EDUCIFLY BLOG
MYP Personal Project: How It's Marked, the Report Rules and 60 Ideas
The MYP personal project is the big independent project every student does in the final year of the IB Middle Years Programme. You pick something you want to learn, make a product, and then write a report about how it went. The report is what gets marked, out of 24.
This guide covers everything in one place. You'll see how the three criteria work, what the report rules are, how the 24 marks turn into a grade from 1 to 7, and 60 personal project ideas with a learning goal and a product for each. It's written by Educifly's MYP team, who have coached students through MYP year 5 since 2018.
One warning before we start. A lot of guides online still describe the old version of the project, with four criteria and a mark out of 32. That version was retired in 2021. Everything below follows the current guide.
Quick answer: what is the MYP personal project?
The MYP personal project is an independent project done in MYP year 5 (usually age 15–16, Grade 10), made up of a process, a product and a report. You set a learning goal, create a product, and spend at least 25 hours on the whole thing. Your report is marked by your supervisor against three criteria: A Planning, B Applying skills and C Reflecting. Each is worth 8 marks, so the total is 24. The IB then moderates a sample of reports and turns the mark into a final grade from 1 to 7. The product itself isn't graded. What gets marked is how well you plan, use your skills and reflect.
What is the MYP personal project?
The personal project is the final, self-directed piece of work in the MYP, where you explore a personal interest over several months. The IB describes it as three parts working together.
The process. Your ideas, research, plans, problems, progress checks and changes of direction.
The product. The thing you make. It can be physical, like a model or a garment, or not, like a podcast, an app or an event.
The report. Your account of the project, organised under the three criteria.
The IB's own page on the personal project says it formally assesses approaches to learning (ATL) skills. ATL skills are the "how to learn" skills the MYP teaches in every subject: things like organising your time, finding good sources and thinking creatively.
If you're new to the programme as a whole, our guide to what MYP stands for explains the five years, the eight subject groups and where the projects fit.
Here are the key facts at a glance.
Feature | What it is |
|---|---|
Who does it | Every student in MYP year 5 |
Typical age | 15–16 (Grade 10 / Year 11) |
Time expected | At least 25 hours in total |
Parts | Process, product, report |
What's marked | The report only |
Criteria | A Planning, B Applying skills, C Reflecting |
Marks | 8 per criterion, 24 in total |
Who marks it | Your supervisor, then the school standardises |
Moderation | The IB moderates a sample from each school |
Final result | A grade from 1 to 7 |
Supervisor meetings | At least 3, recorded on the academic honesty form |
Personal project vs community project vs Extended Essay
The personal project is done alone in MYP year 5; the community project is usually done in a small group in MYP 3 or 4; the Extended Essay is a 4,000-word research essay in the IB Diploma. People mix these up, so here they are side by side.
Community project | Personal project | Extended Essay | |
|---|---|---|---|
Programme | MYP | MYP | Diploma Programme |
When | MYP year 3 or 4 | MYP year 5 | DP year 1–2 |
Who | Alone or in a group of up to 3 | Alone | Alone |
Focus | Service to a community | A personal interest | An academic research question |
Output | Action plus a presentation | Product plus a report | A 4,000-word essay |
Marked out of | 24 (3 criteria) | 24 (3 criteria) | 30 from 2027 (34 before) |
The personal project is the closest thing the MYP has to the Extended Essay. If you're already looking ahead, our list of IB Extended Essay topics shows how the same "pick something you care about, then narrow it" skill carries on.
What changed in 2021 (and why old guides will mislead you)
Since the guide first taught in September 2021 (first assessed in 2022), the project has had three criteria out of 24, not four criteria out of 32. The IB's curriculum manager set out the changes on the IB community blog in 2020.
Old model (before 2022) | Current model (2022 onwards) | |
|---|---|---|
Criteria | A Investigating, B Planning, C Taking action, D Reflecting | A Planning, B Applying skills, C Reflecting |
Total marks | 32 | 24 |
Goal | One goal, meant to be "highly challenging" | A learning goal plus a product |
Product quality | Partly judged under "Taking action" | Not directly marked |
ATL skills | Shown across the process | You name and explain the skills you used |
Evidence | Often in appendices | Built into the report itself |
Why does this matter to you? Because some of the top-ranking pages on Google still tell students to map their report to "Criteria A–D" or to spend a section on "Taking action". If you follow that, your report will have the wrong headings and miss the strands your supervisor is actually marking. Always check that any guide you use talks about three criteria and 24 marks.
