Anthropology Standard Level International Baccalaureate group 3 subject

Applications Open - 3 November 2025

Applications Close - 23 January 2026 (This is the official deadline, when planning for the new timetable will begin; however, applications will still be accepted after this date.)

Entry Requirements

IBCP: 3 x Grade 6 & 2 x Grade 5 (inc English & Maths)

IBDP: 6 x Grade 6 & 2 x Grade 5 (inc English & Maths)

IB course option: 6 x Grade 6 & 2 x Grade 5 (inc English & Maths)

How to Apply - Please apply via KentChoices

Imagine you could have lived a thousand different kinds of lives, but you end up having lived only one (Geertz, 2009). Global Sociology is about finding out about the thousand other lives you could have lived if you had been born in a different time or place. It is about “making sense of other people’s worlds, translating their experiences and explaining what they are up to, how their societies work and why they believe in whatever it is that they believe in” (Erikson, 2006).

Global Sociology, or Social and Cultural Anthropology as it’s known by the IB, is the comparative study of cultural and human societies. In broad terms Global Sociology attempts to ‘make familiar the unfamiliar and to make the unfamiliar the familiar’. Although Global Sociology shares much of the theory with other social sciences, it is distinct in a number of ways; these include the tradition of participant observation and the study of urban as well as rural and modern societies. Moreover, it contributes to an understanding of contemporary world issues such as war and conflict, poverty and injustice, inequality and human rights. It encourages open-mindedness, critical reflexive thinking and rigorously aims to explore the nature of anthropological concepts, ethnographic materials, theories and methods.

Course aims

To explore the characteristics and complexities of social and cultural life

To develop new ways of thinking about the world that demonstrates the interconnectedness of local, regional and global processes and issues

To foster an awareness of how cultural and social contexts inform the production of anthropological knowledge

Course outline

The course is organised into three parts:

Part 1: Engaging with anthropology through the exploration of concepts such as belief, change, materiality, power social relations and symbolism

Part 2: Engaging with ethnography through nine areas of inquiry which may include classifying the world, conflict, development, production, exchange and consumption

Part 3: Engaging in anthropological practice involving internal assessment with SL students conducting an observation and critique exercise whilst HL students carry out their own fieldwork.

Assessment

Standard Level (SL)

Higher Level (HL)

Paper 1 –

Questions on an unseen text relating to part 1 ‘engaging with anthropology’

SL - Three compulsory questions based on an unseen text and one compulsory question on one of the six “big” anthropological questions from part 1 of the course

1 hr 30 mins (40%)

HL Section A -: Three compulsory questions based on an unseen text and one compulsory question on one of the six “big” anthropological questions from part 1 of the course.

Section B: HL extension-anthropological ethics. One compulsory question based on one of two stimuli (visual and written)

2 hrs (30%

Paper 2 –

Questions based on part 2 ‘engaging with ethnography’

SL Section A: one compulsory question requiring students to make connections between a key concept, area on inquiry and real-world issue

Section B: nine areas of inquiry, each containing two questions; students choose one question which must not be the same area of inquiry used in section A

1 hr 30 mins (40%)

HL Section A: one compulsory question requiring students to make connections between a key concept, area of inquiry and real-world issue

Section B: nine areas of inquiry, each containing two questions; students choose two questions from two different areas of inquiry which must be the same as the area of inquiry used in section A

2 hrs 30 mins (45%)

Internal assessment – tasks based on part 3 ‘engaging in anthropological practice’

SL Four compulsory activities:

1. Observation report

2. Methodological and conceptual extension

of initial fieldwork

3. Second fieldwork data collection and analysis

4. Critical reflection

20hrs (30%)

HL Three compulsory activities:

1. Fieldwork proposal form

2. Critical reflection

3. Research report and reflection

60 hrs (25%)

General entry requirements:

International Baccalaureate Diploma: 6 x grade 6 and 2 x grade 5 at GCSE or equivalent.

International Baccalaureate Career-Related Programme: 3 x grade 6 and 2 x grade 5 at GCSE or equivalent.