IB Diploma Programme

At Southlands the IB Diploma is the pinnacle of our student’s educational experience at school. Students are supported in fostering a true passion for learning and a desire to explore beyond the curriculum through:

• Systematic guidance in selecting appropriate courses to fit with further study ambitions
• Academic monitoring and personalised interventions
• Academic writing, research and learning workshops
• Pastoral monitoring and wellbeing sessions delivered in PSHE by form tutors and school nurses 
• School psychologist availability for one to one sessions on request

Students wanting to follow the full Diploma Programme will need to meet clear requirements to be considered.

Online courses: IB World Schools like Southlands have the opportunity to enroll students in Diploma Programme courses online. These courses are developed and delivered by IB-approved online course providers. Southlands uses the well-established and accredited Pamoja Education platform.

View the Southlands IB Diploma Options Booklet

Our students have the opportunity to choose from a wealth of subjects, taught by experienced teachers, and are also able to qualify (with the right subject combinations) for the Italian Maturità.

We are currently able to offer subject combinations for the Liceo Linguistico, Liceo Scientifico and the Liceo Scienze Umane. There are certain requirements for each of these and it is important to discuss the options with the IBDP Coordinator in order to find the right fit.

Recognition of the Diploma in Italy

Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS) provides the main opportunity to develop many of the attributes described in the IB Learner Profile. For this reason, the aims of CAS have been written in a form that highlights their connections with the IB Learner Profile.

Southlands students have made remarkable contributions to their local community and to their own personal development through their engagement in the CAS programme.

The CAS programme aims to develop students who are:

• reflective thinkers— they understand their own strengths and limitations, identify goals and devise strategies for personal growth
• willing to accept new challenges and new roles
• aware of themselves as members of communities with responsibilities towards each other and the environment
• active participants in sustained, collaborative projects
• balanced—they enjoy and find significance in a range of activities involving intellectual, physical, creative and emotional experiences
   

View the Southlands CAS Handbook

Ensuring that our when our students leave us they are ready to actively take part in, and shape, the globalised community we live in today is at the heart of the Globeducate mission. All Senior School students embark on specially tailored international residential trips, designed to integrate key components of learning for the year and increase their cultural capital.

In the IB Diploma, all Year 12 (Grade 11) students take part in a 6-day residential trip to Beijing where they explore key aspects of the Theory of Knowledge course and develop a greater appreciation of Eastern culture. The trip affords students the opportunity to immerse themselves in experiential learning and is a wonderful experience that our students never forget.

Beijing Presentation 

TOK- Beijing 2019

As part of the Globeducate group, Southlands also provides a number of international, extracurricular opportunities for all year groups to part take in. Participating on an international level in academic, creative and sporting pathways ensures that our students are supported in building relationships with people from all backgrounds and become self-confident communicators and valuable collaborators. Our IB students annually participate in the Stonar School Leadership programme where they are able to work on key areas of the Learner Profile.

View the Globeducate inter-school events

Since implementing the IB Diploma programme in 2015, Southlands students have consistently achieved results above the World Average Grade reported by the IBO.

Our 2020 graduating class had an Average Point Total of 35 compared to the World Average Total Point score of 29.3. These students also celebrated a subject grade average of 5.53 compared to the World Average Grade of 4.80, while the highest diploma points awarded to a candidate was 43 out of a possible 45. 

Our Modern Foreign Languages department receives outstanding results every year with students gaining an incredible subject grade average of 6.71 out of a maximum of 7 in 2020.

We are extremely proud of the hard work and commitment each and every individual displayed to get such fantastic outcomes!

View examples of Extended Essays written at Southlands (PDF)

Students are coached through the process of university application and portfolio building from the start of Year 10 (Grade 9). The process starts with initial conversations about interests and academic strengths with our University Counsellor and builds up to weekly 45 minute sessions in Year 12 (Grade 11). Students can also receive support in writing personal statements and motivational statements from the school Librarian.

The school subscribes to the world class university and careers guidance platform BridgeU. This enhancement of the university and careers provision allows for students and parents to engage in proactive and personalised searches of universities, courses and careers on a global scale. The platform currently includes 24,000 global post 16 educational institutions.

Recent university destinations include:

• University of Manchester
• IE University Madrid
• Les Roches Marbella
• Università Bocconi
• Universidad Europea Madrid
• University of Westminster
• University of Brighton
• University of Munich
• University of Groningen