The learning goal and the product
Your learning goal is what you want to learn; your product is what you will make. You need both, and they should connect.
The official definitions are short. A learning goal is "what students want to learn as a result of doing the personal project". A product is "what students will create".
Here's the difference in practice.
Weak | Why it's weak | Stronger |
|---|---|---|
"Make a podcast about sleep." | Names a product, but no learning. | Learning goal: learn how screen use affects teenage sleep. Product: a 4-episode podcast for students at my school. |
"Learn about coding." | Too broad to plan or measure. | Learning goal: learn the basics of HTML and CSS. Product: a 5-page website for a local animal shelter. |
"Build a robot." | No reason, no learning, no limit. | Learning goal: learn how simple sensors and motors work with an Arduino. Product: a small line-following robot. |
A good test: read your learning goal and ask, "What will I know or be able to do at the end that I can't do now?" If you can't answer, the goal isn't clear enough yet.
Criterion A also asks you to explain how a personal interest led to your goal. So the "why" matters. "I play the guitar and keep getting wrist pain" is a far stronger starting point than "I thought it would be interesting".
Success criteria: the part most students rush
Success criteria are the specific standards your product must meet, and you set them yourself before you start making it. They matter twice. You plan with them in Criterion A, and you judge your product against them in Criterion C.
Vague criteria like "it should look good" give you nothing to test later. Strong criteria are specific and checkable. Here's an example for a website product.
Success criterion | How I'll test it |
|---|---|
Has 5 pages: home, about, adopt, volunteer, contact | Count the pages |
Loads in under 3 seconds on a phone | Test on 3 different phones |
A first-time user can find the adoption form in under 30 seconds | Time 5 people who haven't seen it |
Text is readable at size 16 or larger | Check the style sheet |
The shelter manager approves the content | Written feedback from the manager |
Aim for 4 to 7 criteria. Fewer than 3 leaves you little to evaluate. More than 8 and you won't test them all properly. The top band for Criterion A asks for "multiple appropriate, detailed success criteria", so each one should say exactly what "success" looks like.
How the MYP personal project is marked
Your supervisor marks your report against three criteria, each out of 8, for a total of 24. Each criterion has strands (i, ii and sometimes iii), and every strand must be covered.
Each criterion has four bands: 1–2 (limited), 3–4 (adequate), 5–6 (substantial) and 7–8 (excellent). Supervisors use a "best fit" judgement, so one weak strand can pull you down a band even if the others are strong.
Criterion | Strands (what you must do) | What the 7–8 band asks for |
|---|---|---|
A: Planning (8) | i. State a learning goal and explain how a personal interest led to it. ii. State your product and develop success criteria. iii. Present a clear, detailed plan. | You explain the link between your interest and goal, give multiple detailed success criteria, and a detailed plan covering all of them. |
B: Applying skills (8) | i. Explain how ATL skills helped you reach your learning goal. ii. Explain how ATL skills helped you make your product. | You explain how you applied the skills, supported with detailed examples or evidence, for both the goal and the product. |
C: Reflecting (8) | i. Explain the impact of the project on you or your learning. ii. Evaluate the product against your success criteria. | You explain the impact, and evaluate the product, fully supported with specific evidence or detailed examples. |
The command-term ladder
The bands climb by command term: state, then outline, then describe, then explain or evaluate. This is the single most useful thing to understand about the marking.
Band | Command term | What it means in plain English |
|---|---|---|
1–2 | State | Name it. No reasons. |
3–4 | Outline | Give a short summary. |
5–6 | Describe | Give a detailed picture of what happened. |
7–8 | Explain / Evaluate | Give reasons and causes. Weigh up strengths and limits. |
So "I used research skills" is stating. "I used research skills to find five sources on sleep" is outlining. "I compared five sources and noticed two used adult samples" is describing. "I dropped two sources because they studied adults, which mattered because teenage body clocks shift later, so their advice didn't fit my audience" is explaining. Same skill, four different marks. Our guide to IB command terms goes through every term you'll meet later in the Diploma too.
