Middle Years Programme

The MYP consists of eight subject groups:

The MYP is a genuinely unique approach, as it focuses not only on academic knowledge, but also aims to help students develop their personal understanding, their emerging sense of self and foster their sense of responsibility in their communities.

This is developed through a unique set of components to its framework, including:

Teaching and Learning in Context

Students learn best when their learning experiences have context and are connected to their lives and the world that they have experienced. Using global contexts, MYP students explore human identity, global challenges and what it means to be internationally minded.

Conceptual Understanding

Concepts are big ideas that have relevance within specific disciplines and across subject areas. MYP students use concepts as a vehicle to inquire into issues and ideas of personal, local and global significance and examine knowledge holistically.

Approaches to Learning (ATL) Skills

A unifying thread throughout all MYP subject groups, approaches to learning provide the foundation for independent learning and encourage the application of their knowledge and skills in unfamiliar contexts. Developing and applying these skills help students learn how to learn.

Service as Action (community service)

Action (learning by doing and experiencing) and service have always been shared values of the IB community. Students take action when they apply what they are learning in the classroom and beyond. IB learners strive to be caring members of the community who demonstrate a commitment to service—making a positive difference to the lives of others and to the environment. Service as action is an integral part of the programme, especially in the MYP community project.

The Personal Project

Each student develops an independent Personal Project, producing a truly personal and creative piece of work that stands as a summative review of their knowledge, their skills and their responsible action, focusing on a passion of their own choosing.

GEMS World Academy - Dubai students begin the Project during Grade 9, and complete it during Grade 10.

MYP assessment standards are consistent around the world. The MYP assessment model is based on four criteria. Teachers structure varied and valid assessment tasks so that students can demonstrate achievement according to objectives defined by the IB. Tasks are always assessed against these established criteria, not against the work of other students.
The MYP also encourages teachers to assess the students’ Approaches to Learning Skills (ATL), including how to succeed in written examinations. 

Typical MYP assessment tasks include open-ended, problem-solving activities and investigations, organised debates, tests and examinations, hands-on experimentation, analysis and reflection. MYP assessment is carried out internally by teachers, according to the criteria defined by the IB, and uses rigorous moderation practices to ensure consistency. However, certain components are also externally marked and moderated by IB examiners, such as the Personal Project.

The MYP assessment criteria across subject groups can be summarised as follows:

All GEMS World Academy - Dubai staff are fully qualified teachers, and receive regular internal and external training on the MYP framework and assessment, as well as from other expert providers at the forefront of educational pedagogy.

What makes the Academy's Middle Years Programme special? We do not only prepare students for their next academic challenge, whether this be at IB Diploma level or another academic system (e.g. ‘A’ Levels or American Common Core), but also encourage and develop students’ curiosity and skills in all aspects of life, from their own interests and hobbies, to using a strong entrepreneurial mindset to find solutions, and to become active and successful members of their local and global communities.

GEMS World Academy - Dubai opened its entrepreneurship HUB in 2019, and has already had huge numbers of students enrolled in a wide variety of experiences.

These include in school (and virtual) workshops with local and global entrepreneurs, Samsung innovators, gaming and coding competitions, and our own GEMS World Academy - Dubai Social Impact Challenge.

The HUB is continuously developing its programs in line with the MYP curriculum and its Approaches to Learning (ATL) skills, to create opportunities for students to challenge themselves, and to develop innovative projects beyond their classroom learning.

The HUB is led by our EIS Director, Ms. Helen Al Uzaizi.

The Social Impact Challenge (Large Scale Inquiry) is an annual event in which  students from Grade 6 to Grade 9 work together in mixed teams to solve a specific challenge. Students are tasked with coming up with an impactful, sustainable and scalable solution, service or product to tackle this challenge, and to establish a realistic company to provide or manufacture the product.

This Challenge utilises both the IB inquiry cycle and its EIE pillars, helping students to build on from their PYPX in Grade 5, and continue to develop the skills required for success in their Personal Projects in Grade 10.

GEMS World Academy - Dubai has a weekly programme of hundreds of possible activities that take place across each day. This are roughly split into those offered by staff within the Academy, and those provided by outside companies. Those with outside providers usually incur an additional cost.

The Enrichment Opportunities (ASA) Programme has three sessions – one per term – and usually run for 8 weeks each. Previous examples have included:

The GEMS World Academy – Dubai’s Enrichment Opportunities Coordinator is Ms Fiona Ryan ([email protected])

Teaching and learning in the MYP at GEMS World Academy - Dubai is based in the understanding that students learn best when the learning is:

• engaging, challenging, rigorous, relevant and significant
• collaborative
• appropriately supported with feedback
• understood and accommodated for students with diverse needs
• structured so students feel secure and that their ideas are valued and respect
• based on how students "learn best" and supports the development of new thoughts, ideas and connections between other disciplines

The MYP is designed for students aged 11 to 16. 

It provides a framework of learning that encourages students to become creative, critical and reflective thinkers. The MYP emphasises intellectual challenge, encouraging students to make connections between their studies in traditional subjects and the real world. It fosters the development of skills for communication, intercultural understanding and global engagement—essential qualities for young people who are becoming global leaders.

It builds upon the knowledge, skills and attitudes developed in the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) and prepares students to meet the academic challenges of the IB Diploma Programme (DP) and the IB Career Related Programme (CP).

• IB World Schools (the only schools authorized to offer IB programmes) are subject to a strict accreditation process monitored by the IB, ensuring that schools provide a high-quality education.
• IB teaching methods and curriculums are research- based and draw from the best educational practices from systems around the world.
• IB teachers are required to participate in many professional development opportunities to continually promote their awareness of current educational practices and new thinking. 
• IB programmes are recognised internationally and ease the educational transition of mobile students so that their education is not adversely affected if their families relocate.

All MYP teachers receive professional development in the IB’s approaches to teaching and approaches to learning from certified IB workshop leaders. This is a requirement for IB World Schools implementing the MYP.