Course Planning
Planning a meaningful IB DP Visual Arts course means balancing skill-building, inquiry, and assessment.
The Art-Ed Hub framework offers a single, clear structure: a 13-stage roadmap that guides students through two years of creative growth, reflection, and curation. It is designed to support teachers working in any school structure — from semesters to trimesters — and provides a coherent learning journey for both SL and HL students.
Why This Structure Works
This structure is built on key principles:
✓ Skill development through inquiry from the very start
✓ A gradual shift from guided exploration to student autonomy
✓ Integration of assessment objectives in a meaningful, non-restrictive way
✓ Clear pacing for the CS, AP, AIP, and RA/SRA
✓ A final emphasis on curation, reflection, and celebration
Rather than offering multiple plans, this single 13-stage roadmap is flexible enough to adapt across schools, and strong enough to offer consistent, high-quality guidance.
Explore the Full 13-Stage Course Plan
Looking for a clear structure to guide your teaching across two years?
The 13-Stage Course Plan offers a flexible, inquiry-driven framework aligned with the 2027 IB Guide. It supports both SL and HL students through skill-building, independent inquiry, assessment preparation, and curation, all without losing sight of creativity and process.
Available exclusively to members as a downloadable poster and planning guide.
Adaptable Across All School Structures
This 13-stage structure works whether you’re teaching in:
- Two-semester schools
- Three-term systems
- Trimester or rolling calendars
You can combine stages, stretch them over longer timeframes, or condense them based on your school year. Each stage includes space for risk-taking, writing, reflection, and refinement.
Shared tasks and projects support SL and HL students side by side, whilst maintaining space for deeper exploration where needed.
Assessment Objectives Across the Tasks
This map shows how the seven assessment objectives align with the five assessment tasks. It’s a useful reference but also highlights a common challenge.
The guide advises against teaching to the task, yet each task has its own rubric and criteria.
At Art-Ed Hub, we acknowledge this complexity and tension. Our 13-Stage Plan offers a way through: centring authentic, process-led learning that naturally integrates assessment without letting it drive the creative journey.
Let the map inform your planning, but not limit it.
Resources to Support You
You don’t need to figure this out alone. Art-Ed Hub provides the tools and structure to help you feel confident in your planning and in your students’ learning journeys.
You’ll find:
- A downloadable 13-Stage Course Poster to guide your year
- Direct links to the Art Practice Hub, where you’ll find ready-to-use Inquiry Threads and projects
- A library of samples and assessment commentaries for the AIP, CS, AP, RA, and SRA
- Ongoing reflections and practical insights shared on the Art-Ed Hub blog
Keep an eye on the Art-Ed Hub Blog for evolving insights, tips, and reflections as the course unfolds.
Feel supported at every stage of the new IB Visual Arts course.
These cards are shaped by lived experience and offer calm, practical guidance on everything from structuring the AIP to writing with clarity and intention. They’re here to make the complex feel clear, and to help you focus on what really matters.
Two-Year Mentorship Membership
Our Mentorship Membership is a premium guided experience that supports teachers through each of the 13 stages with clarity and depth.
You’ll receive:
- Monthly recorded walkthroughs (60 minutes each)
- Reflective prompts and component-specific advice
- Optional live sessions (every two weeks) for discussion and Q&A
- Lifetime access to all recordings once released
This membership is perfect for new teachers, solo departments, or those seeking a clearer path through the new course.
Explore more of the IB Hub
Join Art-Ed Hub
Where authenticity sparks growth
Art-Ed Hub is a space for creative transformation, where curiosity is protected, authenticity is encouraged, and growth becomes possible.
Whether you’re an educator, artist, or seeker, you’ll find tools, insights, and frameworks that support creative confidence and meaningful exploration.
Here, creativity is not just a skill. It’s a way of becoming.
