IB Diploma International Baccalaureate

3.1 — What is assessed

In general, written content tests of similar format and difficulty to the official exams (mock exams) are used, covering all content taught up to that point. Internal assessment components (lab reports, oral exams, etc.) are also assessed, each subject adapted to its assessment type.

Table 2.1 — Difference between internal and external assessment:

Assessment in the DP must:

• Strongly emphasise authentic performance assessment and higher-order cognitive skills (application, analysis, evaluation and synthesis), following the approaches to teaching and learning for these skills.
• Reflect real-world situations and have students demonstrate their knowledge, understanding and skills to answer research questions or by creating a product.
• Value the process and thinking behind the work, as well as the final product.
• Support and encourage good teaching and learning practices, following the Academic Honesty Policy and the IB approaches to teaching and learning.
• Be a useful and engaging activity through which students learn and practise how to apply important knowledge and skills for authentic purposes.
• Elicit the demonstration of both higher-order cognitive skills and knowledge and understanding.

These aims and assessment objectives are developed based on research, questionnaires completed by schools and the international dimensions of the subject (or group). As well as being designed to support the aims and pedagogy of DP subjects, the assessment models are developed considering validity, reliability and manageability. When designing assessment instruments, the IB ensures all assessment objectives can be assessed appropriately, minimising bias and maximising comparability. While not all assessment objectives need to be assessed in every component, they are assessed proportionally across all components.

Assessment is a continuous cycle, so experience from previous sessions informs the assessment design and exam preparation of future sessions. The IB continues to develop quality-control mechanisms so that assessments deliver valid and reliable results for students. These include reviews, clarifications and general comments, as well as the analysis of results and the internal assessment process that the IB provides to the school for each subject and session.

For more detailed information about IB assessment, visit the Programme Resource Centre and the IB website.

3.2 — How it is assessed

Although the subject syllabi detail the various assessment methods, two types frame them: formative and summative.

The teacher should set formative assessments that challenge students at an appropriate level and continually adjust that level as students progress.

In other words, formative assessment is interested in why the student does something, while summative assessment is concerned with whether the student has done things correctly.

3.3 — Non-significant adaptations for students with SEN

3.4 — Assessment periods and examinations

At San Cayetano, the IB assessment periods are termly, with three assessments per school year. In Year 1, these are before Christmas, before Easter and just before the end of the year. In Year 2, the assessment periods are before Christmas, in February-March, and in May the IB External Exams take place. Only these May exams of Year 2 count towards the university entry grade; all other marks are internal and contribute to the predicted grade.

The assessment periods are set by the School Secretary, proposed by the GCCA and the IB Coordinator and approved by the Head, in June of the previous school year. This is communicated to all teachers by email and/or by sharing the assessment calendar, located in the relevant school-year Drive folder and accessible to all teachers.

A period of one to two weeks of exams is set for each assessment, during which students have no classes. The exam timetable is prepared by the IB Coordinator and approved by the Head, with a maximum of two exams per day.

Exam duration is progressively adapted to become more similar to the official exams as the year advances, and depends on the subject's characteristics.

Assessment is continuous and activities must be varied: written tests, exam preparation activities such as past-paper questions or mock tests, presentations, research projects, etc.

Exams indicate the numerical score per question, the percentage and the grade boundary, so students have this information.

The final subject grade is calculated using the paper percentages, the weighting of each paper and the grade boundary.

In cases of student malpractice during an exam, the rules defined in the Academic Integrity Policy apply.

The student chooses the response language for assessments from the official IB languages: Spanish, English, German or French.

3.5 — Assessment meetings

In Year 1 IB there are three assessment meetings, one for each of the three assessment periods, plus the extraordinary September session. In Year 2 there is an assessment meeting before Christmas and another after the internal assessment.

Assessment meetings are convened at least fifteen days in advance by the IB Coordinator, with the approval of the Secondary-Baccalaureate Deputy Head and the Head.

At the extraordinary September assessment meeting, decisions on promotion or non-promotion are taken according to point 3.1.

The general features of assessment meetings and grade reporting are defined in the Academic Assessment Procedure Manual and are common to all educational stages of the school.

4.1 — School grades and Internal Promotion

IB students receive a school grade for each IB subject and a progress report for each core subject at the end of each assessment in Year 1 and at the end of the first two assessments in Year 2.

Each school assessment period includes both quantitative (summative) and qualitative (formative) grades. Quantitative grades follow the DP model, while qualitative grades report on the student's current progress, attitude and predicted future development.

ToK, Extended Essay and CAS components have a qualitative grade (Pass / Fail), while other subjects use quantitative grades from 1-7, following the Diploma Programme model.

The IB and National Baccalaureate equivalences are:

Assessment is continuous and divided into three terms.

