Going from MYP 5 to DP1 raises a practical question: what should you do differently when you sit down to study?
Keep the habits that help you investigate, organise information and explain your reasoning. But learn exactly how your work is assessed in your new subjects. Before adding more revision hours, understand what earns credit, what each question demands and which deadlines need attention.
The most useful question for your first term is not “Am I getting the same numbers as MYP?” It is “What does this subject require me to show, and am I practising that?”
From Criterion Levels to Marks: What Actually Changes
In internal MYP assessment, teachers judge your work against subject criteria using a best fit approach. An achievement level describes how closely your work matches the relevant descriptors. It is not simply the proportion of questions you answered correctly. The IB explains this approach in its assessment principles and practices.
MYP Mathematics, for instance, has four equally weighted criteria, A to D, each with a maximum achievement level of 8. For MYP 5 mathematics, the relevant rubric is the Year 5 rubric, not the Year 3 version. A criterion level of 6 is therefore not another way of writing 75%.
There is an important exception to the shorthand “MYP uses levels, DP uses marks”: MYP eAssessment already carries marks. Its onscreen examinations are externally marked, and the mathematics examination assigns marks to tasks. That is different from a teacher making an internal criterion level judgment. Students who take these examinations do not encounter marked external exams for the first time in DP. The IB’s MYP assessment and exams overview explains this distinction.
In DP, marks from assessment components are combined according to the subject’s weightings. Grade boundaries then determine the final subject grade from 1 to 7. An individual test percentage is not, by itself, a universal DP grade conversion. The IB’s guide for students and parents distinguishes marks awarded for work from the grades that communicate achievement.
However, DP does not abandon criteria. Depending on the task, marks are awarded through detailed markschemes, assessment criteria or markbands. Essays and coursework may still involve best fit judgments. You therefore need to understand both the quality of response expected and how marks are awarded, as outlined in the IB’s assessment principles.
Your first practical step is to ask each teacher to explain the assessment components, their weightings and how classroom results will be reported. Do not assume an online grade boundary applies to your next classroom test.
Criteria A to D Do Not Become AO1 to AO4
Do not look for a direct translation between an MYP criterion letter and a DP assessment objective.
The objectives belong to the subject. In the DP Biology subject brief, AO1 concerns knowledge, AO2 understanding and application, AO3 analysing, evaluating and synthesising information, and AO4 the skills needed to conduct investigations. This is not simply MYP Criteria A, B, C and D with new labels.
An assessment objective identifies what you need to demonstrate. The marking guidance explains how a particular response receives credit. Read both rather than treating a syllabus topic list as the complete preparation guide.
Keep using the reasoning you developed in MYP. In mathematics, Criterion B already asks students to investigate patterns and justify general rules. Our guide to MYP Maths Criterion B explains that distinction between finding a relationship and establishing why it works.
For your DP subjects, ask: does this task need a calculation, an explanation, an interpretation of evidence or a supported judgment? Then check the relevant guidance with your teacher.
Command Terms Are Not New, but Precision Matters
Command terms already matter in MYP. They do not suddenly become important on your first day of DP. The MYP command term glossary already distinguishes between instructions such as “state”, “explain” and “evaluate”.
The useful adjustment is to read these instructions deliberately rather than recognising the topic and immediately writing everything you remember.
State calls for a brief, specific answer without an explanation.
Explain requires reasons or causes, not just an account of what happens.
Evaluate asks you to weigh strengths and limitations in reaching an appraisal.
Use the definitions in your own subject guide, together with the question’s context and mark allocation. The IB describes command terms as indicators of the type and depth of response expected in its assessment principles and practices. They are not a universal formula for how many sentences to write.
After a practice question, check two things separately: whether your content was accurate and whether you performed the requested thinking. Ask your teacher to identify which issue cost credit when the distinction is unclear.
Do not merely read the markscheme and move on. Rewrite the missing reasoning, then return to a comparable question later without looking at the answer.
Is DP Harder Than MYP?
A useful way to understand the increased demand is to look at what you must manage simultaneously.
