When an IB teacher leaves mid-year, the coordinator's immediate task is to preserve safe supervision, syllabus continuity, valid assessment, and student confidence. The response should combine short-term stabilization with a documented DP staffing contingency plan that identifies what students have learned, what remains outstanding, and who is accountable.
What the IB officially requires
A teacher's departure does not remove the school's responsibility for delivering the registered course. The IB's Rules for IB World Schools: Diploma Programme makes schools responsible for DP teaching, candidate support, internal assessment, and predicted grades.
The IB's Programme standards and practices expects schools to provide appropriate staffing, support professional learning, enable collaborative planning, and maintain programme continuity. These are institutional responsibilities, not tasks that can be transferred informally to students or families.
The IB does not set a universal deadline for appointing a replacement. Recruitment, qualifications, safeguarding clearance, and supervision are also governed by local law and school policy. Coordinators must apply IB requirements alongside those obligations.
The five-stage contingency framework
1. Stabilize the class within 24-48 hours
First, establish who is responsible for every scheduled lesson. A general substitute may supervise temporarily, but supervision is not equivalent to subject teaching, especially in laboratory sciences, visual arts, performance subjects, and courses involving fieldwork.
Give students a written one-week plan containing:
- the adult responsible for lessons and questions
- topics and tasks to complete
- confirmed or provisional deadlines
- arrangements for practical work and coursework
- the date of the next update
Communicate enough to reduce uncertainty without discussing confidential employment matters. Immediately secure school-owned course materials, assessment records, accommodations information, IA tracking, and feedback records. Staff must not access a former employee's personal accounts or move personal data outside approved systems.
2. Conduct a course and assessment audit
Within three school days, build an evidence-based picture of the course. Do not rely only on the scheme of work, because the planned sequence may differ from what students actually learned.
| Audit area | Evidence to collect | Required decision |
|---|---|---|
| Syllabus coverage | Plans, class materials, student books | Taught, introduced, or not taught |
| Assessment | Tests, rubrics, feedback, gradebook | Reliable or requiring new evidence |
| Coursework | Drafts, supervision logs, prior feedback | Next permitted checkpoint |
| Practical work | Records, portfolios, performances | Complete or requiring recovery |
| Exam readiness | Paper practice and timing data | Priority skills for intervention |
| Student support | Accommodations and pastoral records | Adjustments and responsible staff |
Classify content as green, amber, or red. Green content has been taught and assessed, amber content has been introduced but not securely assessed, and red content has not been taught. This prevents the replacement from repeating familiar material while overlooking hidden gaps.
Prioritize DP2 because external deadlines and examinations are closer. DP1 may provide more recovery time, but foundational gaps should not simply be deferred into the second year.
3. Appoint one accountable subject lead
Several teachers may contribute, but one suitably qualified person should become the accountable subject lead for curriculum sequence, assessment, coursework oversight, and reporting.
Use this order when considering staffing:
- An experienced teacher of the same IB subject and level.
- A subject specialist with comparable experience and an IB-experienced mentor.
- A vetted external teacher or tutor working under school oversight.
- An IB-approved online course arrangement, where appropriate and properly confirmed.
A teacher from a related discipline may support selected topics, but should not automatically make specialist decisions about IA criteria, oral assessment, practical work, or predicted grades. Provide the incoming teacher with a concise induction pack containing the current subject guide, course map, assessment calendar, class profile, accommodations, completed assessments, coursework status, and escalation procedures.
Protect internal assessment and predicted grades
Internal assessment is often the highest-risk area after a staffing change. The IB explains that teacher-assessed work is moderated to evaluate how accurately and consistently schools apply assessment criteria, as outlined in its assessment guide for teachers and coordinators.
The replacement should review the current subject guide and session-specific assessment procedures before providing feedback or awarding marks. They must identify feedback already given because a staffing change does not reset restrictions on assistance. Students should not receive an additional drafting cycle merely because the teacher changed.
Predicted grades require sufficient evidence and knowledge of IB standards. If records are weak, use a common assessment rather than asking the replacement to estimate grades from impressions. Where possible, another IB-experienced teacher should moderate high-stakes judgements.
A resignation is not automatically an IB adverse circumstance. If the disruption may prevent candidates from meeting requirements, the coordinator should consult current procedures and contact the IB through the school's authorized channel.
Build a realistic recovery timetable
Produce a six-week recovery map based on the audit. Prioritize assessed content, prerequisite concepts, compulsory practical or oral work, and examination skills. Enrichment may be reduced temporarily, but required content and assessment objectives cannot be omitted.
Use a simple monitoring cycle:
- Monday: confirm learning objectives and required evidence
- Midweek: review attendance, completion, and misconceptions
- Friday: update coverage and coursework trackers
- Every two weeks: run a short diagnostic and review staffing sustainability
Do not compensate for lost teaching by overloading students with homework. Recovery should come from sharper sequencing, protected instructional time, targeted support, and removal of duplicated tasks.
The RevisionDojo Questionbank can support baseline assessment, while RevisionDojo for IB coordinators explains how analytics can help identify and retest weaknesses. Study Notes and Jojo AI can clarify content between lessons, but a qualified teacher must verify syllabus alignment and make formal assessment decisions.
Communicate without creating unnecessary alarm
Send one coordinated message from school leadership and the DP coordinator. State that coverage is in place, clarify deadlines, identify the contact person, and give a date for the next update.
Meet the affected class directly, especially if examinations are approaching. Explain the recovery plan and provide a private route for academic or wellbeing concerns. Keep a decision log covering staffing, syllabus findings, assessment changes, communications, risks, and review dates.
Prevent another staffing crisis
Each subject should maintain a school-owned continuity folder containing the course map, current guide, assessment calendar, IA milestones, resource locations, and a brief progress record. Departments should also establish cross-coverage and moderation relationships.
The RevisionDojo guide for IB teachers and departments supports shared assessment routines, while its guidance on IA feedback and moderation can help structure criterion-based review. Platform-generated feedback remains advisory and must be checked against current IB criteria and feedback rules.
Review the contingency plan annually, including emergency cover, external contacts, record ownership, safeguarding checks, replacement induction, IA moderation, predicted-grade responsibility, and communication templates.
Conclusion
When an IB teacher leaves mid-year, effective coordination depends on rapid stabilization, a reliable course audit, one accountable subject lead, protected assessment integrity, and regular review. RevisionDojo tools such as Study Notes, Questionbank diagnostics, analytics, and Jojo AI can support continuity, but they should complement qualified teaching and official IB guidance.
