Assessment & Grading System
An essential element of IB assessment is that standards are the same worldwide. The students’ performance is measured according to established standards and criteria that are consistent from place to place and year to year. The Diploma Programme’s grading system is criterion referenced: each student’s performance is measured against well defined levels of achievement consistent from one examination session to the next. Grades reflect attainment of knowledge and skills relative to set standards that are applied equally to all schools. Top grades are not, for example, awarded to a certain percentage of students.
Classroom teachers and IB examiners work in partnership to ensure that students have ample opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned. Responsibility for all academic judgements about the quality of students’ work rests with examiners worldwide led by chief examiners with international authority in their fields.
The IB diploma subjects are examined by a combination of continuous coursework (Internal Assessments) and written examinations at the end of the two-year programme. Internally assessed work usually accounts for a minimum 20% of the final grade in a subject. The modes of Internal Assessments are used to evaluate both the content and the process of academic achievement and include portfolios, essays, practical work, oral presentations and oral commentaries. The written examinations are taken in November in ACS (Independent).
Each examined subject is graded on a scale of 1 (minimum) to 7 (maximum). In order to be awarded the diploma, a student must meet defined standards and conditions, including a minimum total of 24 points (based on the notion that a grade 4 represents passing grade) and the satisfactory completion of the three diploma requirements; TOK, EE and CAS activities.
Excellent performance in all of the six subjects result in a total of 42 points (7 points for each subject). TOK and EE contribute to the overall score through a matrix system which awards up to 3 points based on the student’s combined performance. Thus the maximum diploma point score is 45 points.