Ameyaa
IB Authorization Consultant
From IB Candidacy to Authorization
 The Strategic Roadmap
for School Boards and Promoters
IB is one of the fastest-growing education systems in the world. Ameyaa provides some of the most thorough, experienced authorization consultancy available anywhere, guiding schools through the four official IBO phases, the PSP 2014 authorization standards, the local regulatory realities that run alongside the IBO's global process, and the honest reasons authorization stalls.
International Baccalaureate, IB, and the IB logo are registered trademarks of the International Baccalaureate Organization. Ameyaa Educational Advisory is an independent consultancy with no official affiliation, sponsorship, or endorsement by the IBO.
Why This Consultancy Exists
An authorization journey deserves an accurate map.
Most material available to school promoters on IB authorization falls into one of two categories: marketing pages that oversimplify a multi-year institutional transformation into a checklist, or generic overviews that never engage with the local regulatory realities, legal entity structure, land and facility compliance, government recognition, that run alongside the IBO's process in every market, and vary significantly from one country to the next.
Ameyaa's authorization consultancy exists to close that gap. It is built directly from the International Baccalaureate Organization's own published authorization framework, including the PSP 2014 standards used at the point of candidacy and authorization, and shaped by direct field experience guiding schools through candidacy and authorization across India, the UAE, and Southeast Asia, including the founding of one of Delhi's earliest IB Continuum schools, taken from concept through full authorization.
"Authorization is not an affiliation process. It is an institutional readiness process and the schools that treat it as the latter consistently outperform the schools that treat it as the former."
IB's global footprint has expanded faster over the past decade than almost any point in its history, driven by families seeking globally benchmarked, inquiry-based education over examination-led models alone. That growth has also produced a wave of promoters moving quickly toward authorization without fully understanding what the process actually evaluates. Ameyaa's consultancy is built to correct that, wherever a school happens to be authorizing.
The four phases of becoming an IB World School
THE AUTHORIZATION SPINE
The IBO does not impose a fixed global timeline. Authorization is school-paced — a school advances when it satisfies the milestones of each phase, not on a calendar the IBO sets in advance. What follows is the accurate structure of those four phases, with the India-specific regulatory work that runs alongside each one.
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PHASE ONE
Consideration
The school familiarizes itself with the IB's philosophy, mission, and the specific requirements of the programme it is considering. This is a feasibility and alignment stage, not a paperwork stage — leadership and governance must genuinely understand what they are committing the institution to before moving forward.
School-paced - No fixed IBO deadline
Internal - Feasibility study, market study
Leadership - Governance alignment begins
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PHASE TWO
Request for Candidacy
The school assembles its school profile and submits the formal Application for Candidacy, supported by documentary evidence of governance structure, financial sustainability, and implementation capacity. Once approved, the school is granted official Candidate status — not yet authorized, but formally on the pathway.
Submission - Application for Candidacy
Fee - Non-refundable application fee applies
Outcome - Candidate School status granted
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PHASE THREE
Candidacy: Consultation & Implementation
The substantial phase. A programme relationship manager is assigned as the school's point of contact, and an IB-appointed consultant provides remote support plus an on-site consultation visit. For PYP and MYP, this includes trial implementation — the programme must be visibly running in classrooms before authorization can be requested. For DP, the emphasis shifts toward institutional preparedness, since students are not generally enrolled before authorization.
Annual fee - Candidacy and consultation services fee
Support - Remote consultation + one 2-day visit
PD - Mandatory Category 1 training begins
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PHASE FOUR
Request for Authorization & Verification
Once the school believes it has met programme requirements, it submits the Application for Authorization. The candidacy and consultation fee is replaced by the candidacy and application for authorization services fee. An IB verification team conducts an on-site visit, reviewing evidence, interviewing leadership, faculty, students, and parents. The IB may authorize the school outright, or issue Matters to be Addressed (MTBAs) — a defined window to resolve specific gaps before authorization is finalized.
Submission - Application for Authorization
Visit - One on-site verification visit per candidacy
Outcome - IB World School status, or MTBAs to resolve
On timelines: the IB does not publish a fixed number of months for any phase; readiness, not the calendar, determines progression. In practice, schools with strong governance alignment, an appointed Programme Coordinator early, and disciplined documentation typically move through the full journey in roughly 18 to 30 months from initial consideration to authorization. Schools without that discipline frequently take considerably longer, not because the IB imposes delay but because institutional readiness genuinely takes that long to build.
AGES 3–12
Primary Years Programme
PYP
Organizes learning across six transdisciplinary themes rather than isolated subjects, anchored in inquiry and the IB Learner Profile. Authorization places heavy weight on trial implementation — evaluators expect to see inquiry visibly running in classrooms.