Criterion A: Planning
Criterion A rewards a clear learning goal, a personal reason for it, detailed success criteria and a plan that covers all of them. It's worth 8 marks and it's the easiest criterion to secure early.
Your plan doesn't have to be perfect. It has to be detailed and linked to your success criteria. A table or Gantt chart with tasks, dates and which criterion each task serves works well.
What a strong Criterion A section includes:
One learning goal in one sentence, then 2–3 sentences on the personal interest behind it.
One product in one sentence.
4–7 success criteria, each with a way to test it.
A plan showing tasks, deadlines and resources, with each task linked to a success criterion.
A short note on any changes you made to the plan, and why.
The most common loss here is a plan that only covers making the product. The top band says your plan must cover "all of its associated success criteria". If one criterion is "approved by the shelter manager", your plan needs a step where you actually get that approval.
Criterion B: Applying skills
Criterion B asks you to explain which ATL skills you used, and how they helped with both your learning goal and your product. Both strands count, so don't write only about the product.
The official guide lists ten ATL skill clusters. You pick the ones that genuinely helped.
ATL category | Skill clusters |
|---|---|
Communication | Communication |
Social | Collaboration |
Self-management | Organisation, affective (managing your emotions and motivation), reflection |
Research | Information literacy, media literacy |
Thinking | Critical thinking, creative thinking, transfer |
Two or three skills explained well beat eight skills listed. For each one, show a moment: what problem you hit, what you did, what evidence shows it, and what changed as a result.
Here's one skill written at three levels.
Band | Example sentence |
|---|---|
3–4 | "I used organisation skills to plan my time." |
5–6 | "I used organisation skills by making a weekly schedule in Google Calendar, shown in Appendix 2, which helped me finish the first draft of my website." |
7–8 | "In week 4 I fell 6 days behind because testing on phones took longer than planned. I used organisation skills to re-order my tasks, moving the contact page after user testing (see plan version 2, Figure 3). This meant I tested the adoption form while the shelter was open, which gave me the timing data I needed for success criterion 3." |
Notice the top one has a date, a problem, a specific action, a piece of evidence and a consequence. That's what "detailed examples or evidence" looks like.
Criterion C: Reflecting
Criterion C asks you to explain how the project affected you as a learner, and to evaluate your product against your own success criteria. It isn't a diary of what happened. It's a judgement, backed by evidence.
For strand ii, go back to each success criterion one by one. Say whether you met it, show the evidence, and give reasons. A partly successful product is fine. "My site loaded in 2.1 seconds on two phones but 4.5 seconds on an older Android, so I only partly met criterion 2" is a strong evaluation. It's honest, specific and measured.
For strand i, the guide suggests impact can cover progress towards your learning goal, growth in ATL skills or IB learner profile attributes, or ways you changed as a person. The IB learner profile gives you useful words here, like "risk-taker" or "reflective", but only if you back them with an example.
A useful shape for each point: what I thought at the start, what happened, what I think now, and what I'd do differently next time.
Worked example: one project through all three criteria
Here's one invented project, Maya's, shown the way a 7–8 report would handle each strand. Maya plays football and wanted to understand why so many girls in her year had stopped playing.
Criterion A: Planning. Maya's learning goal was to learn how coaching style affects whether girls aged 12–15 keep playing team sport. She explained the personal link: four of the eleven girls in her Under-13 team had quit within a year. Her product was a 20-minute beginner training session plan for a girls' football club, plus a one-page guide for volunteer coaches. She set five success criteria:
The session plan runs in 20 minutes or less.
It includes at least 3 drills that need no previous skill.
At least 8 of 10 players rate the session 4 or 5 out of 5 for fun.
A qualified coach checks the drills are safe.
The coaches' guide fits on one page and uses no jargon.
Her plan was a 14-week table. Every task named the success criterion it served. When the club cancelled two training nights in week 9, she added a "Plan v2" row and explained the change.
