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The Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS) program holds a central place within the IB Diploma Program. Indeed, it constitutes one of its three core components, and engages students in a range of activities that they must undertake alongside their studies.

  • Creativity: Any activity involving creative thinking, often within an artistic discipline (e.g. visual art, digital design, writing, film, acting, culinary arts, crafts, composition…).

  • Activity: Any physical effort contributing to maintaining a healthy lifestyle (e.g. practising individual and team sports, dancing, mountain hiking, martial arts…).

  • Service: Any unpaid and voluntary activity provided in response to a need, helping the local, national or international communities (e.g. being a mentor to someone, cleaning the beach, visiting a nursing home, designing a website for a nonprofit organization, advocating for a cause, leading an awareness campaign…).

The following FAQ aims to clarify important concepts of the CAS program and has been written from a student's perspective.

A CAS experience must:

  • Correspond to one or more components of the CAS program.
  • Be based on personal interest, skill, talent, or an opportunity for growth.
  • Allow for the development of the IB Learner Profile attributes.
  • Be different from the requirements of the Diploma Programme courses (not mandatory or included).

The learning outcomes are different from assessment objectives because they are not graded on a point scale. At the end of the CAS programme, and following your reflection, you should provide evidence that you have been able to:

  • Become more aware of your strengths and areas for growth.
  • Accept a new challenge.
  • Plan and initiate activities.
  • Work collaboratively with others.
  • Demonstrate perseverance and commitment in the activities undertaken.
  • Engage with issues of global significance.
  • Reflect on the ethical implications of your actions.
  • Develop new skills.

The following table outlines the key milestones of the CAS program and summarizes how and when you will interact with your CAS Coordinator and teachers.

Start of Year 1 End of Year 1 End of Program
  • Your coordinator ensures that you understand the program requirements.
  • The objectives are presented, and your ideas and interests are discussed.
  • You plan your activity and propose deadlines to achieve your objectives.
  • The documentation system that you will use throughout your CAS program is explained.
  • Your progress is evaluated.
  • It is necessary to ensure that you participate in a range of activities covering the three components of the programme.
  • It must also be ensured that your are working towards the eight learning outcomes.
  • You submit the evidence, and the teacher reviews it to confirm that you are meeting your objectives.
  • Your teacher must verify that you are completing the required documentation and meeting the established deadlines.
  • Summative interview
  • You explain how you achieved your goals.
  • The CAS program as a whole is presented and evaluated.
  • You reflect on your personal development.

CAS and Language Acquisition can complement each other in a variety of ways. Students may use their acquired language in a purposeful way within the specific real-life contexts provided by their CAS experiences. They may also draw on their CAS experiences to enrich their involvement in language acquisition across the different themes of the course syllabus. The examples below illustrate how such synergies are possible.

Theme Ideas for CAS Projects
Identities
  • Healthy Habits Campaign (Service + Creativity): Participate in a school campaign about mental health and create a blog, posters or a presentation for your Spanish class, giving stress management advice in Spanish.
  • Cultural Self-Portrait Blog (Creativity): Write a bilingual blog exploring how your identity and perspectives are changing as you learn Spanish — include reflections, videos, and artwork. 
  • “Mejor versión de mí” Challenge (Activity + Creativity + Service): Lead a 30-day challenge promoting balance (nutrition, sleep, exercise) within your Spanish group and create a shared journal where everyone can record their achievements in Spanish. 
Experiences
  • School Trip (Service): Organize a school trip, with a humanitarian or environmental purpose, to a Spanish speaking country.
  • Virtual Cultural Exchange (Creativity + Service): Partner with a school in a Spanish-speaking country for video calls, shared journals, or mini-projects comparing school life, daily life, and traditions.
  • Festival Week (Creativity + Service): Organize a Spanish cultural week with food, dance, music, or film screenings; prepare posters and presentations in Spanish.
Human Ingenuity
  • Spanish Podcast (Creativity): Produce a short podcast series in Spanish about inspiring inventors, artists, or scientists from the Hispanic world.
  • Art and Language Fusion Exhibit (Creativity + Service): Curate an art exhibit or digital gallery featuring Spanish or Latin American artists, adding bilingual descriptions and reflections.
  • Technology for Learning Project (Creativity + Service): Develop or adapt digital tools (Quizlet sets, infographics, or videos) and create a website to share your resources and help beginner students learn Spanish vocabulary.
Social Organization
  • Community Voices Project (Service + Creativity): Interview Spanish-speaking immigrants in your area and share their stories (with consent) in a bilingual publication or video. Find out about their live stories and current needs. You could also use your language skills to offer academic or moral support to their children.
  • Building Language Bridges Exhibit (Creativity + Service): Create visual representations that link difficult Spanish words with sound-alike English words and organize an exhibition with all the posters, helping students improve their retention of Spanish vocabulary.
  • Send Love to a Senior (Service): Write a letter or a postcard in Spanish to send your love to a solitary person in a Spanish Retirement Home, through the NGO Adopta un Abuelo. 
Sharing the Planet
  • Eco-Club Collaboration (Service + Creativity): Create Spanish-language materials (videos, flyers, posters) promoting recycling, biodiversity, or energy conservation.
  • Pen Pal Project on Sustainability (Service + Creativity): Exchange letters or videos in Spanish with students abroad discussing sustainable habits and climate action.
  • Clean My School (Service): Participate in a campaign to clean your school and surrounding. Collect waste that is discarded during one day and display it with labels in Spanish.

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De Profe a Profe:

Los profesores podemos ayudar a nuestros alumnos a ver cómo nuestra asignatura puede conectarse con sus experiencias de CAS. A continuación, comparto dos ejemplos basados en mi propia experiencia profesional:

Exposición de artefactos lingüísticos en español: Los alumnos utilizaron su imaginación y sus habilidades artísticas para diseñar carteles que mostraban conexiones visuales entre palabras en español e inglés. Se organizó una exposición con juegos interactivos para despertar el interés de los estudiantes de primaria por la lengua española. En varias páginas de este sitio comparto algunas de estas creaciones. Puedes encontrarlas haciendo una búsqueda con la etiqueta CAS. 

Proyecto SOS: SOS significa Spanish On Skype y es un proyecto colaborativo entre dos colegios del Programa del Diploma del BI, uno en España y otro en Singapur. Los alumnos de ambos centros quedan para realizar videollamadas semanales, en las que se comunican en español y aprenden sobre sus diferencias culturales. La participación es voluntaria.

Last modified: Tuesday, 30 December 2025, 9:34 PM