4.2 — Obtaining the IB Diploma

According to IB guidelines, the following conditions must be met to obtain the IB diploma:

Students who obtain 24 points or more and also meet the following general requirements will be awarded the diploma:

• a)Numerical grades have been awarded in the six subjects registered for the IB diploma.
• b)All CAS requirements have been met.
• c)At least a grade D has been awarded in both Theory of Knowledge and the Extended Essay.
• d)No grade of 1 has been obtained in any subject.
• e)The final award committee has not found the student guilty of fraudulent conduct.
• f)A grade of 2 has not been obtained three or more times (including SL and HL subjects).
• g)A grade of 3 or below has not been obtained four or more times (counting SL and HL subjects).
• h)At least 12 points have been obtained in Higher Level subjects (for students registered in four HL subjects, the three highest grades count).
• i)At least 9 points have been obtained in Standard Level subjects (students registered in two SL subjects must obtain at least 5 points at this level).

4.3 — What happens if I do not obtain the Diploma?

Exam reviews can be requested; in the IB this is called a category 1 enquiry upon results. The student and family must sign an authorisation because the grade may go down. Enquiries are processed on 9 July (if the Diploma was not obtained) and 10 July (to raise a grade), from 9:00 to 13:00 at the school, after speaking with the subject teachers. The IB charges an 88€ fee per exam enquiry; the process is completed once the amount is paid at the school office.

If the reviewed exam grade changes, the IB refunds the fee, so the school will refund the amount previously paid.

Students may sit any subjects they wish in the November session — whether they were a few marks short of a higher grade, have significant room for improvement, or need total points from their HL or SL subjects.

For each subject they sit, they retake the exams and may choose whether to resubmit the non-exam components:

• Language A — oral (SL/HL) · essay (HL)
• Language B — oral (SL/HL)
• History, Business Management, ESS, Global Politics (NM/NS) — Internal Assessment
• Physics, Biology, Chemistry (NM/NS) — Internal Assessment
• Mathematics (AA HL/SL and AI SL) — Internal Assessment
• Visual Arts (SL/HL) — Comparative Study
• Extended Essay
• Theory of Knowledge: Essay

If a Diploma-category student repeats a subject at the same level and in the same response language, the highest final grade counts for the diploma.

Once results are released in July, students have one week to decide whether to register for any November subject. The San Cayetano registration deadline is 15 July.

If a student wishes to resubmit internal assessment work or a non-exam component, they must attend classes at the school from the official start of classes, registered for the session as a Repeat candidate. This is because the subject teacher must provide academic guidance, mark the internal assessment work and confirm the original authorship of all work.

Students' Classrooms and corporate emails remain open so they can contact subject teachers and ask for guidance if needed.

If a student wishes to resubmit internal assessment work or a non-exam component, they must contact the teacher to plan the work to be done over the summer.

• Deadline: 10 SeptemberExtended Essay · Theory of Knowledge: essay · Language A: Language and Literature HL (essay) · Visual Arts: comparative study.
• Deadline: 15 OctoberAll internal assessment components · individual oral of Language A: Language and Literature · Language B oral.
• Deadline: 25 OctoberExternal assessment components: Visual Arts — process portfolio.
• From 1 SeptemberIf the laboratory is needed for the IA, the student may use working days to carry out their practicals.

In September, the programme coordinator informs students of the exam calendar and confirms the external components or Internal Assessments they will sit.

To withdraw registration for the November session, the deadline is 20 October.

4.4 — Resit protocol (November session)

Students and families must complete a registration form and choose between:

San Cayetano establishes that a student may sit at the school for a maximum of four sessions.

5.1 — External assessment

External exams: Exams take place at the school following the official IB exam calendar. There are 2 assessment sessions, one in May and one in November. After each exam, it is sent by certified mail to the specified marking centre. The IB sends the exams to official examiners for marking. Official grades for these two external sessions are received in July and December.

Extended Essay: Worked on individually with a supervisor. The assessment result is communicated through a letter code (A to E), where an E means the diploma is not obtained.

ToK: The essay is worked on with the help of the ToK teacher and assessed externally. Results are communicated using the same letter code as the extended essay.

5.2 — Internal assessment

Internal assessments (IA): Internally marked work/tests count for a % of the subject grade. Each teacher marks based on rubrics predefined by the subject guide. The school teacher marks the work and uploads a sample to the IB system; this sample is moderated to ensure marking follows IB standards.

ToK: The internal assessment includes the ToK exhibition, which counts for a % of the total subject grade. This component is also moderated externally.

5.3 — Assessment quality control

First, before each academic year begins, the grading and assessment process is harmonised, ensuring teachers know the band system and marking rubrics, the exercise scoring system and the process for obtaining the subject grade with the percentages of each component and/or exam. The coordinator verifies during assessment boards that this process is appropriate, supervises teachers through regular (termly) meetings and pays special attention to teachers new to the system. This ensures the grades awarded faithfully represent those students will receive in the official external assessments.

Each term, the teaching staff carries out internal moderation to ensure assessments meet IB standards. In subjects with more than one teacher, cross-marking of exams and Internal Assessments is done to ensure consistency in grading criteria and promote internal standardisation. Within subjects of the same group, common criteria are discussed, rubrics shared and cross-marking done with examples from previous years. Conclusions from workshops, training courses and IB teacher networks are also shared to apply them consistently across all DP subjects.