What Is the Individual Oral in IB English?
Jamal Lewis
The Individual Oral (IO) is a spoken assessment in IB English both Language A: Literature and Language A: Language and Literature where students analyze how a global issue is presented in an extract from a literary work and a non-literary text. It's worth 20% of the final English grade at both HL and SL, and it's assessed and recorded by the student's own teacher, then externally moderated by the IBO.
How the Individual Oral Works
- Students choose a global issue that connects to at least two works studied during the course.
- A 10 minute individual presentation analyzing how each extract explores that global issue
- A 5 minute follow-up discussion with the teacher, who asks questions to probe the analysis further
- Students may bring an annotated extract into the exam, but not a full script or scripted notes
What Counts as a “Global Issue”
A global issue needs to have significance on a wide scale beyond just the two texts themselves while still being specific enough to analyze in 10 minutes. Broad categories the IBO gives as examples include culture, identity, politics, power, science and technology, and belief systems, but the strongest IOs narrow these into a precise angle.
How the IO Is Graded
Examiners assess the IO against criteria covering the students' understanding of the works, analysis of how authors' choices shape meaning, organization and development of ideas and language clarity, register, and terminology appropriate to a formal spoken analysis.
Tips for a Strong Individual Oral
- Pick a global issue you can actually trace through specific literary techniques in both extracts, not just a theme in general
- Practice out loud, timed 10 minutes goes faster than it looks on paper
- Focus on how authors create meaning not just what happens in the text
- Prepare for likely follow-up questions by anticipating gaps or angles you didn't cover in the main presentation
Related Reading
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Individual Oral the same for HL and SL?
The format is the same, though HL students study more works overall across the course and are expected to show a correspondingly higher level of analytical depth.
Can I use the same global issue as a classmate?
Yes, but the specific pairing of extracts and the analysis itself must be the student's own independent work.
How much of the final English grade is the IO worth?
20% at both HL and SL, making it one of the more heavily weighted individual assessment components in DP English.
Preparing for your Individual Oral? Explore more DP English resources and mock practice on the Baccalytics Mock Exams page.