IB Grade Calculator

How to use the IB grade calculator

When the page loads, a made-up student is already filled in: 32 points and a diploma. Replace their grades with yours in four steps.

1. Set each subject’s level and grade. Pick HL or SL and a grade from 7 down to 1 for all six subjects. Predicted grades, mock results and final grades all work. Choose N if a subject has no grade.
2. Add your TOK and extended essay grades. Both are graded A to E, and together they decide your core points.
3. Tick CAS if it’s complete. CAS adds no points, but the diploma can’t be awarded without it.
4. Read the result. You get your total out of 45, whether the diploma would be awarded, and every condition the IB checks, each marked met or not met with the reason.

If you’re working from predicted grades, try your weakest realistic case as well. One extra grade 2, or an HL subject that slips by a grade, can turn a comfortable total into a fail.

Add a target, such as the score on a university offer, to see how many points you still need. The bilingual check is optional. To keep your grades, use Copy link: it saves them in the page address, so you can come back later or send them to your counselor.

The Subject grade tab works out one subject from its parts. Enter each component’s weight and your mark to get a weighted percentage. Add your grade boundaries and it turns that into a 1 to 7 grade and shows what you need on the components still to come.

How your IB score out of 45 is calculated

Your IB diploma score has two parts: the grades in your six subjects, and up to 3 core points from Theory of Knowledge (TOK) and the extended essay (EE). Each subject is graded from 7, the highest, down to 1, so the six subjects give at most 42 points. Add the 3 core points and the maximum IB score is 45.

Those six subjects come from the IB’s subject groups. You take at least one course each from studies in language and literature (group 1), language acquisition (group 2), individuals and societies (group 3, such as history, economics, psychology, geography or business management), sciences (group 4, such as biology, chemistry, physics or computer science) and mathematics (group 5). The sixth is an arts subject (group 6) or a second course from groups 1 to 5. A few interdisciplinary courses, such as environmental systems and societies, count for groups 3 and 4 at the same time.

Higher level and standard level subjects count the same. A 6 in an HL course adds 6 points, exactly like a 6 at SL. The level matters elsewhere, through separate minimums for your HL and SL points, which the next section covers. CAS (creativity, activity, service) is also part of the core, but it isn’t graded and adds no points.

In the calculator’s example, the six subject grades are 6, 5, 5, 5, 5 and 4, which makes 30 points. A B in TOK with a C in the extended essay earns 2 core points, so the total is 32 out of 45.

The core points matrix for TOK and the extended essay

TOK and the extended essay are each graded from A to E, and the IB turns the pair into core points with this matrix. Older guides and many calculators call them bonus points. The order doesn’t matter: an A in TOK with a C in the EE earns the same 2 points as a C in TOK with an A in the EE.

An E in either one is a failing condition: the diploma can’t be awarded, whatever your total. The IB’s own example is a B in TOK and a C in the extended essay, which earns 2 points.

Most core grades are a B or a C. In May 2025, C was the most common grade in both TOK (41.5%) and the extended essay (41.4%), and an E was rare, at 0.2% in TOK and 0.7% in the extended essay.

IB diploma requirements: 24 points and seven more conditions

To be awarded the IB diploma you need at least 24 points, but 24 isn’t enough on its own. The IB lists these conditions, and every one has to be met:

1. CAS requirements are met.
2. The total is at least 24 points.
3. A grade has been awarded in all six subjects, TOK and the extended essay.
4. Every subject has a grade of at least 2.
5. There are no more than two grade 2s.
6. There are no more than three grades of 3 or below.
7. At least 12 points come from HL subjects. If you take four HL subjects, your three highest HL grades count.
8. At least 9 points come from SL subjects. If you take two SL subjects, you need at least 5 points at SL.

On top of these, an E in TOK or the extended essay is a failing condition in the core points matrix.

The HL and SL minimums trip students up most often. HL grades of 4, 4 and 3 add up to 11, one short of 12, and that alone sinks the diploma, even when strong SL grades push the total past 24. A single 1 in any subject also fails the diploma, and so does a third grade 2 or a fourth grade of 3 or below.

