Sometimes it can feel like IB DP Visual Art is a numbers game. You might get a 7 on one component and get a 6 overall. Or get two 6s with one 7 and get a 7 overall. Basically, 7 is ‘excellence’ (in a very specific IB formulaic way). There are so many ways to be creative and to explore art.. and enjoy yourself! Please don’t get too stuck on the numbers.
The full two-year IB DP VA course is SO REWARDING and LIFE CHANGING and just a damn good time.
When I ask my students years after they are done (yes, I am still in contact with many of my AH-mazing art students.. because I love them!) they all remember our visual art classroom during DP as being a special time to experiment, create and explore. If you are in IB DP VA atm, you know what I mean. Please, enjoy this time!
The average world score in 2023 was a 4 for Visual Arts. So, if you are scoring 4s, 5s or 6s…. it’s SO good! I could talk for hours about how to get a 7 or what I have found that works best. But at the end of the day, the best way is for you to do you. You do it your way.
The reason I made this site is to help my students and flip my classroom a bit, so my students will have access to all the details and examples when they are at home in the wee hours of the night working on their submissions. They requested that if they could see some submissions that score 7 (and its not just one type of of work, there are many ways to achieve high scores), it would give them a road map and help ground their expectations, focusing their process on what they HAVE to do and what they CAN do in the time they have.
All of these exemplars have been shared with you explicitly by the students. And they are all legitimate 7 scoring components. Some are from my AH-mazing students, and some are from students who are not my IRL students, but like you, they used the advice on my site and did their best work and I am so delighted that they emailed me and shared their work with you. I am so grateful for all the students who have shared their work here with you. I hope you find it helpful.
And by helpful, I mean, helpful for you to see and get some ideas or directions and then create your own work. Not helpful by you actually copying the work and ideas already done. Keep in mind all of these exemplars have already been submitted both through their school’s process and through a turn-it-in authentication check as well as being assessed by and kept on file by IB.