The Diploma Programme curriculum combines six subjects with Theory of Knowledge, the Extended Essay (EE) and Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS). Students take three or four subjects at Higher Level, with the remainder at Standard Level. HL involves greater breadth and depth; the IB recommends 240 teaching hours for an HL subject and 150 for SL. Those figures describe teaching time, not a homework target.
For planning purposes, treat the challenge as a combination of subject depth, assessment demands and overlapping responsibilities. Identify which part needs attention instead of treating every difficulty as evidence that you are “bad at DP”.
Also resist converting your MYP results into predictions about your final diploma grades. In Lanterna’s MYP to DP transition guide, Kacper Makarewicz advises:
“Stop comparing your MYP and DP grades directly.”
Use your MYP feedback to identify strengths and gaps, not to calculate a future DP grade. Likewise, use an early DP1 assessment to decide what to change next rather than treating it as a verdict on the entire programme.
Before committing to a combination, discuss it with your school. Read our guides to Maths AA or AI and DP subject choices and university requirements, then check the requirements relevant to your plans.
Plan for the Core Without Rushing It
Start by putting the dates your school provides into one calendar. Include subject assessments, coursework checkpoints, core activities and commitments outside school.
Lanterna’s guide to starting the IB year recommends looking ahead for periods when deadlines collide, rather than planning each assignment in isolation.
Do not interpret early preparation as a requirement to produce an Extended Essay draft immediately. Ask your coordinator when your cohort begins topic selection, supervision and formal milestones. Until then, keep a small record of questions, readings and areas of genuine interest.
Lanterna’s DP1 workload guide suggests keeping a document for potential internal assessment (IA) and EE ideas. Use it as a collection of possibilities, not a commitment to a research question before receiving guidance.
CAS needs a different approach from a task you finish and forget. The IB describes CAS as something studied throughout the Diploma Programme, with reflection on experiences and evidence of learning outcomes. Agree on a sustainable approach with your CAS coordinator.
A Realistic First Term Plan for Starting IB DP1
The following is a suggested twelve week framework, not an IB deadline schedule. Adjust it to your school calendar, subjects and existing commitments.
Weeks 1 to 2: Understand the course before building the timetable.
Confirm your subject choices, HL or SL level, examination session and the correct syllabus with each teacher. Find out how each subject is assessed and record the dates already available.
Review your MYP feedback and ask which prerequisite skills deserve attention. Choose a manageable gap to address first. You do not need to teach yourself the entire DP course before the class begins it.
Weeks 3 to 4: Establish a repeatable practice routine.
Alongside assigned work, try two short practice sessions each week focused on your current priorities. Twenty five minutes per session is a possible starting point, not an IB requirement.
Attempt questions on material already taught before consulting answers. Record the question, the missing knowledge or reasoning, and the correction. Keep the record brief enough that you will actually revisit it.
Spend a little time each weekend checking the coming week’s commitments. Leave some free time rather than assuming every evening will go exactly to plan.
Weeks 5 to 8: Revisit earlier learning and use feedback.
Include previous topics in practice rather than working only on the newest unit. Add short timed tasks once you understand the material, using guidance from your teacher.
Bring one specific difficulty to a teacher before it becomes several. Take the attempted work and your correction so the conversation can focus on what remains unclear.
Continue agreed CAS activities and reflections. Add worthwhile questions to your research ideas document without forcing every interesting lesson into a future IA or EE.
Weeks 9 to 12: Review the system before adding more hours.
Look across your returned work. Are the same conceptual gaps, incomplete explanations or timing problems recurring? Choose the most important pattern and adjust your next week’s practice accordingly.
Check forthcoming school assessments and project milestones. Break the nearest substantial task into smaller actions with realistic dates. Protect rest and commitments outside school rather than making exhaustion part of the timetable.
By the end of the term, aim to have an accurate calendar, an understanding of each subject’s assessment and a practice routine that turns feedback into action. Start with the topic that needs attention most, using Koncepts for DP students alongside your teacher’s guidance.
