The Group 3 (Individuals and Societies) subject of Global Politics that educates students on “dimensions of political activity, as well as allowing them the opportunity to explore political issues affecting their own lives’’ (IBO, 2023) is undergoing some dynamic changes.
The new syllabus will launch in February 2024, for first teaching in August 2024 and first assessment in May 2026 (IBO, 2023). This will take the place of the current Global Politics syllabus which began in 2017, with final assessment in November 2025. In this article, I will be running through the biggest shifts, and how this could affect the teaching of the subject.
Assessment:
The major change in the course is the removal of one of the HL assessments, and thus the subsequent time and weighting of the other course assessment changes in response.
The 2017-2025 course includes 3 assessments for SL (and 4 for HL): Paper 1, Paper 2, Political Engagement Activity (and HLX Orals for HL).
- Paper 1 is a 75 minute paper that tests analysis skills through 4 questions of varying marks (3, 4, 8 and 10), with 4 sources to reference.
- Paper 2 is an essay-based exam where 8 questions are given to HL and SL students, with SL completing 2 questions in 1hr 45mins and HL answering 3 in 2hr 45mins.
- The Political Engagement Activity (PEA) is the 2000 word Internal Assessment that allows students to explore a political issue of their choice within their community.
- HLX Orals are 2 videoed oral presentations on political topics of the students’ own choice,
The new course however is replacing one of the HL assessments. While SL students still complete the same unchanged assessments (Paper 1, Paper 2 and Political Engagement Activity), HLX orals have been removed and HL students will instead have to complete Paper 3.
The Paper 3 will be “a stimulus-based paper linked to the HL extension inquiries around global political challenges” (IBO). In this assessment, “Students will be able to use knowledge and evidence gathered from their own researched case studies to respond to the questions” (IBO). A sample question is: “With reference to two cases, evaluate the effectiveness of international governmental organizations for addressing global political challenges” (IBO).
While HLX orals allowed students the opportunity to decide what case studies they wanted to research and present within a time-constrained oral, Paper 3 introduces a transformative shift. Just as students previously had the autonomy to select their own case studies in HLX orals, this freedom persists in the new Paper 3 format. However, a pivotal change lies in the depth and duration of research. As a Global Politics student, I vividly recall the painstaking hours devoted to researching, analyzing, and crafting arguments for case studies, only to condense them into a mere 10-minute presentation. Paper 3 liberates students from this temporal constraint, allowing for a more extensive exploration of chosen topics through the essay. This not only enhances the learning experience but also empowers students to delve deeper into critical analyses, preserving the richness of their insights that might have been sacrificed under the previous time constraints.
| Assessment | Course | Level | Time (hours) | Weighting |
Paper 1 | Current Course (2017-2025) and New Course (2026-) | HL | 1.25 | 20% |
| SL | 1.25 | 30% | ||
Paper 2 | Current Course (2017-2025) | HL | 2.75 | 40% |
| SL | 1.75 | 45% | ||
| New Course (2026-) | HL | 1.5 | 30% | |
| SL | 1.5 | 40% | ||
PEA | Current Course (2017-2025) | HL | 20 in-class | 20% |
| SL | 20 in-class | 25% | ||
| New Course (2026-) | HL | 30 in-class | 20% | |
| SL | 25 in-class | 30% | ||
HL Assessment | Current Course (2017-2025) | HLX Orals | 90 in-class | 20% |
| New Course (2026-) | HL Paper 3 | 1.5 | 30% |
As the new Global Politics curriculum unfolds, the familiar thread of independence runs through the changes. The ability to tailor their studies to personal interests and global issues empowers students to delve into topics that resonate with them. Despite the shift in assessment structures, the spirit of autonomy remains, ensuring that students continue to shape their academic journey and engage with global issues that matter most to them.
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