What should an IB teacher do in the first week of DP1?

Use the first week to teach essential routines, introduce the course structure, and gather low-stakes evidence about students' starting points. Give students a concise course map rather than explaining every assessment detail they will encounter over two years. Demonstrate where resources are stored, how work is submitted, how absences are handled, and how students should request support. Include a short diagnostic that samples prerequisite knowledge, reasoning, and subject-specific communication without assigning a consequential grade. Introduce academic integrity and one or two high-frequency command terms through practical examples. By the end of the week, students should understand how to participate successfully in the class, even though they will not yet understand every DP requirement.

Should a DP1 baseline test count toward the term grade?

A DP1 baseline test will usually be more useful as formative evidence than as a major graded assessment. Students may be unfamiliar with IB question formats, command terms, and subject expectations, so an early score can measure prior opportunity as much as current potential. If school policy requires a recorded grade, explain the purpose and weighting in advance and avoid testing content students have not been expected to learn. Combine the result with writing samples, discussions, observations, and student background information before making decisions. Give students a specific correction task and an opportunity to demonstrate improvement. The baseline should guide teaching and support, not establish a fixed judgement about a student's likely final grade.

How much of the IB assessment model should DP1 students learn immediately?

Students need an accurate overview at the start, but they do not need every procedural detail in the first lesson. Explain the major assessment components, broad weightings, and distinction between internal and external assessment using the current subject guide. Then teach criteria, command terms, markschemes, and task conventions when students can apply them to authentic course content. Revisit the assessment map at planned points during the term because understanding improves once students have completed real examples. Avoid describing every classroom task as an IA, since ordinary formative practice and official internal assessment are not the same. By November, students should understand how their regular learning is preparing them for the assessed skills of the course.

When should teachers introduce internal assessment in DP1?

Introduce the existence, purpose, and broad structure of internal assessment early, but schedule formal work according to the current subject guide and the school's agreed calendar. Students should understand from the beginning that the IA is authenticated assessment completed under specified conditions. They do not necessarily need to select a final topic or produce assessed sections during the first term. First teach the research, practical, analytical, or communication skills that the component requires through smaller tasks. Early exposure to criteria and anonymized examples can help, provided students are not encouraged to imitate a model mechanically. Coordinate timing with the DP coordinator so several subjects do not create major coursework demands simultaneously.

How can an IB teacher support students who struggle during the first term?

Begin by identifying the specific barrier rather than responding only to the student's average mark. Examine whether the difficulty concerns prerequisite knowledge, language, task interpretation, organization, attendance, confidence, timing, or an unmet access need. Choose one targeted intervention, such as a prerequisite mini-lesson, scaffolded question, vocabulary support, planning template, or supervised practice session. Set a short review point and reassess the same skill using a different task. Document patterns and communicate with the DP coordinator, learning support staff, and family according to school procedures when broader support is needed. Maintain appropriate expectations, since inclusive support removes barriers rather than reducing the intended learning outcome.

How often should DP1 teachers use exam-style questions in the first term?

Use short exam-style questions regularly, but do not make full papers the centre of the first term. A weekly question or timed paragraph can introduce command terms, response structure, mark allocation, and the experience of applying knowledge independently. Keep each task aligned with content students have studied and identify the specific skill being practised. Afterward, model the marking process and require a correction, reattempt, or transfer question. Full timed papers are usually premature when students have covered only a small part of the course, although a limited section can provide useful evidence by November. The aim is to normalize assessment literacy gradually, not to create continuous examination pressure.

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How to Set Up a New DP1 Class Successfully

IB Teachers Seasonal Planning IB Study Guides

RevisionDojo Team

•Last updated: 24 Sept 2026•11 min read

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How to Set Up a New DP1 Class Successfully

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How to Set Up a New DP1 Class Successfully

IB Teachers Seasonal Planning IB Study Guides

RevisionDojo Team

•Last updated: 24 Sept 2026•11 min read

Add as a preferred source on Google

Starting a new Diploma Programme class successfully requires more than distributing a syllabus and beginning the first unit. To set up a new DP1 class well, establish clear systems for learning, assessment, academic integrity, feedback, and workload during September. Use October and November to turn those systems into dependable habits.

The first term should provide credible evidence of students' starting points without making every task high stakes. It should also help students understand that the DP combines six subjects with the core, rather than treating each class as an isolated course.

Before the first lesson: confirm the framework

Begin with the current subject guide, course level, examination session, and official assessment model. Do not rely on an inherited calendar until you have checked that its topics, components, weightings, and prescribed material remain current.

The official DP curriculum overview explains that the programme combines six subject groups with the DP core. Teachers should therefore plan with concurrency of learning in mind because TOK, the extended essay, CAS, and six subjects create one combined workload.

Before September, confirm:

The correct syllabus version, level, and first assessment year
Required content, prescribed texts, practical work, or portfolios
Internal and external assessment components
Department deadlines and the whole-school DP calendar
Policies for assessment, inclusion, technology, and academic integrity
Approved access arrangements and relevant learning information
Required texts, software, equipment, and platform permissions

Separate official requirements from local decisions. The subject guide establishes course requirements, while unit order, quiz frequency, classroom routines, and many interim deadlines are normally school or department choices.

