International baccalaureate

International Baccalaureate

International Baccalaureate logo
Formation	1968
Headquarters	Geneva, Switzerland
Website	ibo.org
Formerly called	International Baccalaureate Organization

The International Baccalaureate (IB), formerly known as the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), is an international educational foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland and founded in 1968. It offers three educational programmes: the IB Diploma Programme and the IB Career-related Programme for students aged 16 to 19, the IB Middle Years Programme, designed for students aged 11 to 16, and the IB Primary Years Programme for children aged 3 to 12. To teach these programmes, schools need to be authorised by IB.

The organization's name and logo were changed in 2007 to reflect a reorganisation. Consequently, "IB" may now refer to the organisation itself, any of the four programmes, or the diploma or certificates awarded at the end of a programme.

When Marie-Thérèse Maurette wrote "Educational Techniques for peace. Do they exist?" in 1948, she created the framework for what would eventually become the IB Diploma Programme (IBDP). In the mid-1960s, a group of teachers from the International School of Geneva (Ecolint) created the International Schools Examinations Syndicate (ISES), which would later become the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) and then the International Baccalaureate (IB).

The IB headquarters were officially established in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1968 for the development and maintenance of the IB Diploma Programme. The objective of this programme was to "provide an internationally acceptable university admissions qualification suitable for the growing mobile population of young people whose parents were part of the world of diplomacy, international and multi-national organizations" by offering standardized courses and assessments for students aged 16 to 19.

International Baccalaureate North America (IBNA) was established in 1975 by Peter Nehr, International Baccalaureate Africa, Europe and Middle-East (IBAEM) in 1986, and International Baccalaureate Asia Pacific (IBAP) during the same period.

The IB Middle Years Programme (MYP) was first offered in 1994. Within five years, 51 countries had MYP schools. A revised MYP programme was introduced in September 2014.