Using Digital Tools
Digital tools are now essential in how students plan, refine, and present their work. From layout design in the AIP to final slide sequencing in the AP and CS, digital fluency directly shapes how meaning is communicated.
Understanding the Assessment Objectives
The syllabus introduces seven assessment objectives that are used across all components at both SL and HL. These objectives are embedded flexibly and iteratively in the creative process. They are designed to support meaningful learning rather than simply serve as assessment tools, guiding how students make, reflect on, and present their work through inquiry- based, student-centred practice.
Understanding ‘Situate’
To situate an artwork is to place it in meaningful relationship with context. But this assessment objective goes deeper than thinking about where something is physically exhibited. In the IB Visual Arts course, to situate means to reflect on and articulate how artworks are informed by, connected to, and received within broader cultural, historical, conceptual, and social contexts.
Teaching SL + HL Together
Teaching a mixed SL and HL Visual Arts class means building a unified studio culture where all students gain essential skills and confidence, whilst HL students are supported to explore greater depth over time.
Structuring the CS – SL Only
The Connections Study (CS) is an SL-only task where students investigate and reflect on the connections between one of their resolved artworks and at least two artworks by different artists. The study must demonstrate critical analysis of artist, artwork, audience, and context, informed by both practical exploration and research. Students must also examine the cultural significance of the selected artworks across time and place.
Structuring the AP
The Artist Project (AP) is an independent, self-directed project that demonstrates artistic identity, conceptual depth, and research-based inquiry. Ideally undertaken in Year 2, it can be positioned earlier to encourage sustained exploration or later as a final artistic statement.
Structuring the AIP
The Art-Making Inquiries Portfolio (AIP) is a curated record of a student’s artistic exploration, documenting investigations, discoveries, and critical reflections. It presents a non-linear, inquiry-driven process, showing how students experiment, refine ideas, and develop a personal visual language.
Curatorial Practice
Curation is not about display; it is a way of thinking. In the IB Visual Arts course, students curate every time they select, organise, and present visual and written material to communicate meaning.
Choosing Between SL + HL
Choosing between Standard Level (SL) and Higher Level (HL) in IB Visual Arts is a significant decision that impacts students’ workload, depth of inquiry, and expectations across the components. Whilst both levels are assessed using the same Assessment Objectives, HL students are expected to demonstrate broader artistic exploration, deeper conceptual inquiry, and curatorial justification.
