Best Schools - How the IB is changing its theory of knowledge course

The curriculum of one of the key components of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, theory of knowledge, is due to change next year.

Teachers will start teaching the new version of the course next year, with the first assessment to be carried out in 2022.

Aimed at developing a critical reflection into the nature of knowledge, the course is undertaken by all students enrolled in an IB Diploma Programme and schools are required to dedicate at least 100 teaching hours to it.

While there are some changes in the components of the curriculum model, the biggest news comes in the assessment department, with an "exhibition" replacing the current presentation task.

Presenting the changes at the IB Global Conference in Abu Dhabi last week, senior curriculum manager Jenny Gillett said: “For theory of knowledge, we have a quite exciting curriculum model coming through.”

The curriculum model is currently based on three components: a core theme called "knowing about knowing", which encourages students to critically reflect on knowledge claims; "ways of knowing", which encompasses eight areas including language and faith; and "areas of knowledge", which includes areas such as the arts and natural sciences.

The new core theme, Ms Gillett explained, focuses on the students themselves.

Named "knowledge and the knower", it will encourage students to reflect on their perspectives, their values and their critical thinking skills – for example, their awareness of manipulation, or "spin".

“We have a new core theme focused on the students themselves as a knower and thinker, what shapes their perspectives, where their values come from, how they know who to trust, how they navigate the world,” she said.

IB subjects undergo a seven-year revision and update cycle. The other subjects due to feature curriculum changes in 2020 are economics and music.

Students with unconditional offers are more likely to drop out of university, analysis finds

Students who are given unconditional offers are more likely to drop out of university than those who are forced to earn their place with grades, research shows.

The drop-out is ten per cent higher among undergraduates who were handed university places regardless of their A-level results than it would have been if they had been given ordinary conditional offers, according to a new analysis by the Office for Students (OfS).

A quarter of students now receive at least one unconditional offer, the latest figures show, despite Government pressure on universities to crack down on the practice.

The proportion of school leavers who were handed at least one unconditional offer reached a record high this year, an analysis by the admissions service Ucas in July found.

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: "These offers encourage students to sign up for courses which are not necessarily the best choice for them and this is probably why they are then more likely to drop out.

"We would encourage students to choose the university course which best suits their interests and ambitions, and we would urge universities to desist from the practice of making this type of offer."