Build something real. In seven phases.¶

The Part IB group design project is your first taste of a professional software project: a real client, a real team you didn't choose, and a deliberately hard brief. This is everything you need to keep on top of it — the phases, the deadlines, and the requirements that earn your four ticks.

23 design briefs
7 phases
4 client meetings
60 hours per member
One 4-minute video
4 ticks to earn

Twenty-three briefs, twenty-three real clients¶

From a nanomedicine puzzle game to a SystemVerilog compiler, an accessibility tool for blind learners to a thermal-imaging survey of leaky houses. Every brief comes with an external client — and they are deliberately hard.

Browse the design briefs

The full text of every brief, with its client. See the 2026 design briefs for the most recent set.
Pick your preferences early

Preferences are recorded on Moodle by Monday 30 November 2026. Popular projects fill up.
How allocation works

There is no guarantee you get your first preference — or any of them. Assignments land at kick-off, and you work with colleagues you did not choose.

The requirements that actually decide your ticks¶

Most of the course is yours to design. These six rules are not — they run through every phase, and getting one wrong is the usual way a good project loses marks.

60 hours per member

The project plan must work to an overall budget of no more than 60 hours per person. Projects are expected to take 30–60 hours, spread over seven weeks.
Four compulsory client meetings

Meetings in weeks 1, 2, 4 and 6 of Lent term. Attendance is compulsory — failure to attend will jeopardise one or more of your ticks.
Copy everything to the project email

Copies of all deliverables must be sent to the project organisers, as these are used for assessment. The team name must appear in the subject line.
PDF, 12 noon the day before

Every formal document is a PDF, emailed to the client before 12 noon on the day preceding the meeting, so the client has time to review it.
Everyone contributes technically

Every member must make a substantial technical contribution — test harnesses, scripts, data conversion, interfaces, demos or core code.
Tue & Thu, 11:00–13:00

The lecture timetable reserves these slots on every Tuesday and Thursday of Lent term, giving explicit time for groups to meet and co-ordinate.

Everything must be copied to the group project email address

"It is essential that copies of all deliverables are sent to the project organizers, as these copies will be used for assessment." If the organisers don't have it, it wasn't submitted — no matter what your client received.

Seven phases, from brief to awards ceremony¶

Each phase has its own kind of activity, scheduled across different weeks and days as decided in your own group's project plan. This is the shape of the course; the full detail of each phase, with the tasks somebody has to own, is on The Seven Phases.

Phase	When	What happens
I · Briefing and project selection	Michaelmas term	Design briefs are presented, and you record the projects you would most like to work on.
II · Kickoff and risk analysis	Week 1	Teams are announced, a contact person is elected, and the first client meeting sets the requirements.
III · Requirements analysis	Week 2	Turn open-ended requirements into a formal functional specification and a costed project plan.
IV · Implementation	Weeks 2–6	Write, test and integrate the code, reporting progress at meetings 3 and 4.
V · Wrapup	Weeks 6–7	Finalise and document the code, film a four-minute video, and write the final group report.
VI · Presentation and awards	Week 8	Videos go online, the whole department votes, and the term closes with a public exhibition and prizes.
VII · Reflection and review	By 5pm, last Wednesday of Lent	An individual personal report reflecting on the experience, your contribution, and your team.

Four meetings, four documents¶

There are four formal review meetings with your client — in person or virtual — in weeks 1, 2, 4 and 6 of Lent term. It is your group's responsibility to arrange each one within the required week, and to email the preceding PDF before 12 noon the day before (copied to the group project address, team name in the subject).

Meeting	When	What it covers
Meeting 1	Week 1	Clarify the client's requirements. Meet as soon as you can. A risk assessment (≤50 words) follows within 24 hours.
Meeting 2	Week 2	Feedback on the functional specification and project plan. The draft reaches the client at least 24 hours beforehand.
Meeting 3	Week 4	Progress and feedback. Progress Report 1 is sent as a PDF at least 24 hours before.
Meeting 4	Week 6	Progress and feedback. Progress Report 2 is sent as a PDF at least 24 hours before.

Reserved co-ordination time

The lecture timetable reserves 11:00–13:00 on every Tuesday and Thursday of Lent term, giving explicit time for groups to meet and co-ordinate internally.

Four ticks, and the expectation you get all four¶

Performance is not assessed relative to other students. One tick recognises that the project succeeded; three recognise what you personally achieved.

The group tick

Awarded to all group members, recognising that the project has succeeded.
Worked with your team

You worked effectively with the members of your team.
Worked with your client

You maintained a professional relationship with your client.
Contributed technically

You personally made a substantial technical contribution.

How each is awarded, plus the interim self-assessment and the personal report, is covered on Guidance.

Read on¶

The Seven Phases

Every phase in full, with the tasks somebody has to own — marked team, contact person or individual.
Key Dates

The whole 2026–27 schedule, from the briefing lecture to the exhibition, and the three scheduling rules that are easy to get wrong.
Deliverables

All seventeen deliverables, team actions and individual tasks, and the four rules governing how each must be sent.
Guidance

What the course is trying to teach you, how the ticks are awarded, and the technical decisions — repository, filespace, hardware — to make early.

Where to go next¶

Curious what your client has been told? See the Industry Clients guide — their commitments, what they expect to receive, and how briefs are written.

Official pages: Group projects home · Course structure · Important dates