MYP framework guide
The MYP Personal Project, step by step
The Personal Project is the capstone of the IB Middle Years Programme: every Grade 10 (MYP Year 5) student designs an independent, self-directed inquiry into something they care about, then reports on the journey. It is assessed on criteria A–C (A–D in some schools) on the familiar 0–8 scale. This guide walks you through the whole arc — choosing a topic, managing your timeline, and meeting the assessment criteria.
~25 hrs
of independent work, spread over most of the school year
1 supervisor
a teacher who guides you — but the project is yours to drive
A–C criteria
planning, applying skills and reflecting, each marked out of 8
1. Choose your topic and learning goal
- Pick something you genuinely care about — you will spend months on it. Passion carries you through the hard weeks.
- Turn the interest into a learning goal: a skill you will develop or knowledge you will gain — not just a product you will make.
- Define a clear product or outcome: what will exist at the end that proves your learning?
- Check your goal is challenging but realistic for roughly 25 hours of independent work.
2. Connect to a global context
- Anchor your project to one of the six MYP global contexts — it gives your inquiry real-world meaning.
- Identities and relationships, orientation in space and time, personal and cultural expression, scientific and technical innovation, globalization and sustainability, or fairness and development.
- Write a short inquiry statement: how does your project help you explore that context?
3. Plan your timeline
- Work backwards from your school's deadline. Most projects run 6–9 months.
- Break the work into milestones: research complete, plan approved, first draft or prototype, feedback round, final product, report.
- Meet your supervisor regularly — those conversations are evidence for Criterion A.
- Leave at least three weeks at the end for the report. Writing about the project takes longer than students expect.
4. Document everything in your process journal
- Keep a process journal from day one — notes, photos, screenshots, drafts, reflections.
- Record decisions and why you made them, not just what you did.
- Show your ATL skills in action: research, thinking, communication, social and self-management.
- Select extracts for your report as evidence — you cannot include the whole journal.
5. Write the report
- The report is what gets assessed — not the product itself. A modest product with an excellent report scores higher than a spectacular product with a weak report.
- Follow the required structure: goal, planning, applying skills, reflecting.
- Stay within the word or presentation limit set by the IB (up to 3,500 words or the equivalent spoken/visual format).
- Cite every source you used.
The assessment criteria, in plain English
The same 0–8 achievement scale you know from your subjects applies here — 1–2 limited, 3–4 adequate, 5–6 substantial, 7–8 excellent.
Criterion A — Planning(max 8)
State a learning goal and product, explain how the goal connects to your interests, and present a clear plan with criteria for success.
Top tip: Specific, measurable success criteria and a realistic timeline are what separate a 5–6 from a 7–8.
Criterion B — Applying skills(max 8)
Show how you used ATL skills — research, thinking, communication, social and self-management — to reach your learning goal and create your product.
Top tip: Name the skill, give the journal evidence, and explain what it changed. Don't just say 'I used research skills'.
Criterion C — Reflecting(max 8)
Evaluate your product against your success criteria, explain your growth as an IB learner, and reflect on the impact of the project on you and others.
Top tip: Honest reflection on what went wrong earns more marks than a polished story where everything went right.
Topic ideas to spark your thinking
A great project sits at the intersection of something you love, something you want to learn, and something the world could use. A few starting points:
Keep exploring the framework
The Personal Project draws on everything in the MYP framework — ATL skills are Criterion B, the global contexts frame your inquiry, and the learner profile is what the project is ultimately developing.