Criterion B: Applying skills. Maya chose three skills. For information literacy, she explained how she compared four studies on why girls leave sport and set one aside because it only looked at adults. That changed her goal from "fitness" to "fun and belonging". For communication, she showed her interview questions before and after a trial run with two teammates. The first version got one-word answers, so she rewrote them as open questions. For organisation, she showed how she moved the test session forward a week when the pitch was booked.
Each example had a date, a piece of evidence (a screenshot, a photo or a note) and a clear result. She covered skills for both the learning goal and the product.
Criterion C: Reflecting. Maya went through her five criteria one at a time. She met criteria 1, 2, 4 and 5 and gave the evidence for each. For criterion 3, 7 of 10 players gave a 4 or 5, so she only partly met it. She looked at the feedback, saw that the three lower scores all came from the most experienced players, and explained why: her drills were too easy for them. Her improvement was a harder "level 2" version of each drill.
For impact, she explained how her view changed. She'd started out thinking girls quit because they weren't fit enough. Her research and interviews showed that feeling left out mattered more. She linked that to how she now speaks to younger players at her own club.
Notice what Maya didn't do. She didn't claim the product was perfect, list every skill she could think of, or tell the story week by week. Each point is a judgement backed by evidence. That's the pattern the top bands reward.
Grade boundaries: how 24 marks become a 1–7
Your mark out of 24 is converted to a final grade from 1 to 7 using grade boundaries. The IB doesn't publish a fixed table in the guide. Boundaries are confirmed for each session. The table below is the conversion many schools and teacher-support sites use as a guide, based on recent sessions.
Final grade | Mark out of 24 |
|---|---|
7 | 21–24 |
6 | 18–20 |
5 | 15–17 |
4 | 11–14 |
3 | 6–10 |
2 | 3–5 |
1 | 0–2 |
In practice, a 7 means roughly 7 out of 8 in every criterion. One criterion at 5 or 6 can pull you down to a 6 overall. That's why a balanced report, with all strands covered, matters more than one brilliant section.
Report rules: length, format and what counts
The report can be up to 15 written pages, or a mix of pages and recorded audio or video, where each minute of recording costs one page. Here's the trade-off table your school will use.
Written pages (max) | Recording (max) |
|---|---|
15 | None |
14 | 1 minute |
13 | 2 minutes |
12 | 3 minutes |
11 | 4 minutes |
10 | 5 minutes |
9 | 6 minutes |
8 | 7 minutes |
7 | 8 minutes |
6 | 9 minutes |
Other rules to know:
Font and margins. Minimum 11-point font and 2 cm margins on every page.
Title page. Don't add one. If you do, it counts towards your page limit.
Bibliography. Uploaded separately. It doesn't count towards the limit.
Sections. Organise the report under A Planning, B Applying skills and C Reflecting.
Evidence. Put evidence inside the report, and make sure images are readable at the size you submit.
Recordings. Audio and video must be recorded and submitted in real time.
Tense. Write in the past tense. You're describing a project you've finished.
Your product is not the report. If your product is a piece of writing, you still need a separate report.
Page limits are strict. Anything past the limit may not be read, and the evidence on those pages won't count.
The process journal: required or not?
A process journal is optional, but keeping evidence of your process is required. You can record that evidence in writing, photos, screenshots, voice notes or a mix.
What matters is that your evidence shows decisions, not just activity. Compare these two entries.
Diary entry (weak) | Decision entry (strong) |
|---|---|
"12 March: Did research on sleep today." | "12 March: Read 3 studies. Two used adults aged 25+, so I dropped them. Teen body clocks run later, so adult advice doesn't fit my audience. Next: find 2 studies on 13–18 year olds." |
The second entry is almost ready to paste into Criterion B. That's the point. Ten minutes after each work session saves you a panicked weekend at the end.
Label each piece of evidence with a date, what it shows, and which skill or success criterion it links to. When you write the report, you'll know exactly where to find it.
Your supervisor, your parents and academic honesty
Your supervisor guides and marks your project, but every decision and every word must be yours. You must meet your supervisor at least 3 times, and those meetings are recorded on the MYP projects academic honesty form.
