Founded in the 1960s, the IBO grew out of international school efforts to establish a common curriculum and university entry credential for geographically mobile students. Grants from the Twentieth Century Fund, the Ford Foundation and others supported programme development. Because of the balanced curriculum and high standards of assessment, the Diploma Programme has evolved from its original purpose as a service to the international community and now also embraces member schools in national systems across the globe. The Middle Years Programme was added in 1992 and the Primary Years Programme in 1997. The IBO is governed by a 30-member Council of Foundation which meets annually.
Membership is drawn from governments, member schools and ad personam categories.
The director general is the chief executive officer overseeing the organization's work from Geneva. Curriculum and assessment activities are based in Cardiff, Wales in the United Kingdom. A network of regional offices in New York, Geneva, Buenos Aires and Singapore provides services to member schools, assisted by representatives in Stockholm, Sydney, Mumbai, Yokohama, Amman, Nairobi, Mexico City and Moscow.