IB explained, for parents
International Baccalaureate - the Primary Years and Middle Years Programmes, relevant to Class 1 to 10
The IB hands schools a framework of learning outcomes, not a fixed textbook - which is why two IB schools teaching the same age group can look genuinely different from each other. It runs on inquiry and stated criteria rather than a single mark scale.
In one paragraph
The IB runs four programmes: the Primary Years Programme (PYP, roughly ages 3 to 12), the Middle Years Programme (MYP, roughly ages 11 to 16), and the Diploma and Career-related Programmes (DP and CP, roughly ages 16 to 19) - the last two sitting above Class 10 and outside what Scholur teaches. A school must be individually authorised by the IB as an 'IB World School' before it can offer any programme. Within that authorisation, each school designs its own units, chooses its own resources and sets its own assessment calendar - the IB itself prescribes none of these directly.
The IB is the one entry on this page that is not Indian at all, and the thing most worth knowing about it is that it does not work the way CBSE or a state board does. It is the International Baccalaureate Organization, a non-profit foundation based in Geneva that runs four programmes across a continuum from about age 3 to 19. It hands schools a framework of learning outcomes and ways of teaching, not a fixed textbook - which is exactly why two IB schools teaching the same age group can look genuinely different from each other.
What the IB actually is, and what 'IB school' really means
The International Baccalaureate Organization is a non-profit foundation headquartered in Geneva, founded in 1968. It is not a national curriculum authority in the way CBSE or a state department of education is - it does not set a syllabus for a country, and it holds no jurisdiction over any school beyond the relationship it builds directly with that school.
That relationship is the important part. A school is entitled to call itself an "IB World School" and to teach any of the IB's programmes only after going through the IB's own authorisation process for that specific programme, and it must continue meeting the IB's programme standards to keep the right to use the name. In practice this means the phrase "IB school" is not self-declared - it is worth asking any school directly which programmes it is actually authorised for, since a school can genuinely be authorised for one IB programme and not another.
The four programmes together form what the IB itself calls a continuum, running from roughly age 3 to 19: the Primary Years Programme, the Middle Years Programme, the Diploma Programme and the Career-related Programme. Scholur's own teaching runs Class 1 to 10, which maps onto the Primary Years Programme and the Middle Years Programme - the two this page focuses on.
PYP, MYP, DP and CP: what each stage actually covers
| Programme | IB's stated age range | Roughly equivalent to |
|---|---|---|
| Primary Years Programme (PYP) | About 3 to 12 | Nursery to Class 6/7 |
| Middle Years Programme (MYP) | About 11 to 16 | Class 6 to Class 10 |
| Diploma Programme (DP) | About 16 to 19 | Class 11 to 12 |
| Career-related Programme (CP) | About 16 to 19 | Class 11 to 12 |
Notice the overlap between the middle two rows - the IB itself describes PYP as running to around age 12 while MYP begins around age 11, precisely because the actual transition age is a school decision, not a fixed rule. A ten- or eleven-year-old may be in either programme depending on the individual school's structure.
The Diploma and Career-related Programmes sit at Class 11 and 12, outside Scholur's Class 1 to 10 range, and are mentioned here only so the whole continuum makes sense. If your child is younger than that, PYP or MYP is what actually applies to her.
Why two IB schools can teach the same age group so differently
This is the single most important thing to understand about the IB at primary and middle level, and it is a deliberate design choice rather than an inconsistency. The IB supplies a framework - PYP's transdisciplinary units of inquiry, MYP's subject groups and global contexts, stated learning outcomes for each - and leaves every authorised school to build its own actual curriculum content inside that framework. There is no IB-published Class 4 textbook in the way NCERT publishes one for CBSE schools.
The consequence runs through everything a parent experiences. Two PYP schools may be running entirely different units of inquiry in the same term, using resources the school itself chose. Two MYP schools may sequence the same subject differently across the year. Even the choice of textbook, if any single one is used at all, is the school's own decision within IB's approved resource guidance rather than a fixed prescription.
This is why any tuition that claims to teach "the IB syllabus" as a single, fixed thing is describing something that does not exist as a document. What exists is your specific child's specific school's specific unit - and the only honest way to plan around it is to see what that school has actually set, in the same way we ask CBSE and ICSE parents for a photo of the contents page.
How PYP and MYP actually assess a child
Assessment is the other place the IB genuinely differs from a mark-driven board, and it changes across the two programmes that matter here.
In the Primary Years Programme, assessment is built around formative and summative tasks tied to each unit of inquiry - observation, portfolios, student reflection and a culminating exhibition in the final year - rather than a percentage-based examination. A child coming home with a descriptive report instead of a mark sheet is being assessed correctly for the programme, not being let off something.
In the Middle Years Programme, subjects are assessed against stated criteria specific to each subject group rather than against a single mark scale. In the final year of MYP - the year that lines up with Class 10 - a school may choose to register its students for the optional, IB-validated on-screen eAssessment, which includes on-screen examinations in several subject groups and a mandatory personal project component for any student taking part. Whether a given MYP school actually runs eAssessment at all is the school's own choice, not an IB requirement - so this is worth asking your school directly rather than assuming.
