IB English
IB English rewards the analysis of authorial choices. That is a method, and it can be taught.
Paper 1 asks for a guided analysis of an unseen text. Paper 2 asks for a comparative essay on studied works. The individual oral and the HL essay ask for the same thinking, spoken and at length. All of them are marked against criteria for understanding and interpretation, analysis and evaluation, focus and organisation, and language. Wizardry teaches the reasoning those criteria describe.
What IB English assesses
In the Diploma Programme, English A: Literature and English A: Language and Literature share a structure. Paper 1 is a guided analysis of unseen texts. Paper 2 is a comparative essay on works studied in the course. The individual oral examines a global issue across two texts, and at Higher Level students also submit an essay of 1,200 to 1,500 words on a work studied. Paper 1 is marked on four criteria, A to D, each out of 5.
In the Middle Years Programme, Language and Literature is assessed on criteria A to D, each out of 8, and criterion A, Analysing, is the one that most directly measures literary reasoning.
How Wizardry fits
The theory pathway builds the analytical chain the criteria assume: a writer’s technique creates an effect, effects shape a literary element, and the element carries the work’s message. That chain is what turns a Paper 1 commentary from description into interpretation, and it is what a comparative essay needs in order to hold two works together. Micropractice drills it one quotation at a time; Macropractice is where full essays and close-analysis paragraphs on your studied works are planned, written and sent for marking.
Feedback on IB work is written against the official criteria: Paper 1’s criteria A to D for Diploma students and criterion A for MYP students, with a score and a short rationale for each. Practice questions are set in IB’s own style, as conceptual prompts about how authorial choices shape meaning. The feedback is a diagnostic aid; a teacher’s judgement always governs.
Who it is for
MYP students in the years before the Diploma, and Diploma students in Years 12 and 13, at IB World Schools in New Zealand and elsewhere. Schools can run Wizardry alongside the classroom programme (see for teachers & schools); individual students join with a solo membership.
Common questions
Is it for Literature or for Language and Literature?
Wizardry is built around literary analysis, so English A: Literature is the closest fit. Language and Literature students use the same method for the literary works in their course and for the analytical demands of Paper 1; the non-literary text types are not taught separately.
Does it help with the individual oral?
Indirectly but substantially. The oral is spoken, but its content is analysis of a global issue across two texts, judged on the same understanding, analysis and organisation the written papers reward. Students prepare it better when the analytical method is already automatic.
Is the criterion score a predicted grade?
No. It is a diagnostic reading of one piece of work against the published criteria, not a prediction of a final IB grade. More in the FAQ.