IB DP Arts · Evidence-based research

Breaking Barriers

A free guide for IB World Schools

Declining participation in the arts is not inevitable

DP arts participation has fallen every year since 2015, while the Diploma Programme grew by 43%. Across IB World Schools, arts departments are losing timetable space, students and viability.

Yet the research shows this decline is solvable. In doctoral research across nine IB World Schools, Dr Mike Bindon, former IB Curriculum Manager for DP Arts and now Executive Director of ISTA, found that the arts thrive when ordinary schools make deliberate choices. This free guide sets out exactly what those choices are. ISTA has worked in collaboration with the IB for 20 years, and Mike’s career across both organisations is what brought this research together.

Get the free guide
What’s inside
  • Free
  • Nine IB World Schools
  • 36 strategies

The numbers

A decade of decline, and a way back

  • 43%Growth in the Diploma Programme since 2014, while arts participation fell
  • 3,300Fewer DP arts students in 2024 than if participation had held at 2014 levels
  • 36Evidence-based strategies from IB World Schools, all in the free guide

The paradox

Fundamental to an IB education, yet optional in the Diploma

Quotation: “The arts are fundamental to developing the values at the heart of an IB education.” International Baccalaureate Organization, The arts (2026)
What the IB says about the arts
From the IB Diploma Programme: “Students may opt to study an additional sciences, individuals and societies, or languages subject, instead of a subject in the arts.”
What the Diploma Programme allows

Inside the guide

From the evidence to what you can do on Monday

  1. 01

    The research

    Nine IB World Schools on four continents: award-winning doctoral research into participation in the DP arts.

  2. 02

    The problem

    Arts participation has fallen every year since 2015. The structural, cultural and informational barriers are clear, and addressable.

  3. 03

    The strategies

    36 proven strategies from schools with thriving arts programmes, mapped by role and ready to put into practice.

Arts uptake is about permission, not persuasion.

Free, with no obligation

Get your free copy of Breaking Barriers

Written by Dr Mike Bindon.

The Breaking Barriers guide by Dr Mike Bindon, held up to the camera
  • The data behind a decade of declining DP arts participation
  • Why students aren’t choosing the arts, and the three types of barrier
  • 36 practical strategies from schools that are getting it right
  • A role-by-role guide for leaders, counsellors, arts teachers and more
  • The IB’s updated 2025 position on the arts, and what it means for your school

Take the next step

Put the strategies into practice

The guide is just the beginning. ISTA’s professional learning helps IB arts departments grow: live workshops, bespoke consultancy, mentoring and more.

  • IB-endorsed workshops

    DP Theatre, Film and Dance and MYP Arts, in person and online.

  • Tailored support

    Consultancy and coaching built around your school’s goals.

Explore professional learning
IB teacher workshops