Personal Project

The Personal Project is a defining experience of the IB Middle Years Programme, designed to allow students to consolidate and apply the skills and understandings they have developed throughout the MYP. It represents a sustained, self-directed inquiry that demonstrates the student's ability to take ownership of their learning.

Students begin by selecting a topic that genuinely interests them and connecting it to one or more MYP global contexts: identities and relationships, orientation in space and time, personal and cultural expression, scientific and technical innovation, globalization and sustainability, or fairness and development. They then define a learning goal (what they want to learn about or understand) and a product goal (what they want to create or achieve as a tangible outcome).

The product can take many forms: a piece of creative writing, a scientific investigation, a business plan, a community service initiative, a website, a short film, a musical composition, or any other meaningful output. What matters is that the product is substantial, connected to the student's learning goal, and demonstrably the result of a genuine process of inquiry and development. Students maintain a process journal throughout the project, documenting their planning, research, decision-making, and reflections.

Assessment is based on four criteria: Investigating (defining the goal, identifying prior knowledge, and researching), Planning (developing criteria for the product and planning the project), Taking Action (creating the product and demonstrating thinking skills), and Reflecting (evaluating the quality of the product and the project as a whole). The Personal Project is assessed by the school and externally moderated by the IB. It is a requirement for completion of the MYP and provides excellent preparation for the extended research projects students will encounter in the IB Diploma Programme, such as the Extended Essay.