Capstone: The PYP Exhibition
UNDERSTANDING THE CONTINUUM
Four programmes, one continuum, four distinct authorization realities
A school does not authorize 'for the IB.' It authorizes for a specific programme, each with its own age range, curricular architecture, and, critically, its own authorization emphasis. Choosing which programme to begin with is a strategic decision, not a formality.
AGES 11–16
Middle Years Programme
MYP
Built on eight interconnected subject groups linked through Global Contexts, with criterion-based assessment as its defining shift. Authorization scrutinizes whether interdisciplinary planning and Service as Action are genuinely embedded, not bolted on.
Capstone: The Personal Project
AGES 16–19
Diploma Programme
DP
A rigorous pre-university course built around six subjects and a mandatory core: Theory of Knowledge, the Extended Essay, and Creativity, Activity, Service. Since students are rarely enrolled before authorization, evaluators focus almost entirely on institutional and faculty readiness.
Core: TOK · EE · CAS
AGES 16–19
Career-related Programme
CP
Integrates academic study with career-related learning and a practical, real-world pathway. Schools already authorized for DP follow a distinct, lighter-touch route into CP, while standalone CP authorization follows its own dedicated requirements.
Core: Career-related study + DP courses
THE STANDARD BEHIND THE PROCESS
PSP 2014 vs. PSP 2020 — and why the difference matters
This is one of the most commonly confused points among promoters, and getting it wrong leads schools to prepare against the wrong document. The IB maintains two active standards frameworks, and they are not interchangeable.
USED FOR AUTHORIZATION
PSP 2014
The framework every candidate school is evaluated against, at the point of authorization.
vs.
The framework used for the five-yearly programme evaluation cycle, after a school is already authorized.
USED FOR EVALUATION
PSP 2020
STANDARD A
Philosophy
The school's educational beliefs and values reflect IB philosophy, and the community participates in the wider IB world community — not displayed, but lived.
- Educational beliefs and values
- Participation in the IB community
- Commitment beyond compliance
STANDARD B
Organization
Leadership and structure, plus the resources and support systems that make implementation possible — governance, the Programme Coordinator, staffing, and facilities.
- Leadership & governance structure
- Programme Coordinator appointed
- Resources, staffing & facilities
STANDARD C
Curriculum
Collaborative planning, written curriculum, taught curriculum, and assessed curriculum — the four curriculum sub-strands evaluators trace through documentation and classroom evidence alike.
- Collaborative planning & reflection
- Written, taught & assessed curriculum
- Programme-specific requirements (PYP/MYP/DP/CP)
POST-AUTHORIZATION
PSP 2020, for Evaluation
Once authorized, a school moves to the four-category PSP 2020 framework, Purpose, Environment, Culture, and Learning, for its five-yearly programme evaluation.
- Purpose · Environment · Culture · Learning
- Five-yearly evaluation cycle
- Growth-and-reflection oriented, not compliance-oriented
In short: candidate schools prepare against PSP 2014, organized around lettered Standards (Philosophy, Organization, Curriculum) with programme-specific requirements layered beneath each. Authorized schools transition to PSP 2020 only once the five-yearly evaluation cycle begins. Preparing a candidacy file against PSP 2020's categories, or an evaluation submission against PSP 2014's standards, is a structural mismatch the IB will flag immediately.
PSP 2014
BEYOND THE IBO PROCESS
The Local Regulatory Layer, Alongside the Global Process
Everywhere Ameyaa works, India, the UAE, and across Southeast Asia, the IBO's authorization process runs in parallel with a local regulatory layer that has nothing to do with the IBO at all: legal entity structure, land and facility compliance, and government recognition. These requirements differ significantly from one country to the next, and getting the sequencing right between local approvals and IBO milestones is one of the most common reasons authorization stalls. Because this layer is genuinely country-specific, Ameyaa maintains dedicated, detailed guidance for each market it serves.
AN HONEST ACCOUNT
The investment structure behind authorization
The IBO does not publish exact fee figures on its public website — current fee schedules are issued directly to candidate and authorized schools through the Programme Resource Centre and vary by programme, region, and billing cycle. What is reliably true, and reflected below, is the structure of what a board should budget for.
Cost Category
Application for Candidacy fee
Candidacy & Consultation Services fee
Candidacy & Application for Authorization Services fee
Annual School fee
Teacher professional development
Infrastructure & CAPEX
Assessment & examination fees
What It Covers
Initial processing, application review, and guidance from the IBO's development department.
