Diploma Programme (DP)

Xi’an Hanova International School is fully authorized to offer its students the IB Diploma Programme (DP) – one of four programmes offered by the IB. It is a programme of international education designed to help students develop the knowledge, understanding, attitudes and skills necessary to participate actively and responsibly in a changing world.

Hanova provides two basic diploma options for students joining Year 12. Students may opt to undertake the full International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma or the Hanova Diploma, which will be based upon the IB Diploma. The academic subjects and core components in both diplomas are exactly the same and are assessed according to official IB Diploma criteria. The only real difference between the two options is that students undertaking the Hanova Diploma will not study as many subjects as those required for the IB Diploma.

Those students who graduate with an IB Diploma will receive a Diploma certificate as well as certificates for those Diploma subject courses that were part of their Diploma. Those students who graduate with a Hanova Diploma will receive certificates from IB for each of the Diploma subject courses.

IB Diploma

• 6 IB Diploma Subject Courses
• 3 subjects studied at Higher Level (HL)
• 3 subjects studied at Standard Level 
(SL)
• One subject must be chosen from 
Groups 1 to 5
• The sixth subject may be chosen from Groups 1 to 4
• Must enter: 
Theory of Knowledge, Extended Essay, CAS (Creativity Activity Service.)

Hanova Diploma

• 3 to 5 IB Diploma Subject Courses
• At least 1 subject studied at Higher 
Level (HL)
• At least 2 subjects studied at Standard 
Level (SL)
• Two languages should be chosen from 
Groups 1 and 2
• May be entered for any of: 
Theory of Knowledge, Extended Essay, CAS (Creativity Activity Service)

The table below shows the subjects that can be studied at Hanova in each of the academic groups during each two-year Diploma programme. Students must select three Higher Level (HL) and three Standard Level (SL) subjects. In combination with the subjects, students are required to fulfill the requirements of the Core components of TOK, EE and CAS to gain full certification in the IB DP.

Unless specifically stated, the Diploma subjects are offered at both HL and SL in the same class with the same teacher.

At Hanova, we believe that in most cases, students should take a broad and balanced programme by selecting one subject from each group. This is especially important for students who wish to keep their university options open or who intend to apply to US universities who offer a foundation year. We actively encourage students to ensure that the subjects they select are appropriate for university entrance, will maximize their potential and provide satisfaction and enjoyment. Students who are selecting a second Science or Humanities course as an Elective in Group 6, must provide reasons for selecting the course, for example, “I plan to take Engineering at Toronto University and to apply I must study Mathematics HL, Physics HL and Chemistry HL or SL”.

For more information on each IB Diploma Subject Course, follow the link to IB below. The IB has produced summarized but detailed subject outlines for each of the Diploma subjects: www.ibo.org

The typical IB Diploma programme involves taking three HL subjects and three SL subjects. Each HL subject should cover a curriculum over 240 hours whereas students undertaking an SL complete their curriculum over 150 hours.

Many HL subjects have additional curriculum content to cover – mostly in the form of options. Other HL subjects may have additional assessment components as well. In many HL subjects, the assessment criteria are often more demanding too.

The DP Core Components are compulsory and central to the philosophy of the IB DP. The Core Components are:

Extended Essay (EE)

The EE has a prescribed limit of 4,000 words and offers the opportunity for students to investigate a topic of individual interest and equips them with the independent research and writing skills expected at university. It is intended to promote high-level research and writing skills, intellectual discovery and creativity. It provides students with an opportunity to engage in personal research on a topic of their choice, under guidance of a supervisor.

Theory of Knowledge (TOK)

The interdisciplinary TOK course is designed to provide coherence by exploring the nature of knowledge across all the subject groups, encouraging an appreciation of other cultural perspectives. Theory of Knowledge encourages critical thinking about knowledge itself and aims to help you people make sense of that they encounter. Fundamentally, TOK asks the question, how do we know what we know?

At Hanova we adopt a unique approach to our TOK programme. During the course of two years, our students have dedicated timetabled TOK sessions each week, led by different members of our TOK Team. This group of eight teachers provide sessions and workshops based upon their professional interest and expertise in Ways of Knowing (WOK) and Areas of Knowledge (AOK).

Ways of Knowing (WOK) includes; sense perception, reason, emotion, imagination and language. Areas of Knowledge (AOK) include; Arts, Natural Sciences, Human Sciences, Ethics, Religious Knowledge Systems and History.

Assessment in TOK takes the form of an individual 10 minute oral TOK Presentation and a TOK Essay of 1600 words based upon one of six prescribed titles.

