Until March 2022, it was not possible for students to study the entire Diploma Programme online. That was until the IB launched the online Diploma Programme pilot with partners King’s InterHigh and Dwight Global Online School.
These pilot programmes empower students to take ownership of their own learning and develop future-ready skills to make a difference and thrive in a fast-changing world. They may be unable to attend traditional brick and mortar education, for any number of reasons.
Hear from just a few of the students from King’s InterHigh who are learning with the IB in this new innovative way.
María, Spain
A gifted student with heaps of natural curiosity, María’s desire to learn soon took her beyond her former school’s curriculum to involvement with international projects. Her other activities include writing two books and delivering lectures to university students on quantum computing. She’s also part of the New York Academy of Sciences’ Junior Academy and ‘1,000 Girls, 1,000 Futures’. As she progresses through her education, María hopes to help others find the same motivation.
Despite María’s passion for learning, her neurologist advised her to not attend physical classes after she was diagnosed with chronic migraines. Forced into a break from traditional learning, María began researching online schools. That’s when she discovered King’s InterHigh and the fully online International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme. As a self-driven and ambitious student who is always looking for opportunities to be a trailblazer, joining the world’s first cohort to study the IB curriculum online was an obvious choice for María.
“Online school is the best. The environment is so active, and I’ve been making new friends since day one. We’re having video calls outside of class.”
“IB students all have different perspective and ambitions. Some of us are interested in medicine, while others want to pursue fashion.”
“I want to find a way to show students that if they find their motivation, and they pursue it, they can succeed in life. I’ve progressed far with maths, but it was because I had a good role model in my former maths teacher. They were the reason why I wanted to pursue maths. And I think that if people can find the kind of motivation or role model that I did, there’s nothing stopping them from having the future they want.”
Grace, France
Grace joined King’s InterHigh this academic year and became one of the first students to undertake the Diploma Programme online. The 16-year-old decided to undertake this journey so she could pursue her many academic interests in various subjects all at once while connecting with others from across the globe.
“I decided to choose King’s InterHigh as I still wanted to learn independently, but I wanted more support than I previously received as my exams became more advanced. Some of my favourite subjects like biology or history are hard to learn by myself. As I had experienced homeschooling and studying online, King’s InterHigh seemed like the most sensible and natural next step for me.”
“I undertook the IBDP for three main reasons. Firstly, I don’t have the clearest vision of what I want to do in the future, so I wanted to keep as many options open as possible. Secondly, as Geneva is so international, my parents and I thought we should choose a more international course, as this would suit me really well. Finally, I also enjoy a really broad curriculum, for example in history I don’t want to be tied to European history as I had previously learnt about Eastern hemisphere history and beyond, and found it fascinating so I didn’t want to limit myself. I knew the IBDP allows me to cover this broad subject area.”
“I love working with people based all over the world! This really brings the ‘international’ part of the International Baccalaureate to life. I am often sitting at home in Geneva in a virtual classroom with students in Australia, as well as Norway, Antigua and many more countries! Everyone comes together to share different cultural backgrounds and experiences, which is fascinating.”
“The online DP makes a high-quality IB education far more accessible for all types of people no matter where they are in the world. I’m so proud to be part of this!”
Laura, Brazil
After returning to Brazil from Japan where she studied at an international school, Laura wanted to continue her globally-focused education.
While in Japan, Laura attended an international school and began following the IB curriculum. She wanted to continue this when she returned to Brazil. No local schools offered it, so she began searching for online schools, and a counsellor from her previous school recommended she try King’s InterHigh.
She’s enjoying the flexibility online studying has given her, with more time for her hobbies and interests.
“I have a lot of time for my extracurricular stuff. When I was at physical school, I’d leave my house at 7am and come back at 5pm. Now I have the entire day to do everything. I have a lot of time to do what I love, and then homework. It’s a pretty good balance.”
“I’ve wanted to study abroad since I was little. A lot of people back home would move to the United States, England or Italy, and I’d be like ‘Dad, when are we going?’ I’m applying to a few universities in Europe and the US. I’m applying to one university in Tokyo, which is pretty international, and I already know some people there.”
Laura plans on studying economics and business management overseas after graduation. She also has big dreams for the future and hopes to run her own company one day.
You can read more about María, Grace and Laura by visiting the King’s InterHigh case study webpages.