Subject guide
IB Theatre Internal Assessment guide
Written and cross-checked by IB Diploma graduates: Alexander (41), Alejandro (40), Martina (40), Victoria (38), Martin (35), Maria (34)
· Checked against official IB guidance · Editorial policy
The IB Theatre Production Proposal (IA) is graded against 3 IB assessment criteria worth 20 marks. This guide explains the mark scheme for each criterion and what the published criteria reward at each score level at Higher Level (HL) and Standard Level (SL).
IB assessment criteria
Each criterion is presented independently using the configured mark-band descriptors for this subject and assessment session.
| Criterion | Name | Marks |
|---|---|---|
| Ideas and Intentions | Ideas and Intentions | 8 |
| The Proposed Design | The Proposed Design | 4 |
| The Proposed Staging of One Moment of the Play | The Proposed Staging of One Moment of the Play | 8 |
| Total | 20 | |
Criterion-by-criterion breakdown
Ideas and Intentions
Ideas and Intentions
What this criterion assesses
An explanation of the ideas addressed by the chosen play text — with reference to the text — and an explanation of your intentions for the staging of the entire play.
Mark band descriptors
Criterion A: Ideas and intentions (0–8). (i) To what extent does the student explain the ideas addressed by the chosen play text, with reference to the play text? (ii) To what extent does the student explain their intentions for the staging of the entire play? - 0: The work does not reach a standard described by the descriptors below. - 1–2: (i) The student lists the ideas presented in the chosen play text. (ii) The student lists their intentions for the staging of the entire play. [Limited, irrelevant, simplistic, superficial] - 3–4: (i) The student outlines the ideas presented in the chosen play text with reference to the play text. (ii) The student outlines their intentions for the staging of the entire play. [Adequate, attempted, underdeveloped, uneven] - 5–6: (i) The student describes the ideas presented in the chosen play text with reference to the play text. (ii) The student describes their intentions for the staging of the entire play. [Good, accurate, focused, relevant] - 7–8: (i) The student explains the ideas presented in the chosen play text, with reference to the play text. (ii) The student explains their intentions for the staging of the entire play. [Excellent, discerning, insightful, thorough]
Common mistakes
- Ideas listed ("power, family, honour") without reference to the play text
- Plot summary standing in for the ideas of the play
- Staging intentions for one scene only, not the entire play
- Intentions stated but never explained (the why is missing)
The Proposed Design
The Proposed Design
What this criterion assesses
Your visual production design ideas presented with an explanation of how production elements (set, costume, lighting, sound…) will be used to achieve your intentions in the staging of the entire play.
Mark band descriptors
Criterion B: The proposed design (0–4). To what extent does the student present their visual production design ideas with an explanation of how these will be used to achieve their intentions in the staging of the entire play? - 0: The work does not reach a standard described by the descriptors below. - 1: The student presents their visual production design ideas with a list of information regarding how production elements will be used. [Limited, irrelevant, simplistic, superficial] - 2: The student presents their visual production design ideas with an outline of how production elements will be used to achieve their intentions. [Adequate, attempted, underdeveloped, uneven] - 3: The student presents their visual production design ideas with a description of how production elements will be used to achieve their intentions. [Good, accurate, focused, relevant] - 4: The student presents their visual production design ideas with an explanation of how production elements will be used to achieve their intentions. [Excellent, discerning, insightful, thorough]
Common mistakes
- Design images presented without explaining how they serve the intentions
- Production elements listed rather than connected to the staging
- Design ideas that contradict the stated intentions
- Only one production element considered
The Proposed Staging of One Moment of the Play
The Proposed Staging of One Moment of the Play
What this criterion assesses
An explanation of how you would use performance elements AND production elements to effectively create tension, emotion, atmosphere and/or meaning ("TEAM") in one specific moment you have chosen to stage.
Mark band descriptors
Criterion C: The proposed staging of one moment of the play (0–8). (i) To what extent does the student explain how they would use performance elements to effectively create tension, emotion, atmosphere and/or meaning ("TEAM") in one specific moment they have chosen to stage? (ii) To what extent does the student explain how they would use production elements to effectively create TEAM in that moment?
- 0: The work does not reach a standard described by the descriptors below.
- 1–2: (i) The student lists how they would use performance elements to create tension, emotion, atmosphere and/or meaning ("TEAM") in the moment they have chosen to stage. (ii) The student lists how they would use production elements to create TEAM in the moment they have chosen to stage. [Limited, irrelevant, simplistic, superficial]
- 3–4: (i) The student outlines how they would use performance elements to create TEAM in the moment they have chosen to stage. (ii) The student outlines how they would use production elements to create TEAM in the moment. [Adequate, attempted, underdeveloped, uneven]
- 5–6: (i) The student describes how they would use performance elements to create TEAM in the moment they have chosen to stage. (ii) The student describes how they would use production elements to create TEAM in the moment. [Good, accurate, focused, relevant]
- 7–8: (i) The student explains how they would use performance elements to effectively create TEAM in the moment they have chosen to stage. (ii) The student explains how they would use production elements to effectively create TEAM in the moment. [Excellent, discerning, insightful, thorough]Common mistakes
- Moment described in general terms with no concrete staging choices
- Performance elements covered but production elements ignored (or vice versa)
- TEAM named but not connected to specific choices
- The chosen moment doesn't carry the play's central ideas
Sources & verification
Primary-source references used to verify key assessment facts on this page. Last source check: September 22, 2026.
The exact subject guide for Theatre is the authority for the task, criteria and limits. Some IB subject guides do not have a stable public URL, so this page names the configured assessment session and links the official IB update hubs instead of fabricating a direct source link.
- IB — Diploma Programme assessment and examsOfficial overview of criterion-related assessment and internal assessment in the Diploma Programme.
- IB — current curriculum updatesOfficial update hub for subject and first-assessment changes. Use it to confirm that your exam session matches the criteria shown here.
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