It isn’t rare. In the May 2025 session, 3,592 candidates with 24 to 29 points weren’t awarded the diploma, and neither were 106 with 30 to 34 points or a handful (fewer than 10) with 35 to 39. That’s about one in five of the 18,530 candidates who missed the diploma, according to the IB’s final statistical bulletin.

A student who misses the diploma still gets a grade for each subject. The IB calls these DP course results.

Bilingual diploma conditions

A bilingual diploma is awarded on top of the diploma in two situations:

• you complete two group 1 (studies in language and literature) courses in different languages, with a grade 3 or higher in both, or
• you complete a group 3 (individuals and societies) or group 4 (sciences) subject in a language other than your group 1 language, with a grade 3 or higher in that subject and in your group 1 course.

The extended essay, a school-based syllabus and any subject taken on top of your six can’t count toward it.

The IB grading scale: what 1 to 7 means

Every Diploma Programme subject is graded on the same scale, from 7, the highest, down to 1. HL and SL courses are judged against the same grade descriptors, and HL students are expected to show them across a larger body of knowledge. TOK and the extended essay use letters instead, from A down to E, and CAS isn’t graded at all.

So is a 4 a fail in IB? No. The IB has no single pass mark for a subject, and no rule limits how many 4s you can have, although three HL grades of 4 or lower can leave you short of the 12 points needed at HL. A 2 isn’t an automatic fail either, but it uses up one of the two grade 2s you’re allowed. A 1 always fails the diploma.

Why no percentage guarantees a 7

There’s no fixed percentage for a 7, a 5 or any other IB grade. The IB marks each component, combines the marks using the subject’s weightings, and then divides the total along the 1 to 7 scale. Those cut-off points are the grade boundaries. They’re set mainly by reviewing real candidate work against the grade descriptors, so they can move from one session to the next and differ between subjects and between HL and SL.

So “Is 70% a 7 in IB?” and “Is 60% a 5?” have the same honest answer: it depends on the subject and the session. Your teacher can tell you the boundaries they’re working with. After results, your school’s IB coordinator can share a detailed view with your scaled mark, the boundaries on either side of your grade, and how many marks you were from the next grade.

Estimating one subject’s grade from your marks

The Subject grade tab weights each component by its share of the final grade. Every IB subject sets its own weightings for its papers and its internal assessment, so take the weights from your subject guide or ask your teacher.

For math and the three main sciences, the IB’s subject guides set these weights, so you can copy them straight into the tab:

The math weights are for the courses first assessed in 2021, and the IB’s new math courses (first assessment 2029) keep the same split. The science weights apply from May 2025, when the current biology, chemistry and physics courses were first examined. For other subjects, check your subject guide or ask your teacher, since weights differ from course to course.

IB examiners mark the papers, which the IB calls external assessment. The internal assessment is coursework marked by your teacher and then moderated by the IB, so an IA mark you’ve been given can still move before it counts. The TOK essay and the extended essay are coursework too, but IB examiners mark them.

The tab opens with an example. Paper 1 is worth 40% and you scored 62%. Paper 2 is worth 40% and isn’t marked yet. The internal assessment is worth 20% and you scored 18 out of 24, which is 75%. So far that’s (40 × 62 + 20 × 75) ÷ 60 = 66.33%.

Now add boundaries. Say your teacher’s are 80% for a 7, 68% for a 6, 56% for a 5, 45% for a 4, 35% for a 3 and 20% for a 2. These are only an illustration, not real IB boundaries. At 66.33% you’re on a 5, 1.67 percentage points below a 6. With Paper 2 still to come, you’d need an average of 70.5% on it for a 6 and 40.5% to keep the 5. A 7 is out of reach, because it would take 100.5%.

Leave the boundaries blank and the tab shows the weighted mark only. It never guesses a grade, because boundaries change every session.

Worked examples

31 points: diploma awarded

English A HL 6, History HL 5, Biology HL 5, Spanish B SL 5, Mathematics SL 4 and Visual Arts SL 4 make 29 subject points. A B in TOK with a C in the extended essay adds 2, for 31. That’s 16 points at HL and 13 at SL, no grade below 4, and CAS complete, so every condition is met.