Your supervisor can | Your supervisor won't |
|---|---|
Explain the criteria and deadlines | Choose your learning goal |
Ask if your goal is realistic | Do your research |
Point out gaps in your plan | Design or build your product |
Give feedback on a draft, within school rules | Rewrite your report |
Check your sources and evidence | Write your reflection for you |
Parents can help with routine, transport, materials and encouragement. They shouldn't pick the topic, edit the report or fix the product. If someone gives practical help, like driving you to an interview, note it in your evidence.
AI rules depend on your school's policy. If it's allowed, you must say where and how you used it. Never use it to invent journal entries, feedback, test results or reflections. Your supervisor can ask you to explain any part of your report out loud, so everything in it has to be something you understand.
A realistic timeline
Many schools launch the project near the end of MYP 4 and collect reports around the middle of MYP 5, so you have roughly 6 to 9 months. Your school sets the exact dates. This is a typical shape.
Stage | Typical timing | What you do |
|---|---|---|
Launch | End of MYP 4 | Explore interests, list 3–5 ideas, read the criteria |
Goal and plan | Start of MYP 5, weeks 1–4 | Fix your learning goal, product and success criteria. First supervisor meeting |
Research and making | Weeks 5–16 | Research, build, test, get feedback. Keep evidence after every session. Second meeting |
Testing | Weeks 17–19 | Test your product against every success criterion |
Report | Weeks 20–24 | Draft, get feedback, final version. Third meeting |
Exhibition | After submission | Many schools run a personal project exhibition to share products |
The biggest timing mistake is leaving the report to the last two weeks. Criterion C needs testing data, and testing needs time. Build a two-week buffer before your deadline.
Do you still need a global context?
The three current criteria don't mention global contexts at all, so they aren't marked directly, but many schools still ask you to name one. Check your school's handbook.
Even when they're not required, the six MYP global contexts are a great way to find an idea. They push a hobby towards something with a bigger point.
Identities and relationships
Orientation in space and time
Personal and cultural expression
Scientific and technical innovation
Globalisation and sustainability
Fairness and development
The 60 ideas below are grouped by these six contexts for that reason.
60 MYP personal project ideas
The best personal project ideas pair something you want to learn with a product you can finish in about 25–40 hours. Each idea below gives both. Treat them as starting points, then make them yours by adding your own interest and audience.
Identities and relationships
No. | Learning goal: learn… | Product |
|---|---|---|
1 | how sleep affects teenage mood | A 4-week sleep log study and a one-page guide for classmates |
2 | the basics of sign language | A 5-minute signed video teaching 30 everyday signs |
3 | how family recipes carry memory | An illustrated family cookbook with 12 recipes and stories |
4 | how to train for a first 5 km run | A 10-week beginner plan tested on yourself |
5 | how social media affects self-image | A short survey study and a school assembly talk |
6 | how bilingual children switch languages | A children's picture book in two languages |
7 | the basics of nutrition for athletes | A 4-week meal plan for a school sports team |
8 | how to manage exam stress | A 7-day stress toolkit booklet for MYP 5 students |
9 | how grandparents' childhoods differed from yours | A recorded oral history podcast with 3 interviews |
10 | basic first aid | A first-aid card set for a youth sports club |
Orientation in space and time
No. | Learning goal: learn… | Product |
|---|---|---|
11 | the history of your street or neighbourhood | A self-guided walking tour with a printed map |
12 | how maps shape how we see the world | A hand-drawn map of your city at two different dates |
13 | how to restore old photographs digitally | A restored family photo album with before-and-after pairs |
14 | how medieval armour was made | A scale model of a helmet in card or foam |
15 | the basics of astronomy and star navigation | A night-sky guide for your city's latitude |
16 | how a local building was designed | A 3D model in SketchUp or Blender |
17 | how migration shaped your community | A short documentary with 3 interviews |
18 | how clocks and timekeeping developed | A working sundial set to your location |
19 | how to research a family tree | A 4-generation family tree with sources |
20 | how a historic event was reported at the time | A mock newspaper front page with a source analysis |
Personal and cultural expression
No. | Learning goal: learn… | Product |
|---|---|---|
21 | music production basics in a free app | An original 3-track EP |
22 | how to write and structure a short story | A 3,000-word short story, edited through 3 drafts |
