IB score calculator and grade boundaries
How IB scoring works: the 45-point system explained
Every IB diploma candidate takes six subjects, three or four at Higher Level and the rest at Standard Level. Each subject is graded on a scale of 1 to 7, giving a raw maximum of 42 subject points. The remaining 3 points come from the core: Theory of Knowledge (TOK) and the Extended Essay (EE) together award between 0 and 3 bonus points.
Maximum total: 6 subjects × 7 points = 42 + 3 bonus points = 45 points.
Calculate your Diploma total
38 / 4536 subject points + 2 bonus points
No failing condition applies to these grades. CAS and academic integrity also have to be met, and cannot be checked from grades.
How to calculate your predicted IB score step by step
- List your six subject predicted grades. Add them together. A student predicted 7, 7, 6, 6, 6, 6 scores 38 subject points.
- Add your TOK and EE grades to the bonus matrix (see the table below). The combination determines your bonus: 0, 1, 2, or 3 points.
- Sum subject points + bonus points. The result is your predicted IB diploma score.
- Check the failing conditions (see below).
Example: 7, 7, 7, 6, 6, 5 = 38 subject points. TOK grade A, EE grade B = 3 bonus points. Predicted total = 41 points.
IB bonus points matrix: TOK and Extended Essay
Your bonus depends on the letter grade you receive in both TOK and the EE (A highest to E lowest). An E in either TOK or EE is an automatic failing condition regardless of your total points.
| EE \ TOK | A | B | C | D | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EE A | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | Fail |
| EE B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | Fail |
| EE C | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | Fail |
| EE D | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Fail |
| EE E | Fail | Fail | Fail | Fail | Fail |
IB grade boundaries: what they are and why they change
Grade boundaries are the minimum marks needed for each grade from 1 to 7. The IB sets the boundaries for examined components at the end of each session's marking period, shortly before results are issued. They are not fixed. The same share of the marks can earn a 6 in one session and a 7 in another where the papers were harder.
Why grade boundaries change each session
- Paper difficulty: a harder paper usually means a lower mark is needed for each grade, so that a grade means the same standard from one year to the next.
- New syllabuses: the first sessions of a new course have no earlier boundaries for that course to compare with.
Where to find the boundaries
The IB publishes each session's boundaries to schools after marking, so no fixed percentage can be quoted for any subject. Your teacher or DP coordinator can tell you where the boundaries fell for your subject and level in recent sessions.
What some universities publish
Requirements are set per course and change from year to year, so the university's own course page is the only reliable source. Three well-known examples, as those universities stated them when we checked in September 2026:
- Oxford: 38, 39 or 40 points including core points, depending on the course, with 6s and 7s in Higher Level subjects. Course pages range from 666 to 776 at HL, and 666 or 766 are the most common.
- Cambridge: minimum offers of 41 to 42 points out of 45, with 776 at Higher Level. Some colleges ask for 777 or a higher total.
- ETH Zurich: 38 out of 42 points, without bonus points, with Mathematics, one of Physics, Chemistry or Biology, and one Language A at Higher Level, and three further subjects from a set list at Standard Level, for admission without an entrance examination.
US universities do not set IB point thresholds in the same way: they read the IB grades as part of the whole application.
Failing conditions: when a high score doesn't save you
The Diploma is not awarded if any of these applies, whatever the total:
- CAS requirements not met.
- Fewer than 24 points in total, bonus points included.
- An "N" for TOK, the EE or a contributing subject.
- A grade E for TOK, the EE or both.
- A grade 1 in any subject.
- Grade 2 three or more times, at SL or HL.
- Grade 3 or below four or more times, at SL or HL.
- Fewer than 12 points on HL subjects (with four HL subjects, the three highest grades count).
- Fewer than 9 points on SL subjects (with only two SL subjects, at least 5 points at SL).
- A penalty for academic misconduct imposed by the Final Award Committee.
Penalties for academic misconduct range from a warning letter to zero marks for a component, no grade ("N") for the subject and, in repeated or very serious cases, no grade in any subject. An N for TOK, the EE or a contributing subject means the Diploma is not awarded; for the Extended Essay the IB does not use a zero-marks penalty, because it has the same result as no grade.
Improve your essay scores, improve your Diploma total
Your Extended Essay grade and your TOK grade decide your bonus points between them (the TOK grade combines the essay, two-thirds, and the exhibition, one-third), and a weak draft usually also shapes the grade your teachers predict. Both are still in your hands while you are drafting. For the Extended Essay, ask your supervisor before you use any outside feedback: its guide says students are not allowed to receive assistance with any aspect of the research, writing or proofreading of the essay beyond that which is permitted through their supervisor.