IB MYP Individuals and Societies: Discipline Options and eAssessment Subjects

This guide covers discipline options and eAssessment subjects for IB Middle Years Programme Individuals and Societies. The full syllabus guide confirms this subject group’s specific content varies considerably by school, since schools choose which discipline to teach, alongside the Criteria in Practice guide already on the site.

Where this fits in the subject

This subject group covers disciplines traditionally studied under humanities and social sciences. Schools develop courses in integrated humanities, history, economics, geography, philosophy, sociology/anthropology, business management, psychology, or world religions – a genuine school-level choice. The subject group name and four assessment criteria (Knowing and understanding, Investigating, Communicating, Thinking critically) stay the same everywhere, but the specific content studied can differ substantially between schools.

Only three eAssessment subjects exist

Despite the wide range of disciplines schools may teach, the on-screen eAssessment is available in only history, geography, or integrated humanities. This matters directly for revision: confirming which of these three your own course actually prepares you for is an essential first step, since a school teaching, say, economics or psychology as its individuals and societies discipline may still direct students toward one of the three examinable subjects for the eAssessment itself.

The three eAssessment tasks

Investigating (criteria A and B, 26 marks) involves evaluating an investigation and planning one of the student’s own, demonstrating knowledge from the course or from exam source material. Communicating (criteria A and C, 18 marks) involves engaging creatively with a topic, presenting information appropriately for audience and purpose. Thinking critically (criteria A, C and D, 36 marks, the largest task) involves discussing issues, arguments and perspectives through structured questions, culminating in extended writing.

Worked example: the source-evaluation skill

Official sample questions illustrate the investigating task’s specific demand. One sample question asks candidates to “explain one value or one limitation of source B for a student researching protests.” Another asks candidates to “compare and contrast source C and source D in terms of their usefulness in studying protest movements.” The skill both questions demonstrate is evaluating what a source can and cannot tell you about a topic – not simply summarising its content – applied both to a single source and comparatively across two sources. Build the habit of asking what a source can and cannot tell you every time you work with primary or secondary material in class, since this is tested directly and is distinct from simply extracting facts.

Building for extended writing

Because the thinking-critically task carries the largest share of marks (36 of 80) and ends in extended writing, a sample question such as “To what extent do you agree that gaining support from different groups in society is the most important factor in making sure a protest movement is successful?” models the expected approach: take a position, weigh it against alternatives, and reach a reasoned judgement – not simply describe events.

Sample eAssessment topics

The official brief lists sample topics the on-screen examinations may draw on: demographics and human movement, settlement and urban morphology, superpowers and supra-national alliances, significant individuals, warfare and peacekeeping, rights and social protest, trade and economic exchange, and industrialization and technological development. Because these span history, geography and broader social-science themes, they illustrate why the three eAssessment subjects can draw on genuinely overlapping content even though a student’s own taught discipline may have been narrower.

How to approach it

Confirm which of the three eAssessment subjects – history, geography, integrated humanities – your course actually prepares you for, rather than assuming your school’s taught discipline automatically determines it. Practise stating one value and one limitation of a source for a specific research purpose, not just summarising its content, and practise comparing two sources’ usefulness for the same research question, since both single-source and comparative source-evaluation questions appear. Build extended-writing practice around taking and justifying a position on the largest-weighted task, thinking critically, rather than only describing events, since a purely narrative answer cannot access this task’s top marks regardless of how accurate or detailed it is.

Why criteria transfer even when discipline changes

Because the same four assessment criteria and the same level-and-band scoring structure apply across every MYP subject group, a student moving between, say, individuals and societies and MYP Sciences encounters a familiar assessment logic even though the criterion names, content and specific skills tested differ. This consistency is deliberate: it lets the IB apply the same underlying standard of rigor across very different kinds of coursework.

Common mistakes

Assuming the discipline your school teaches automatically determines your eAssessment subject, without confirming which of the three – history, geography, integrated humanities – actually applies to your own cohort. Summarising a source’s content in the investigating task instead of evaluating its value or limitation for a specific research purpose, which is a different skill from simply restating what a source says. Writing a descriptive, narrative response to the thinking-critically task instead of a structured, judgement-based argument, which cannot access this task’s top marks regardless of how accurate or detailed the description is. Neglecting the communicating task’s audience-and-purpose demand, since presenting information “appropriately for audience and purpose” is itself part of what is assessed, not just the accuracy of the information presented.

Official syllabus

International Baccalaureate Organization, Middle Years Programme Subject Brief – Individuals and Societies, from 2014, (c) 2021 – the same source already cited by the full syllabus guide and the revision notes already on the site. Verified 2026-09-06.