An assigned IB consultant, 20 remote consultation hours per year, one two-day on-site consultation visit, and direct support from a programme relationship manager.
Processing and review of the authorization application, one two-day verification visit, and final authorization decision.
Ongoing programme services, moderation, IB information systems, and coordinator resources.
Mandatory Category 1 training for every subject teacher and coordinator before authorization can be requested.
Programme-appropriate facilities — DP science laboratories and research libraries carry the highest capital intensity of the three programmes.
Per-subject student assessment fees, including DP external examinations and MYP eAssessment where applicable.
When It Applies
One-time, on submission of the candidacy application.
Billed annually throughout candidacy, until the school requests authorization.
Billed annually from the point authorization is requested, replacing the consultation fee.
Annual, from authorization onward. Multi-programme Continuum schools receive a discount.
Throughout candidacy; per teacher, per subject area.
Largely front-loaded, before or during early candidacy.
Ongoing, post-authorization, scaling with enrolment.
On the numbers you'll see elsewhere online: any guide quoting precise IBO fee figures in SGD or INR is citing numbers that are not published on the IBO's own public site and that change by fee cycle, programme, and region. Ameyaa works from the school's live, school-specific fee schedule rather than republishing figures that may already be out of date by the time you read them. Request the current schedule for your programme and region directly.
PATTERNS FROM THE FIELD
Why authorization stalls, and it is rarely the paperwork
Authorization is rarely delayed because of a single missing document. It is delayed because the institution has not yet developed the organizational capacity the programme requires. These are the patterns Ameyaa sees repeat across schools.
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The Collaboration Bottleneck
IB programmes require high-frequency collaborative planning. Stalls occur when schools maintain a hierarchical department structure where teachers work in silos, making the collaborative evidence required for authorization impossible to produce.
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Tokenism Over Cultural Shift
Authorization verifies that the Learner Profile is lived in classrooms. When a school treats the IB as a badge to be hung on the gate rather than a methodology that changes how teachers teach, the mismatch is flagged immediately during verification visits.
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Leadership Appointed Too Late
The Programme Coordinator is the engine of authorization. Schools that delay this appointment until the Request for Authorization phase find they lack the institutional memory and documentation trail required to pass verification.
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Copied Documentation
One of the most common reasons for failure is presenting policies and units 'borrowed' from other schools. Authorization evaluates the school's own unique implementation. Generic documentation rarely survives scrutiny during verification interviews.
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Underinvesting in the DP Core
In the Diploma Programme, schools often prioritize subject teaching over the Core (TOK, EE, CAS). Authorization for DP is frequently delayed when the school cannot prove it has the staffing and schedule depth to support the Core effectively.
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Indian Regulatory Sequencing Failures
A school cannot be authorized if its legal status and land use are not compliant with state law. Authorization stalls when schools treat the 'IB part' and the 'Government part' as sequential rather than parallel processes.
GUIDED AUTHORIZATION, NOT JUST DOCUMENTATION SUPPORT
Authorization built on institutional readiness, not a compliance checklist
Ameyaa's approach to IB authorization is shaped by direct, lived experience guiding a school from concept through full IB Continuum authorization and by ongoing work as an IB Educator Network Evaluation Leader, Authorization Consultant, and Visit Team Leader across the Asia-Pacific region. That dual vantage point, having built a school and having evaluated others, is what separates documentation support from genuine readiness consulting.
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Sequenced India & IBO project management
We align the four-stage IB authorization spine with Indian regulatory requirements , Trust/Society setup, land conversion, state NOCs, and RTE compliance , ensuring your global vision is supported by local legal readiness from day one.
Fluent in both PSP 2014 and PSP 2020
Candidate schools are evaluated against official PSP 2014 Standards, yet most consultants misalign prep with PSP 2020 evaluation categories. We help you build a candidacy file that meets the precise structural requirements evaluators look for.
Leadership and culture, not just paperwork
Authorization verifies that IB philosophy is lived in the classroom, not just documented in a binder. We work with your board and leadership team to build the culture of collaborative planning and inquiry that verification teams scrutinize.
Continued support after authorization
Authorization is the beginning, not the finish line. We provide ongoing mentorship for new IB Coordinators and leadership teams, guiding the school through its first evaluation cycle with the same rigor developed during candidacy.
EXPERTISE
Across more than two decades in school leadership, our Principal Consultant has worked directly with school boards and leadership teams throughout India, the UAE, and Southeast Asia, guiding institutions through IB candidacy and authorization as an Authorization Consultant, and evaluating established IB World Schools as an Evaluation Leader across the Asia-Pacific region. That dual vantage point, building authorization files from the inside and assessing them from the evaluator's chair, spans schools at every stage, from first-time candidates to institutions undergoing their five-yearly evaluation.