23 | stop-motion animation | A 60-second stop-motion film |
24 | traditional dance from your culture | A recorded performance and a teaching video |
25 | how to design and sew a garment | A finished garment from your own pattern |
26 | calligraphy in a script you don't know | A framed set of 10 calligraphy pieces |
27 | portrait photography lighting | A 12-photo portrait series with notes |
28 | how to compose for a small ensemble | A 3-minute piece performed by friends |
29 | graphic novel techniques | A 12-page graphic novel |
30 | how to cook a regional cuisine | A 3-course dinner and a recipe booklet |
Scientific and technical innovation
No. | Learning goal: learn… | Product |
|---|---|---|
31 | basic HTML and CSS | A 5-page website for a local charity |
32 | how Arduino sensors and motors work | A line-following robot |
33 | the basics of Python | A quiz app for MYP 1 students |
34 | how 3D printing design works | A 3D-printed phone stand you designed |
35 | how solar panels generate power | A small solar phone charger |
36 | how to build a simple game engine loop | A playable 2D game in Scratch or Godot |
37 | how water filters work | A low-cost filter tested on 3 water samples |
38 | how to edit video professionally | A 3-minute promo video for a school club |
39 | how aerodynamics affect flight | 3 paper-plane designs tested for distance |
40 | how to build a weather station | A home weather station with a 4-week data log |
Globalisation and sustainability
No. | Learning goal: learn… | Product |
|---|---|---|
41 | how fast fashion affects the environment | An upcycled clothing collection of 5 pieces |
42 | how to compost at home | A working compost bin and a how-to guide |
43 | how food waste happens in schools | A 2-week audit of the canteen and a proposal |
44 | how to grow vegetables in small spaces | A balcony garden and a growing diary |
45 | how plastic affects local waterways | A clean-up event and a data report |
46 | how to make natural dyes | A set of dyed fabric samples from 6 plants |
47 | how to repair electronics | A repair café morning fixing 10 items |
48 | how to reduce home energy use | A 4-week energy audit of your home |
49 | how beekeeping supports pollination | A bee hotel and an information board |
50 | how to build with recycled materials | A piece of furniture made from pallets |
Fairness and development
No. | Learning goal: learn… | Product |
|---|---|---|
51 | how to make spaces accessible for wheelchair users | An accessibility audit of your school with a report |
52 | how charities raise money | A fundraising event with a target and a budget |
53 | how to teach reading to young children | A 6-week reading club for younger students |
54 | the basics of personal finance | A budgeting workbook for teenagers |
55 | how to design for colour-blind users | A colour-blind friendly redesign of a school poster set |
56 | how period poverty affects students | A donation drive and an awareness campaign |
57 | how to write a persuasive letter | 3 letters to local officials about a local issue |
58 | how to teach a language to beginners | A 5-lesson beginner course for newcomers |
59 | how misinformation spreads online | A fact-checking workshop for MYP 3 students |
60 | how to run a small business ethically | A small craft stall with a profit and cost report |
How to pick the right idea
Run your top three ideas through these four questions. Keep the one that passes all four.
Do I care about this enough to spend 25+ hours on it? Interest carries you through the boring middle.
Is there something real to learn? If you already know how to do it, there's no learning goal.
Can I finish it with the time, money and help I have? Feasible beats impressive.
Can I measure success? If you can't write 4 testable success criteria, the idea is too vague.
Common mistakes that cost marks
Most lost marks come from the report, not the product. These are the mistakes we see most often.
Mistake | Criterion hit | Fix |
|---|---|---|
Using an old A–D guide | All | Use three sections: Planning, Applying skills, Reflecting |
A product with no learning goal | A | Write one sentence starting "I want to learn…" |
Vague success criteria | A and C | Make each one specific and testable |
Plan covers only building the product | A | Add steps for testing each criterion |
Listing 8 ATL skills with no examples | B | Explain 2–3 skills with dated evidence |
Writing about the product only | B | Cover skills for the learning goal too |
Retelling the story instead of evaluating | C | Judge each success criterion with evidence |
Only positives in the reflection | C | Include what didn't work and why |
Going over the page limit | All | Cut, or swap pages for recording time carefully |
Adding a title page | All | Leave it out. It counts towards the limit |
How the personal project prepares you for the IB Diploma
The personal project is a rehearsal for the Extended Essay, the internal assessments, TOK and CAS in the Diploma. The skills carry straight over.
