What Subjects are in IBCP?

The modern education landscape is evolving, especially concerning professional or vocational careers. Internet has motivated many youngsters to choose the entrepreneurial path while they are still in high school, and many youngsters are choosing alternate careers in fashion, hairstyling, painters, photographers, or even artisanal bakers. IB Career-related Programme (IBCP) as the name suggests is a career-centric programme offered by the International Baccalaureate Organisation (IBO). This programme is specifically designed for such driven students who have little academic inclination but are highly ambitious. Many International Baccalaureate schools in Bangalore offer the IBCP course with specialisations that will enable learners to study and intern on the career path of their choice.

IBCP Curriculum

IBCP has three parts: the IB Diploma Programme (IBDP), the CP core and career-related study. The course blends the academic rigour of IBDP with career-related study and real-world experience. Through this model learners are given the right to choose if they want to start working after high school, take a gap year and do an internship or project, or apply to college for a full-fledged programme in the career-related study subject they opted for. IBCP follows an experiential learning model where more stress is paid towards the application. The curriculum comprises -

• At least two IBDP subjects at HL or SL
• IBCP core includes
  • Skill training - here the students are taught essential skills for personal and professional development which are transferable and can be applied in various situations.
  • Community and Service - learners take up initiatives and address issues that affect the larger community and society. They apply their academic learning and develop an understanding of how their skills can be used to improve people’s lives and bring about social change.
  • Language Development - learners choose at least one language in which they learn communication skills for professional and personal interactions, both written and oral.
  • Reflective Project - this is an extended project that will be submitted towards the end of CP. In this, learners will identify, analyse, evaluate and critically discuss ethical issues in their career-related studies. This will be a researched academic paper which will hone the learner’s critical thinking ability and research skills.
• An approved career-related study can be an internship, apprenticeship, or a position in the learner’s designated field of study.

Career-related Studies

Under the career-related studies component of IBCP, learners will choose courses that provide them with knowledge and practical skills in a particular profession or industry. For instance, learners can choose courses in the fields of business, technology, health sciences, media, hospitality, fashion or other areas. Bangalore's best IB schools that offer IBCP offer some of the IBCP career-related studies subjects. So, if you have a specific subject in mind, you will have to research and check which school offers it and apply there. The career-related studies aim to provide learners with practical skills, industry knowledge and career readiness.

Commonly offered IBCP subjects

IBCP students are taught academic courses, which are common to IBDP subjects that the best IB schools in Bangalore like Knowledgeum Academy offer. The aim is to teach learners the academic subjects relevant to their field of study. Some of the commonly offered subjects are -

IBCP is closely related to IBDP with the overlapping subjects that learners choose. However, the comprehensive programme structure gives learners who have little academic inclination and thrive better with practical work an opportunity to choose their path to the career they want to build. Few IB schools in Bangalore offer IBCP courses which can be clubbed with IBDP or as a standalone programme. You must research well before applying.