FREQUENTLY ASKED
Authorization, answered directly
The IBO sets no fixed timeline — progression is based on readiness, not a calendar. In practice, schools that appoint leadership early, sequence Indian regulatory approvals correctly, and treat candidacy as capacity-building rather than compliance typically complete the journey in 18 to 30 months per programme. Schools without that discipline often take considerably longer.
Yes. Many Indian schools run a national curriculum such as CBSE through Grade 10 and introduce the DP only for Grades 11–12. Offering all three core programmes continuously from age 3 to 19 creates what the IB terms a Continuum school and qualifies for a multi-programme fee discount, but it is not a requirement.
The IBO rarely issues an outright rejection. Instead it issues Matters to be Addressed (MTBAs) — a defined report of specific gaps, with a structured window, typically a matter of months, to implement changes and submit evidence of compliance before authorization is finalized.
The IBO does not prescribe a minimum land area for any programme. It evaluates functional adequacy, whether the campus genuinely supports inquiry, collaboration, and the programme-specific requirements of the school's chosen programme, such as science laboratories for DP or flexible learning spaces for PYP. Local regulations in each market set their own requirements around land use and facility compliance separately from and alongside the IBO's assessment, and these vary significantly from one country to the next.
Ameyaa works alongside your leadership team throughout the full candidacy period, not just at key submission points. This includes sequencing your local regulatory approvals alongside IBO milestones, building the collaborative planning culture and documentation trail evaluators look for, guiding your Programme Coordinator through each phase, and preparing your school for the verification visit with the same evaluator-level scrutiny that an IB visit team would apply. The engagement is shaped by where your school actually is, not a fixed workshop calendar.
Most IB consultants work exclusively from the candidate school's side, helping schools prepare documentation and meet deadlines. Ameyaa's Principal Consultant has also served as an IB Evaluation Leader and Visit Team Leader, evaluating authorized schools against IB standards from inside the evaluation process itself. That dual vantage point means the guidance a school receives is shaped by what verification teams actually look for in practice, not only what the published standards say on paper.
Yes. Ameyaa's Principal Consultant has directly led a school from concept through full IB Continuum authorization, building the academic, operational, and leadership systems that sustained the programme well beyond the initial authorization visit. Subsequent authorization consultancy work across the Asia-Pacific region as part of the IB Educator Network has extended that experience across multiple schools, systems, and contexts.
The "right" fit depends on your school's structure, mission, and student population. You can adopt one, some, or all of the programs:
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Primary Years Programme (PYP): For students aged 3–12. Focuses on the development of the whole child as an inquirer, both in the classroom and in the world outside.
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Middle Years Programme (MYP): For students aged 11–16. Provides a framework of academic challenge that encourages students to embrace and understand the connections between traditional subjects and the real world.
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Diploma Programme (DP): For students aged 16–19. A balanced and academically challenging program of education with final examinations that prepares students for success at university and life beyond.
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Career-related Programme (CP): For students aged 16–19. A framework of international education that incorporates the vision and educational principles of the IB into a unique program specifically developed for students who wish to engage in career-related learning.
IB programs are designed to be flexible frameworks rather than rigid, prescribed curricula. They can be successfully integrated with almost any national or state standards. The authorization process requires schools to conduct a feasibility study and create "curriculum mapping" documents. These documents demonstrate how the IB’s conceptual framework, skills (ATL), and themes align with and deliver the content required by your local education authority, ensuring students meet local graduation requirements while benefiting from the IB approach.
Yes, often it does. The IB authorization process involves a thorough review of a school's resources. While the IB does not prescribe specific land size or building architecture, it requires that facilities appropriately support:
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Inquiry and Collaboration: Classrooms and common areas should encourage collaborative learning and innovation.
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Program-Specific Learning: High-quality science labs are essential for DP sciences; art studios, PE facilities, and technology access are reviewed across programs.
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Library and Research: The school library must provide extensive resources to support the in-depth, inquiry-based research required, particularly for the DP Extended Essay and PYP Exhibition. Schools must demonstrate that their budget supports the acquisition and maintenance of these necessary resources.
Considering IB authorization for your school?
CONTINUE READING
Go deeper on each stage of the journey
International Baccalaureate, IB, and the IB logo are registered trademarks of the International Baccalaureate Organization. Ameyaa Educational Advisory is an independent consultancy with no official affiliation, sponsorship, or endorsement by the IBO.
Speak directly with an IBEN Evaluation Leader and Authorization Consultant who has taken several schools through this exact journey, from concept to full authorization.