Alec Peterson was IB's first director general (1968–1977), followed by Gérard Renaud (1977–1983), Roger Peel (1983–1998), Derek Blackman (1998–1999), George Walker (1999–2005), Jeffrey Beard (2006–2013) and Siva Kumari (2013–2021).

[21] The IB is a nonprofit organization,[22] selling its products and services to schools in a system analogous to a franchise network.

Assessment and grading services are located in Cardiff, Wales and the curriculum centre moved in 2011 to The Hague, Netherlands.

[29] In 2004, the IB approved a strategic plan to "ensure that programmes and services are of the highest quality" and "to provide access to people who are socio-economically disadvantaged.

[37] The IB Diploma Programme was described as "a rigorous, off-the-shelf curriculum recognized by universities around the world" when it was featured in the December 18, 2006, edition of Time titled "How to bring our schools out of the 20th Century".

[39] The IBDP was also featured in the summer 2002 edition of American Educator, where Robert Rothman described it as "a good example of an effective, instructionally sound, exam-based system.

"[42] In 2006, government ministers in the United Kingdom provided funding so that "every local authority in England could have at least one centre offering sixth-formers the chance to do the IB.

[45][46] Some schools in the United States have eliminated the IBDP due to budgetary reasons and low student participation.

[56] The Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) signed an agreement with the IB to widen the options offered to parents and to meet the different needs of students in the United Arab Emirates.

[63] However, the IB came under heavy criticism around the world in 2020 for controversial estimated grades, set when COVID-19 precautions obstructed examinations.

[67] Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the International Baccalaureate Organization (IB) initially restricted its operations in Russia, halting new school authorizations.

However, unlike many other international educational institutions, IB continued its activities in the country, allowing existing schools to operate under its curriculum.

"Prior to the attribution of final grades, this process was subjected to rigorous testing by educational statistical specialists to ensure our methods were robust.

Over 17,000 signatories signed an online petition calling for a clarification of the grading methodology, and free remarking and retesting.

[64][79] In August 2020, amidst the continuing coronavirus pandemic, the IB announced a series of comprehensive amendments to its scheduled examinations in May 2021.

On 4 February 2021, the IB announced a dual exam route for the May 2021 examination: examinations were expected to take place in regions where a written assessment could be "administered safely", while candidates in other regions follow a non-exam "alternative route" based on coursework and predicted grades.

[81] This decision was met with stiff backlash as students taking the IB Diploma Programme protested against perceived injustice.

To date, there have been documents shared for Mathematics, Physics, Biology, Chemistry, English, Chinese, German, Psychology, Digital Society, Geography, Business Management, Computer Science and Global Politics.

[87] Some online forums have been expressing student discontent, especially with concerns on unfair advantages in examinations, with claims of miscommunication from the IB.

[citation needed] Following the examination leaks, the IBO also experienced an alleged security breach in their IT Infrastructure, potentially exposing internal documents and further test papers.

Upon inspecting data shared online by the unknown threat actor(s), vx-underground, a group dedicated to investigating malware and cybersecurity, confirmed on the morning of May 6th that the breach appeared to be legitimate.