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With the release of the new IB Psychology syllabus expected in January 2025 and training beginning shortly after in February, teachers worldwide are gearing up for significant changes. 

As we prepare for the new curriculum, it’s essential to stay informed and proactive to make the transition smooth and effective for our students. 

Here’s what we know so far.

The Timeline and Training Opportunities

The new syllabus will begin teaching in autumn 2025, with the first exams scheduled for May 2027. 

To support teachers, the IB is offering various training opportunities, including in-person workshops, live online sessions, and virtual on-demand options. 

This flexibility allows teachers to choose the format that best suits their schedules. 

Engaging in these training sessions, or ones provided by other individuals, such as myself, will be crucial for understanding and navigating the updates.

Key Changes

Concept-Based Learning and Psychological Literacy: the most significant shift is the move towards concept-based learning, centred around themes such as bias, causality, change and development, evidence and measurement, perspective, and responsibility. 

These will be explored within the contexts of health and wellbeing, development, relationships, learning, and cognition. 

This approach builds on familiar content from the biological, cognitive, and sociocultural approaches, but it encourages students to think more critically and make connections between concepts.

Another key change is the emphasis on psychological literacy. 

Students will learn to think like psychologists, applying their knowledge to real-world issues and exploring how psychology can make the world a better place. 

This approach is exciting and aligns with the IB’s mission of developing globally minded learners. 

However, it will require teachers to adjust their planning and pedagogy to integrate these concepts effectively.

Changes to Practical Work and the Internal Assessment

In the new syllabus, students will be required to conduct four practicals using various research methods. 

These will form part of the new Paper 2, where students will be assessed on their understanding and analysis of these methods. 

Additionally, the IA is undergoing a major transformation: instead of conducting a practical experiment, students will now create a research proposal as an independent task. 

This shift aims to develop students' critical thinking and research planning skills, but it will require a fresh approach to how we guide and support them.

Incorporating Global Research and HL Extensions

The new syllabus also prioritises inclusivity, with a focus on non-Western research. 

The IB has gathered summaries from psychologists worldwide, and these will be used as resources to enrich students’ understanding. 

This is an exciting opportunity to diversify our teaching and broaden students’ perspectives, but it will also involve familiarising ourselves with new material.

Another noteworthy change is the integration of HL extensions into Paper 3. 

These extensions—the role of culture, motivation, and technology in shaping human behaviour—will require both qualitative and quantitative analysis of an unseen study. 

This change may present a challenge as teachers adjust their lesson plans, but with collaboration and sharing of resources, we can make the transition smoother.

Moving Forward: Collaboration and Support

The upcoming changes bring opportunities for growth and improvement, but it’s clear that planning and preparation will be key. 

Collaboration and connection within the IB Psychology teaching community will be invaluable as we navigate these changes together. 

By pooling our knowledge, we can ensure that our students receive the best possible experience under the new syllabus.

To support teachers in this transition, I’ll be developing a range of resources designed to make the new syllabus content engaging, predictable, and fun. 

These resources aim to ensure teachers excel professionally while helping students achieve the highest grades possible. With the right tools and strategies, we can work together to avoid a dip in cohort grades in 2027 and beyond.

Let’s embrace the changes, connect, and collaborate to make this transition an exciting and successful one!

Have a wonderful week,

Thes

Future articles in this series:

• Long-term plans for the syllabus.
• Tackling concept-based learning.
• What we know about new syllabus assessments.