Creativity Activity Service (CAS)

It is now an established concept that one of the best ways of learning something is by experiencing it. CAS is all about experiential learning and is yet another great example of how a Diploma student can shape their own programme to suit their individual needs and ambitions.

Participation in the school’s CAS programme encourages students to be involved in a range if activities alongside their academic studies. Creativity Activity Service (CAS) encourages students to be involved in activities as individuals and as part of a team that take place in local, national and international contexts. CAS enables students to enhance their personal and interpersonal development as well as their social and civic development, through experimental learning, lending an important counterbalance to the academic pressures of the rest of the IB DP.

Although individual students are encouraged to create their own individual CAS programmes, Hanova does provide a database of a range of activities the students can undertake. Students are encouraged to create a balanced CAS programme of ‘actitivites’ or CAS ‘experiences’, including at least one CAS Project per year.

Students have to keep a CAS journal on Managebac, writing reflections or up-loading evidence that show they have met the seven CAS Learning Outcomes, which are:

• Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth
• Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process
• Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience
• Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences
• Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working
• Collaboratively
• Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance
• Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions

In order to be awarded an IB Diploma, students must successfully complete an pass in Extended Essay, TOK and CAS. Up to three ‘bonus’ points are available from the combination of EE and TOK, as seen below:

There are two basic types of assessment used during the IB Diploma programme; formative assessment and summative assessment. As defined in ‘Guidelines for Developing a school Assessment in the Diploma Programme’ (2010).

• formative assessment represents the process of gathering, analysing, interpreting and using the evidence to improve student learning and to help students to achieve their potential
• summative assessment is concerned with measuring student performance against Diploma Programme assessment criteria to judge levels of ”
• Therefore formative assessment and feedback is critical to the success in summative

Students undertaking the full IB Diploma or the Hanova Diploma will be assessed in every subject and core component by fixed assessment criteria. By the end of the two-year Diploma Programme, students will have been assessed both internally and externally in ways that measure individual performance against stated objectives for each subject.

During the course of the Diploma Programme, students will be assessed in a variety of ways, including written assignments, essays, projects, oral presentations and commentaries. Many of these are assessed in the school and are called Internal Assessment (IA) or eCoursework.

From the end of April to mid- May every year, all IB Diploma and Hanova Diploma students will undertake their final written examinations in their subjects. These examinations are marked by examiners outside the school and are therefore called External Assessment (EA).

The weighting of marks between Internal Assessment and External Assessment varies between the subjects. However, it is typical that a subject will have Internal Assessment components that count for at least 20% of total marks available. Internal Assessment is very important and, if done well, certainly has a positive influence upon final subject grades. However, at Hanova we have strict regulations governing all the Internal Assessments.

Internal Assessment (IA)

Year after year, there is an evident connection between what students achieve in their subject IAs and what they go on to achieve in that subject overall. It seems to be that students can under-estimate the true value and opportunity afforded by the IA components and under-achieve in these when compared to their final written examination components.

In order to ensure that this examination component is undertaken in a clear, consistent and ethical manner, the school implements several measures. (Details of these are included in the Hanova Diploma Assessment and Reporting Policy, which can be accessed by this password-protected web link.

External Assessment

In April/May of the second year of the IB DP, students will undertake IB Diploma examinations based on two years of curriculum coverage.
Due to the degree of objectivity and reliability provided by the standard examination environment, externally marked examinations form the greatest share of assessment for each subject.

The grading system is criterion based (results are determined by performance against set standards, not by each student’s position in the overall rank order); validity, reliability, and fairness are the watchwords of the DP’s assessment rubric and philosophy.

DP students follow six courses: three at Higher Level and three at Standard Level. The points awarded for each course range from 1 (lowest) to 7 (highest). Students can also be awarded up to three additional points for their combined results on the Extended Essay and Theory of Knowledge. The highest total score for the IB Diploma that may be awarded is 45 points.

An overview of Internal Assessment and External Assessment in each IB Diploma subject offered at Hanova can be accessed by this password-protected web link.

The reporting sessions are clearly indicated on the Diploma Programme Calendar. The reporting procedure is also indicated. All reports are written through the ManageBac database before the appropriate deadlines set out in the calendar.

There are two basic types of IB Diploma Reports generated by ManageBac. The first is an ‘interim’ report that records subject grades, estimated ‘indicator’ TOK and Extended Essay grades, CAS progress and attendance. There will be a written student summary comment from the CAS Advisor/homeroom tutor and the IB Diploma Coordinator.

The second type of report is a ‘full’ report that has, in addition to all the aspects of the ‘interim’ report, written comments by the subject teachers and Core Component Coordinators, University and Careers Counsellor (UCC) and DP Coordinator.