Extended Essay. Narrowing a big interest into something you can finish is the same skill.
Internal assessments. Every IA rewards planning, evidence and evaluation, just like Criteria A and C.
TOK. Explaining how you know what you know starts with the reflection in Criterion C.
CAS. CAS projects also need a plan, evidence and reflection.
Students who learn to keep evidence and write "because I found X, I changed Y" at 15 find Diploma deadlines at 17 far less scary.
How Educifly helps with the MYP
Educifly offers 1-on-1 online MYP tutoring with subject specialists who know the MYP criteria inside out. For the personal project, a tutor can help your child understand the three criteria and command terms, practise explaining evidence, and build study habits like keeping a decision log.
We work within your school's academic honesty rules. That means we coach skills and ask questions. We don't choose the topic, build the product or write any part of the report. That's the only way the project stays your child's own, and it's what supervisors expect.
If your child is starting MYP 5 and wants a steady hand through the year, you can book a free trial class to meet a tutor first.
Frequently asked questions
What is the MYP personal project?
The MYP personal project is an independent project that every student completes in MYP year 5, usually at age 15–16. It has three parts: a process, a product and a report. The student sets a learning goal, creates a product and writes a report that's marked against three criteria worth 24 marks in total.
How is the MYP personal project graded?
The report is marked by the supervisor against three criteria: A Planning, B Applying skills and C Reflecting. Each criterion is worth 8 marks, for a total of 24. The school standardises the marks, the IB moderates a sample, and the mark is converted to a final grade from 1 to 7.
What mark do you need for a 7 in the personal project?
As a guide, a 7 usually needs about 21 to 24 out of 24. The IB confirms grade boundaries for each session, so the exact line can move a little. In practice, you need 7 or 8 in every criterion to get a 7.
Is the product graded in the MYP personal project?
No. Only the report is marked. The product still matters because it's your evidence. You plan it in Criterion A, explain the skills you used to make it in Criterion B, and evaluate it against your success criteria in Criterion C. A modest product with a strong report can still score a 7.
How long should the personal project report be?
The written report can be up to 15 pages, with at least 11-point font and 2 cm margins. You can swap pages for recorded audio or video at one page per minute, down to 6 pages with 9 minutes of recording. The bibliography is uploaded separately and doesn't count. A title page does count, so leave it out.
How many hours should the personal project take?
The IB expects at least 25 hours in total, covering planning, making, supervisor meetings, keeping evidence and writing the report. That's a minimum, not a target, and plenty of students spend more across the 6 to 9 months the project usually runs.
What are good MYP personal project ideas?
Good ideas pair something you want to learn with a product you can finish. Examples include learning HTML and CSS to build a website for a local charity, learning stop-motion to make a 60-second film, or learning about food waste to run a canteen audit. The best idea is one you care about, can measure, and can realistically finish.
Do I need a global context for my personal project?
The current three criteria don't mention global contexts, so they aren't marked directly. Many schools still ask students to choose one, because it helps turn a hobby into a project with a bigger purpose. Check your school's personal project handbook.
Is a process journal required for the MYP personal project?
A process journal is optional. Keeping evidence of your process is required. You can record it in writing, photos, screenshots, voice notes or a mix. The best evidence shows decisions and changes, not just a list of what you did each day.
How many times do I meet my personal project supervisor?
You must have at least 3 meetings with your supervisor, and they're recorded on the MYP projects academic honesty form. Many schools add shorter check-ins between them. Bring a short update to each meeting: what's changed, what's next, and where you're stuck.
What is the difference between the personal project and the community project?
The community project is usually done in MYP 3 or 4, alone or in a group of up to three, and focuses on service to a community. The personal project is done alone in MYP 5 and focuses on a personal interest. Both are marked against three criteria out of 24.
Can my parents or a tutor help with my personal project?
Yes, within limits. Parents and tutors can encourage you, help with routines and explain the criteria. They must not choose your topic, make your product or write or edit your report. Any practical help should be noted in your evidence so your supervisor can see what was yours.