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Past and Future of IB program

By Dawn le Roux
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    IB past and future events

    This timeline details 3 major past events in IB's history, as well as 3 projected events in the future.

  • Founding of the IB

    In the year 1968, the IB program was founded in Geneva, on the 25th of October. During this year, the official language of the IB was decided (English and French), and the IB diploma program was developed.

  • Mission statement

    In 1996, the IB has consolidated and made public its mission statement, which is integral to any organisation's success. This follows conferences in both 1977 and 1978, the inclusion of Spanish as an official IB language in 1983, and the development of the MYP program in 1994.

  • 3000 IB schools worldwide

    Towards the end of 2010, there were 3000 registered IB schools worldwide. This was a significant achievement, considering that there were 1000 registered schools in 2001 - 33 years after the founding of the IB - and 2000 IB world schools in 2007. This means that another 1000 schools followed the IB program in just 3 years.

  • 6037 authorised programmes, worldwide

    According to the IB's annual review (2016-2017), there was 6037 authorised programmes worldwide, which included the PYP, MYP and Diploma programme, but excludes the European Platform and MYP partner schools.

  • 137 614 IB Diploma candidates worldwide

    According to the IB annual review (2016-2017), there is approximately an 8.21% growth in the number of IB Diploma candidates from 2016 to 2017. There was 92746 IB Diploma candidates in 2017. If this growth rate continues for at least 5 years, it can be expected that by 2022, there will be 137 614 IB Diploma candidates world wide.

  • Addition of Arabic and/or Mandarin Chinese as an official IB language

    According to a report written by the British Council, "Languages for the Future", it has been shown that Arabic as well as Mandarin Chinese is within the top 5 most important languages for students today in terms of economic, cultural, diplomatic and educational purposes. The languages are ranked, first to last, excl. English: Spanish, Arabic, French, Mandarin Chinese and German. Therefore, the next languages to be added to the IB programme would possibly be Arabic or Mandarin Chinese.

  • Over 8000 IB schools worldwide

    It took 33 years - from 1968 to 2001 - for 1000 schools to offer IB courses worldwide. By 2007, there was 2000 schools, and by 2010, there were 3000. According to the IB's annual review (2016-2017) there were 4871 schools that offered IB programs in 2017. With the current rate of growth, it can be assumed that this number would double in ten-eleven years' time.