September: establish clear routines

Students need to understand how the class operates before they can manage its intellectual demands. Teach routines explicitly instead of assuming experienced secondary students will infer them.

Clarify where materials are stored, how work is submitted, what happens after an absence, when feedback is returned, and how students request help. Keep the number of platforms and folders small.

A useful first-week checklist includes:

A one-page course map with major units and assessment components
A shared calendar containing confirmed deadlines
Consistent file-naming and submission conventions
Procedures for late, incomplete, and missed work
A clear distinction between formative and summative assessment
Weekly independent study expressed as specific tasks

If your school uses RevisionDojo, apply a stable class name containing the subject, level, cohort, and examination session. The RevisionDojo teacher tools guide explains the available classroom, homework, testing, and gradebook functions.

Diagnose readiness without overtesting

A baseline should reveal what students can currently do, not punish them for content they have not studied. Use several short evidence sources because one test can confuse missing knowledge with anxiety, unfamiliar question formats, or language demands.

Evidence	What it reveals	Appropriate response
Prior-knowledge task	Retained concepts and procedures	Reteach essential prerequisites
Unfamiliar problem	Reasoning and transfer	Model an expert approach
Written explanation	Vocabulary, structure, and precision	Teach subject communication
Student questionnaire	Background, confidence, and concerns	Adjust support and examples
Learning conversation	Misconceptions hidden by scores	Give an individual next step

Do not use the baseline as the first major grade unless school policy requires it and students were prepared for that purpose. Formative assessment should inform teaching by identifying strengths and weaknesses.

By late September, identify class-wide gaps, individual support needs, and students requiring greater challenge. A short Questionbank set can help, but the teacher must verify syllabus alignment, accessibility, and difficulty. The guide to RevisionDojo for IB teachers outlines a baseline, practice, feedback, and retesting cycle.

Teach IB assessment and academic integrity

DP1 students often assume success depends only on learning more content. Content matters, but IB assessment also measures application, analysis, argument, evaluation, problem-solving, and communication in subject-specific forms.

Introduce criteria through real work. Show students a prompt, identify the required evidence, examine an anonymized response, and apply the relevant markscheme or rubric. This is more effective than presenting every assessment detail during the first lesson.

Teach command terms as instructions about the type and depth of thinking required. A short routine can ask students to identify the term, define its intellectual action, plan an answer, complete a response, and explain where they fulfilled the instruction. The RevisionDojo command-term playbook provides practical classroom routines.

Academic integrity must also be taught rather than reduced to a warning about plagiarism. The IB academic integrity policy presents it as a culture of ethical academic practice.

Students should practise distinguishing quotation, paraphrase, and original analysis; recording source details; citing ideas and data; separating collaboration from collusion; and preserving drafts. Any generative AI use must follow current school and IB guidance, including applicable acknowledgment requirements.

Build skills into the learning cycle

The five approaches to learning categories are thinking, communication, social, self-management, and research skills. These are teachable skills, not personality traits. Select one or two that the first unit genuinely requires, model them, provide practice, and give focused feedback.

The official overview of approaches to teaching and learning also emphasizes inquiry, conceptual understanding, collaboration, differentiation, and assessment-informed teaching. Teachers do not need to display every principle in every lesson.

By October, establish a repeated cycle: learn, retrieve, apply, receive feedback, correct, and revisit. After teaching a concept, use short retrieval before students consult notes, followed by an unfamiliar application question. Ask students to classify errors as knowledge, method, interpretation, command term, communication, or timing problems.

The RevisionDojo DP1 study guide explains how Study Notes, Flashcards, the Questionbank, and Jojo AI can support this cycle. Require correction rather than passive receipt of marks through a rewritten paragraph, repeated calculation, or transfer question.

November: review evidence and intervene

In November, assess whether classroom routines are improving independent performance. Review completion patterns, assessed skills, recurring misconceptions, use of feedback, timed performance, and student reflections rather than relying on one average.

For a struggling student, define one observable problem, agree on one action, and set a reassessment date. Replace vague targets such as “work harder” with targets such as “include a justified conclusion in the next two evaluation responses.”

Class analytics can reveal shared weaknesses, but teachers must interpret them. The RevisionDojo teacher analytics guide explains how assignment and topic data can support reteaching. A low result might reflect missing knowledge, language barriers, poor timing, misunderstanding, or limited effort, each requiring a different response.

Coordinate major tests and assignments through the shared DP calendar. The DP core overview reminds teachers that TOK, CAS, and the extended essay develop alongside subjects.

Practical September-November plan

Period	Main priority	Evidence of success
Weeks 1-2	Routines, policies, and diagnosis	Students understand and complete the workflow
Weeks 3-4	Prerequisites and assessment language	Students interpret prompts and apply feedback
October	Retrieval, application, and correction	Recurring errors become identifiable
Early November	Independent and limited timed work	Students transfer learning to unfamiliar tasks
Late November	Review and intervention	Each student has an evidence-based priority

Conclusion

To set up a new DP1 class successfully, confirm current requirements, establish simple routines, diagnose readiness, teach assessment language and academic integrity, and intervene before weak habits become established. RevisionDojo can support this structure through Study Notes, Flashcards, Jojo AI, the Questionbank, assignments, and analytics. Begin with a short diagnostic, then use targeted practice and November progress reviews to guide the next term.

Sources and referenced URLs

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