How we support a child in an IB school
We want to be direct about what we are and are not, because the IB's own authorisation process makes the distinction matter. Scholur is not an IB-accredited provider and does not run an IB programme. What we offer is subject-level tuition - maths, English, science and the rest - aligned to whatever your child's own school has actually set that term.
- PYP-age children get oral, inquiry-friendly sessions with no marks pressure, in keeping with how the programme itself is meant to feel at that age.
- MYP-age children get subject-specific help planned around their own school's unit and criteria, since the content genuinely differs school to school.
- Where a school has opted into MYP eAssessment, we plan the final year backwards from that once you confirm the school is registered for it.
The starting point is the same as every other board on this site: send a photo or a note of what your child's school has actually assigned, and classes are built around that. Rates for group and one-to-one classes are on the fees page, with a free assessment first.
How IB students are actually taught here
We do not teach a board. We teach the books your school issued, in the sequence it is working through, with our own progression underneath so that gaps get caught even when the class moves on.
- We work from your child's own school units and resource list, since the IB itself sets no fixed textbook for any school to hand us
- We are upfront that Scholur is not an IB-accredited provider - what we offer is subject-level support aligned to her school's own material, not the IB programme itself
- PYP-age children get oral, inquiry-friendly teaching with no marks pressure, matching how PYP itself assesses
- MYP-age children get subject-specific help - maths, English, science and the rest - planned around her actual unit, since MYP content genuinely varies from school to school
- Where a school runs the optional MYP eAssessment, we plan backwards from it once we know the school has opted in
Rates for group and one-to-one classes are on the fees page, and there are free printable worksheets whether or not you ever book a class.
The other three, for comparison
Written the same way - from each body’s own published documents, and equally clear about what it does not decide.
IB, honestly answered
Is the IB harder than CBSE or ICSE?
There is no sourceable basis for that comparison, because the two systems measure different things. The IB assesses against stated criteria and inquiry-based tasks rather than a single mark scale, particularly at PYP and MYP level, so 'harder' usually describes a difference in style rather than in content difficulty.
Does Scholur teach the IB curriculum, or is Scholur IB-accredited?
No. Scholur is not an IB-accredited provider and does not run an IB programme. We teach subject-level content - maths, English, science and the rest - aligned to what your child's own IB school has actually assigned, which is the only honest way to support learning inside a framework the IB deliberately leaves to each school to fill in.
What is the actual difference between PYP, MYP and DP?
PYP runs roughly from age 3 to 12 and is organised around transdisciplinary units of inquiry with no fixed textbook. MYP runs roughly from age 11 to 16 and is organised by subject groups assessed against stated criteria, ending with an optional on-screen eAssessment some schools choose to use. DP and CP, roughly ages 16 to 19, sit above Class 10 and are outside Scholur's own Class 1 to 10 range.
Why does my child get no marks in her IB primary class?
That is the programme working as intended. PYP assessment is built around formative tasks, portfolios and a culminating exhibition rather than a percentage mark sheet. It is a genuinely different way of describing progress, not a school being lax - read it for what it says about what she can now do.
How do I know if my school is really an authorised IB World School?
A school may use the name 'IB World School' and teach a specific IB programme only after the IB's own authorisation process for that programme, and a school can be authorised for one programme and not another. It is reasonable to ask the school directly which programme or programmes it holds current authorisation for.
Does the IB prescribe a textbook, the way NCERT does for CBSE?
No. The IB supplies a framework of learning outcomes and teaching approaches, and each authorised school builds its own units and chooses its own resources within it. There is no single IB-published Class 4 textbook, which is why two IB schools can be working on entirely different material in the same term.
What is the MYP eAssessment, and does every IB school run it?
It is an optional, IB-validated set of on-screen examinations in the final year of the Middle Years Programme, alongside a mandatory personal project for any student taking part. Whether a school registers its students for it at all is that school's own choice rather than an IB requirement, so it is worth confirming directly with your child's school.
Can we move our child from CBSE or a state board into an IB school?
It happens, and it is generally smoother the younger a child is, since PYP's inquiry-based approach and lack of marks-based examinations make the early years the least disruptive to change into. The main adjustment is usually to the way progress is assessed and described, rather than to any single subject.
Will my tutor have IB training?
We do not claim IB training or accreditation, and we would rather be upfront about that than overstate it. What we bring is subject expertise applied to your child's actual school material - her own units, her own resource list - which is the accurate way to support an IB child from outside the school itself.
Send us your child's book list. We plan around it.
One free live class first, with no card and nothing to cancel. Afterwards you get an honest note on what the teacher actually noticed.
- You tell us the class, board and what is going wrong.
- We match a teacher who has taught exactly that, and send you a time.
- A free 20-minute assessment. Sit beside your child if you like.
- No card, no commitment
- Live classes, never a crowd
- The same teacher every week