Over the course of a two-year Diploma programme, there are six reporting sessions:

Year 12

• Year 12 IB1/1 (End of October): An Interim Report with grades from each subject teacher and indicator grades from the CAS Adviser, the TOK Coordinator and an indicator for attendance. There may be individual parent-teacher interactions to discuss students of concern for appropriate course of action.
• Year 12 IB1/2 (Mid-March): an Interim Report with grades from each subject teacher, the CAS Adviser and the TOK Coordinator. There will be an indicator for attendance and for careers counseling. There may be individual parent-teacher interactions to discuss students of concern for appropriate course of action.
• Year 12 IB1/3 (Mid-June): a Full Report with attainment grades and comments from each subject teacher, the CAS Adviser, the Extended Essay Supervisor, and the TOK Coordinator. There will be an indicator for attendance and for careers counselling. There will be a subsequent Parent Consultation (PC) to discuss the progress of the student.

Year 13

• Year 13 IB2/4 (End of October): an Interim Report with grades from each subject teacher and indicator grades from the CAS Adviser, the Extended Essay Supervisor, the TOK Coordinator and indicators for attendance and careers counselling. There may be individual parent-teacher interactions to discuss students of concern for appropriate course of action.
• Year 13 IB2/5 (Mid-January): a Full Report that focuses on Internal Assessment (IA) completed to date. There will be attainment grades and comments from each subject teacher, the CAS Adviser, the Extended Essay Supervisor, and the TOK teacher. There will be an indicator for attendance. There may be individual parent-teacher interactions to discuss students of concern for appropriate course of action.
• Year 13 IB2/6 (End of March): a Full Report with attainment grades and comments from each subject teacher and the CAS Advisor. There will be an indicator for attendance. This report will provide feedback from the Diploma ‘Mock’ Examinations and indicate areas for improvement before the May examination session. There will be a subsequent Parent-Teacher Meeting (PTM) to discuss the progress of the student.
• IBDP Examinations (May): IB DP results available to students on the internet on the 6th of July for May and 3rd of January for November.

The maximum score possible for students pursuing the IB DP is 45 points; representing up to 7 points in each of the six required courses (42 points) plus 3 possible bonus points for Theory of Knowledge and the Extended Essay components. An IB DP candidate must reach at least a total of 24 points, or an average grade of four in each of their class. To a certain extent, a high grade in one subject can balance a poor grade in another (e.g. a 5 in English can offset a 3 in mathematics).

• “The minimum threshold for completing the programme is 24 points, below which the diploma is not awarded.”
• “Students must also complete the “core”, which is made up of creativity, activity, service (CAS), theory of knowledge (TOK) and extended essay (EE).”
• CAS requirements have been met.
• There is no “N” awarded for TOK, the EE or for a contributing subject.
• There is no grade E awarded for TOK and/or the EE.
• There is no grade 1 awarded in a subject/level.
• There are no more than two grade 2s awarded (HL or SL).
• There are no more than three grade 3s or below awarded (HL or SL).
• The candidate has gained 12 points or more on HL subjects (for candidates who register for four HL subjects, the three highest grades count).
• The candidate has gained 9 points or more on SL subjects (candidates who register for two SL subjects must gain at least 5 points at SL).
• The candidate has not received a penalty for academic misconduct from the Final Award Committee.

In addition to the official IB Diploma Predicted Grades (PG), Hanova periodically collates students’ subject and Core Component estimated grades and uses these as basis of school-based predicted grades. These are used primarily for students’ university and college applications.

Predicted grades – official IB and school-based – are based upon several factors, depending upon the time of year they are collated. These are should be optimistic but realistic.

Some of these factors are:

• Current actual achievement of students’ summative assessments, particularly end of year and ‘mock’
• All completed and on-going Internal Assessment (IA)
• Current status of ongoing formative assessment
• Current status of curriculum coverage
• Candidate’s aptitude, work ethic, study skills and ability
• Achievement trends to date
• Teacher evaluation of the student’s future performance in the various assessment components
• Any learning disabilities

School-based predicted grades are updated and collated three times over the course of the Diploma Programme according to early and regular university applications. However, subject to the authorization of the IB Diploma Coordinator, an individual student’s predicted grade may be changed if there is a significant improvement or decline in performance. Only the subject teacher concerned may make this request.

School-based predicted grades are kept confidential by the IB Diploma Coordinator, the University and Careers Counsellor (UCC) and IB Administrator. Upon written request from parents, the University and Careers Counsellor will send the predicted grades directly to the university concerned provided that they have been given the appropriate contact information. Predicted grades should closely align with actual grades when they are released.