How grading works

Grades 1 to 7

Each subject is graded from 1 to 7, with 7 the highest. HL and SL subjects are graded on the same scale, judged against the same grade descriptors, and count the same towards your total. TOK and the extended essay are graded from A to E instead; What the Diploma is shows how they turn into points.

Components and weightings

Every subject is assessed in parts, called components:

• External assessment: the exam papers, and some coursework marked by IB examiners, such as the TOK essay and the extended essay;
• Internal assessment (IA): coursework marked by your teacher, then checked by the IB.

Each component has a fixed share of the final mark, set out in the subject guide. In the sciences, for example, the IA is 20%; in the math courses, the exploration is 20%. The papers share the rest. The weightings differ between SL and HL in many subjects, because the same paper can be longer or carry more weight at HL.

From marks to a grade

Your marks from each component are weighted and added into a total. The total is then turned into a grade using grade boundaries: the lowest total that earns each grade.

Boundaries are set after the exams, for each subject, level and session, at a grade award meeting. Senior examiners look at real scripts against the grade descriptors (what a 7, a 6 or a 4 looks like) and decide where each boundary falls.

That is why boundaries move. A harder paper gets lower boundaries, so the same standard of work earns the same grade. It's also why nobody outside the IB knows a session's boundaries before results day. A "predicted grade" calculator on any site, ours included, can only use past boundaries as a guide.

The grade boundaries page lists recent boundaries for the subjects we have them for.

Moderation of the IA

Your teacher marks your IA against the subject's criteria. The IB then asks for a sample from your school (usually up to ten students for a subject and level) and a moderator re-marks it. If the teacher's marks are too generous or too harsh, the IB adjusts the marks of every student at the school in that subject, up or down.

So the IA mark your teacher gives you isn't final. It's usually close, but don't count on it to the mark.

Predicted grades

Your teachers send the IB a predicted grade for each subject before the exams. Universities usually see predicted grades too, often before you have results. They are your teachers' judgment of what you are likely to get, not an IB calculation.

Results

Results for the May session come out in early July, and for the November session a few weeks after its exams end. You see them through the IB's results website with the details your school gives you. Exam sessions and timezones has the dates.

Asking for a re-mark

If a result looks wrong, your school can ask the IB to re-mark your work, return a copy of it, or re-moderate an IA. Only the school's IB coordinator can make these requests, they cost money, and each has a deadline after results.

A re-mark can raise your grade or lower it, so the IB needs written consent from you (or a parent or guardian) first. Talk to your coordinator early: they know the deadlines, the fees and whether a re-mark is likely to help.

Sources

• International Baccalaureate. Understanding DP assessment. Grades, components, grade descriptors and moderation.
• International Baccalaureate. Assessment FAQ. Grade award meetings, results release and inquiries.
• International Baccalaureate. Assessment principles and practices (2018).
• International Baccalaureate. Diploma Programme general regulations (2026). Enquiries upon results, consent and grades going down as well as up.
• International Baccalaureate. DP passing criteria.