26 points: not awarded

HL grades of 4, 4 and 3 and SL grades of 5, 5 and 5 make 26, and a C in TOK with a D in the extended essay adds no core points. The total clears 24, but there are only 11 points at HL, one short of 12. No diploma.

30 points with an E in the extended essay: not awarded

Six subjects at 6, 5, 5, 5, 5 and 4 make 30. An A in TOK would normally earn core points, but the extended essay got an E, which is a failing condition. The core adds nothing, and 30 points aren’t enough to save the diploma.

Four HL subjects: diploma awarded

Take HL grades of 7, 6, 5 and 2, SL grades of 5 and 5, an A in TOK and a B in the extended essay. The HL check uses the three highest HL grades: 7 + 6 + 5 = 18. With two SL subjects the SL minimum drops to 5 points, and 10 clears it easily. The total is 30 + 3 = 33, with one grade 2, and the diploma is awarded.

Is your IB score good? The IB’s own numbers

The global average IB diploma score in the May 2026 session was 30.88 points, up from 30.58 in 2025, and 82.61% of candidates passed. In all, 209,607 students received Diploma Programme and Career-related Programme results, and 10,526 diploma candidates scored over 40.

The IB’s May 2025 statistical bulletin shows how totals spread across diploma candidates:

Put a 36 or a 37 against those numbers and it lands in the 35 to 39 band, ahead of about 70% of candidates. A 42 is in the top band, which held 9.8% of candidates in 2025. A 28 passes as long as every condition is met, and sits in the most common band, 24 to 29. Since May 2023 the IB’s statistical bulletin no longer reports how many students score a perfect 45.

If you compare yourself only with students who earned the diploma, their May 2025 average was 32.8 points. Across all diploma candidates, the average subject grade was 4.9.

What counts as good also depends on where you’re applying. Universities set their own IB requirements, often a total plus minimum grades in particular HL subjects, so check each course’s published offer.

Can you convert IB grades to a GPA or a letter grade?

Not officially. The IB says it doesn’t provide or endorse a conversion table to the US A to F scale or to the 4.0 GPA scale. US grading scales are set by states and school districts, and many universities recalculate GPAs with their own rules as part of a holistic review. The IB recommends that schools send grades on its own 1 to 7 scale.

So “Is a 7 in IB an A?” and “What is a 7 in GPA?” have no single answer, and any chart that sets 7 equal to 4.0 is someone’s own convention, not the IB’s. If your school reports IB class grades as a US GPA, it follows its own policy, and some schools give IB classes extra weight. The high school grade point average calculator can show how that kind of weighting changes a GPA.

How this calculator works

The Diploma score tab is an IB score calculator that follows the IB’s published Diploma Programme passing criteria, last updated on February 19, 2026. It adds the six subject grades, looks up the core points in the TOK and extended essay matrix, and checks each condition in the order the IB lists them. The Subject grade tab is a weighted average of the components you enter, and it shows a grade only with boundaries you supply.

Everything runs in your browser, and nothing you type is sent or stored. The result is an estimate: only the IB awards grades and the diploma, and this site isn’t affiliated with or endorsed by the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO).

Sources

• International Baccalaureate, DP passing criteria (updated February 2026)
• International Baccalaureate, Understanding DP assessment
• International Baccalaureate, Assessment FAQ
• International Baccalaureate, IB grade conversion for universities in the USA
• International Baccalaureate, DP and CP final statistical bulletin, May 2025 (PDF)
• International Baccalaureate, More than 209,000 IB students worldwide receive their DP and CP results (July 2026)
• International Baccalaureate, Mathematics: analysis and approaches guide (first assessment 2021, PDF)
• International Baccalaureate, Mathematics: applications and interpretation guide (first assessment 2021, PDF)
• International Baccalaureate, subject briefs for biology, chemistry and physics (first assessment 2025, PDF)
• Tes, IB results 2026: Diploma Programme scores rise once again (July 2026)

Built and maintained by Mahmudul, the creator of Calculate Your Grade. Diploma rules checked against the IB’s published passing criteria and assessment guidance listed above. Last reviewed October 2026.

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Frequently asked questions