IB Inquiry Learning Progressions Explained 

Track Inquiry Skills with Qridi Core

The Primary Years Programme (PYP) embraces inquiry-based learning as a core educational approach. In the PYP framework, three essential structures support inquiry-based learning: Programme of Inquiry (POI), Lines of Inquiry, and the Inquiry Learning Progressions.

The IB Inquiry Learning Progressions are skills-based progressions designed for learners aged 5-16. Developed for the PYP and MYP and available through IB Exchange, the inquiry progressions make inquiry learning visible by showing how inquiry skills develop over time across subjects and learning experiences.

The inquiry progressions support both planning and assessment by helping educators identify, teach, observe, and track the development of inquiry skills and Approaches to Learning (ATL) skills.

With Qridi Core, schools can tag, map, and track the IB Inquiry Learning Progressions directly within their curriculum and learning engagements.

What do the IB Inquiry Progressions include?

Each inquiry progression includes:

• A definition of the inquiry skill
• A non-linear path of progression showing how skills develop over time
• Progression points that mark increasing sophistication
• Indicators describing learner behaviors at different stages
• Developmental descriptions connected to learner growth
• Sample learning opportunities schools can adapt to their own context

The progressions are intentionally non-linear. Learners may revisit, strengthen, or consolidate skills at different points in their development. They are not tied to age or grade levels, recognizing that inquiry develops differently for every learner.

Why are the Inquiry Learning Progressions important?

The IB Inquiry Learning Progressions help schools make inquiry more explicit, visible, and measurable.

They support educators in:

• Planning targeted inquiry-based learning experiences
• Developing Approaches to Learning (ATL) skills intentionally
• Tracking growth in inquiry skills over time
• Giving students clearer feedback about how they learn
• Building a shared language around inquiry across the school

The progressions help move learners from surface-level curiosity toward increasingly sophisticated investigation, reflection, collaboration, and decision-making.

Key areas in the PYP Inquiry Progressions

The first inquiry progressions focus on core inquiry behaviors such as:

• Observation
• Questioning
• Decision-making
• Role- and turn-taking

Over time, learners develop greater independence, critical thinking, collaboration, and the ability to engage in deeper conceptual inquiry.

How Qridi Core supports the IB Inquiry Progressions

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Qridi Core includes the IB Inquiry Learning Progressions directly within its curriculum mapping and learning documentation tools.

Schools can:

• Tag inquiry skills within learning engagements
• Track inquiry development over time
• Gather evidence of ATL skill growth
• Visualize inquiry learning across subjects and year levels
• Identify strengths and gaps in inquiry opportunities

Even schools that are just beginning to explore the inquiry progressions can start gathering meaningful learning data immediately, based on how current learning experiences support the development of inquiry skills.

This makes inquiry learning more visible for teachers, students, and school leaders.

Start making inquiry learning visible across your school

The IB Inquiry Learning Progressions offer schools a powerful way to make inquiry skills explicit, trackable, and developmentally meaningful. With Qridi Core, schools can move beyond isolated inquiry experiences and begin building a shared understanding of how inquiry develops across classrooms, subjects, and year levels.

Whether your school is just beginning to explore the inquiry progressions or already embedding inquiry deeply into teaching and learning, Qridi Core helps you map, document, and visualize inquiry growth in practical and meaningful ways.

Download the free Illustrated Inquiry Skills Progression Mini-Posters to support classroom implementation and start exploring how inquiry learning can become more visible throughout your school community.

[Download the Inquiry Skills Progression Mini-Posters]

Further Reading

Inquiry Learning Progressions Overview

Meanings and practices of inquiry-based teaching and learning in the International Baccalaureate (2022)

Want to see how Qridi Core supports the IB Inquiry Learning Progressions in practice? Book a conversation with our team to learn more.

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