Choosing subjects and levels

The rules

A Diploma needs six subjects:

• one from each of groups 1 to 5: your best language, a second language, an individuals and societies subject, a science and a math course;
• a sixth from group 6, the arts, or another subject from groups 1 to 4 in its place;
• three or four at Higher Level (HL), the rest at Standard Level (SL).

A few more rules follow from how the courses are built:

• One math course. Maths: analysis and approaches (AA) and Maths: applications and interpretation (AI) can't be taken together.
• One course per language. You can't take English A and English B, for example.
• Ab initio is SL only. Some other courses are offered at one level too.
• Interdisciplinary courses count twice. Environmental systems and societies (ESS) meets the group 3 or the group 4 requirement; literature and performance meets group 1 or group 6.

Your school decides which subjects it offers, at which levels and in which combinations its timetable allows. Start from its list.

The subject checker checks a set of six against these rules.

Choosing between HL and SL

HL courses cover more and go deeper, so they take more time, outside class as well as in it. A sensible starting point:

• take at HL the subjects you're strongest in and most interested in;
• take at HL anything a university course you're considering asks for at HL;
• be honest about workload. Four HL subjects is allowed, not expected.

A 7 at SL adds the same to your total as a 7 at HL. But universities often ask for grades in specific HL subjects, so the level matters for more than your score.

Maths AA or Maths AI

Both courses are offered at SL and HL. The IB has written new guides for both, first assessed in May 2029; students sitting exams in 2027 and 2028 take the current courses. Analysis and approaches leans towards algebra, functions, calculus and proof. Applications and interpretation leans towards modelling, statistics and using technology on real data.

Some university courses, especially those with a lot of mathematics in them, accept only AA or ask for it at HL. If you're unsure, check the courses you're considering before you choose.

Language A, language B or ab initio

• Group 1 (A courses) are literature courses for a language you already use fluently.
• Group 2 language B is for a language you've studied before.
• Ab initio is for a language you're starting from scratch, at SL only. Schools decide who can take it.

A second group 1 course can stand in for group 2. That is one route to the bilingual Diploma.

What universities look at

Requirements differ by country, university and course, and they change. In general:

• many universities state an overall points score;
• many also name subjects and grades at HL, such as 6 in HL chemistry;
• some count SL grades, or the core, differently from others.

Read the entry requirements on each university's own pages for the year you'll apply, and talk to your school's university counselor. Nothing in this guide is a prediction of what any university will accept.

Changing a subject later

Schools have their own deadlines for changing subjects or levels, usually early in the first year, and the IB has registration deadlines too. Moving from HL to SL is usually easier than the reverse. Ask your coordinator before you assume a change is possible.

Sources

• International Baccalaureate. Curriculum, Diploma Programme. Subject groups, HL and SL, and interdisciplinary subjects.
• International Baccalaureate. DP passing criteria. Three or four HL subjects, and the bilingual Diploma.
• International Baccalaureate. Mathematics: analysis and approaches guide, first assessment 2021.