Build a Balanced DP Subject Combination
Create and test a subject combination that fits school rules, your interests and plausible next steps.
Begin with the school's real options
Collect the current option sheet, timetable blocks, course entry expectations, and level choices. Start your planning table with the subjects you can actually study. Record exact names because related courses may involve different content and assessment. Your coordinator should confirm the diploma rules, including permitted replacements and restrictions on overlapping subjects. Do not solve this entirely from a generic online list. A theoretically valid combination can still fail to fit your school's schedule, staffing, or the preparation you have completed.
Identify what must stay possible
Write two or three plausible future directions, including an undecided option if appropriate. Research a small sample of current university course pages for each direction and distinguish required subjects from recommended preparation. Keep the source, entry year, and exact level beside each finding. The aim is to preserve meaningful possibilities, not every imaginable career. If two directions demand incompatible combinations, make that conflict visible and investigate alternatives with a counsellor before choosing a course solely to keep an undefined set of doors open.
Describe each subject's recurring work
Ask teachers what a normal week and a major assessed task involve. Use verbs: solve, interpret, read, write, discuss, experiment, rehearse, or create. Then mark which tasks require school equipment, long uninterrupted sessions, or coordination with others. These descriptions are more useful than a hardest-subject ranking. Several courses can suit your strengths individually while concentrating similar deadlines or weaknesses in one timetable. Look for a combination you can sustain through less interesting topics as well as the topics that first attracted you.
Build two viable combinations
Create a preferred combination and a realistic alternative. For each, explain why every subject is present, why each level is chosen, and what support an uncertain choice would need. Compare them against the constraints you have already verified. Do not add numerical ratings just to make the decision appear objective; use scores only if you can explain the evidence behind them. A teacher's observation about your writing and a requirement on an official course page carry different kinds of information and should remain distinguishable.
Worked example: a timetable conflict
Imagine a student is interested in environmental policy and engineering. Their school's geography and physics options clash. Rather than choosing whichever sounds easier, the student checks sample course requirements, investigates whether another individuals and societies subject can support the policy interest, and discusses the science choice with teachers. They may keep physics and explore environmental questions through another subject or activities, depending on the verified routes. The result is a defensible combination shaped by a concrete constraint, not a claim that one subject determines a career.
Confirm the decision and its assumptions
Take the two combinations to the coordinator and relevant teachers. Ask them to check validity, availability, preparation, and any catch-up required. Write the final decision with a short explanation and the assumptions that might change, such as a newly clarified university interest. Store the confirmation beside the option sheet. Once classes begin, revisit evidence of fit through your school's change process. Course choice is a reasoned starting decision; productive study and early feedback will determine how well you make that choice work.
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Official references
This is an original practical guide from IBvia. The examples are illustrative; your subject guide, assessment year and school instructions determine the requirements.
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