking. Mathematics can help make sense of the world and allows phenomena to be described in precise terms. It also promotes careful analysis and the search for patterns and relationships, skills necessary for success both inside and outside the classroom. Mathematics, then, should be accessible to, and studied by, all students.

Mathematics Mathematics

Thinking and working creatively is fundamental to MYP arts, and it can easily become a focus in other subject groups too. Heightened awareness of thinking creatively encourages student-centred learning and develops students’ lifelong learning skills. It also prepares them for a world where they may be required to be flexible, innovative and entrepreneurial. The arts in the MYP seek to stimulate young imaginations, challenge perceptions and develop creative and analytical skills. Involvement in the arts encourages students to understand the arts in context and the cultural histories of artworks, thus supporting the development of an inquiring and empathetic world view. The arts challenge and enrich personal identity, and build awareness of the aesthetic in a real-world context. Through development of the imagination, students can become more empathetic and compassionate, they can enrich their cultural lives and discover new ways to contribute actively both to their own communities and to the world.

The Arts The Arts

Design is the link between innovation and creativity, taking thoughts and exploring the possibilities and constraints associated with products or systems, allowing them to redefine and manage the generation of further thought through prototyping, experimentation and adaptation. It is human-centred and focuses on the needs, wants and limitations of the end user. MYP design challenges all students to apply practical and creative thinking skills to solve design problems; encourages students to explore the role of design in both historical and contemporary contexts; and raises students’ awareness of their responsibilities when making design decisions and taking action

Design Design

Middle Years Programme Options

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