Diploma Programme

Curriculum

Courses at Gyoshu are designed to strike a balance between Ministry of Education requirements and meet the needs of students aiming to enroll in domestic or overseas universities. There is a core set of courses offered regularly. Depending on the language needs of students and on particular target university entrance requirements other courses may be offered for a particular cohort if qualified teachers are available.

Group	Subjects regularly offered	Offered in special circumstances
One	Japanese A Literature HL English A Language & Literature HL	English A Literature HL Japanese A Literature SL Chinese A Literature
Two	English B HL Mandarin ab initio SL	Japanese ab initio SL
Three	History SL History HL
Four	Chemistry SL Physics SL	Chemistry HL Physics HL
Five	Mathematics HL Math Studies SL
Six	Visual Art SL	Visual Art HL
Other	TOK Physical Education

There are two levels of DP subjects: higher level (HL), amounting to 240 class hours, and standard level (SL), amounting to 150 class hours. Students are required to take at least three high level (HL) courses. Only in special circumstances can four HL subjects be taken. At Gyoshu, DP students take a balanced course load. They enroll in at least two language courses, either from Group One and Group Two or both from Group One. They also need to take a Group Three History course, Group Four Chemistry course, and a Group Five Mathematics course. In addition, students choose between Visual Arts or an elective, either Physics or Mandarin ab initio. Finally, all students are required to take TOK and Physical Education classes.
Imbedded in the curriculum of all of these subjects is development of Learner Profile attributes and Approaches to Learning skills.

The chart below summarizes the subject choices DP students make at Gyoshu.

Choice	Subject	Comments/ Requirements
1	Japanese A Literature HL	Japanese academic L1 background
	Japanese A Literature SL	Special Circumstances
	Japanese ab initio	Special Circumstances only taken by beginners to conversational Japanese
	Chinese A Literature	Special Circumstances
2	English A Language & Literature HL	Recommended Gyoshu grade of 8 or higher in 1Z English or TOEFL score above 79 and evidence of a consistent work ethic
	English B HL
	English A Literature HL	Special Circumstances
3	History HL & Math Studies SL
	Chemistry HL & History SL	Recommended Gyoshu grade of 8 or higher in 1Z Science Enrolment in Math SL (not Studies)
4	Math HL	Special Circumstances Recommended Gyoshu grade 8 or higher in 1Z Mathematics Requires attending period 8 classes
	Math SL	Suggested for science and economics students
5	Math Studies SL
	Visual Art SL
	Visual Art HL	Special Circumstances Requires attending period 8 classes
	Physics SL
	Physics HL	Special Circumstances Requires attending period 8 classes
Mandatory	Mandarin ab initio SL	Aimed at beginners to conversational Mandarin
6	TOK	Mandatory

To learn more about the curriculum download the Gyoshu DP Student Guide