STUDIES
Assessment in the IB Diploma
Most courses are based on external assessment. These exams are made and marked by staff who does not work at the school, which guarantees their objectivity and reliability. These external tests may assess knowledge through essays, structured problems, short-answer questions, questions based on text or data and case-study questions, among others.
Internal assessment is done by the teachers in each school, but they follow standardized procedures. They can include, for example, oral expression tasks in Language subjects, field work in Geography, lab experiments in Science, or live performances in Arts.
How are grades awarded in the IB?
In the IB, grades go from 1 to 7 (the highest) for each subject taken in the diploma. The final grade combines those of each subject, and the students need at least 24 points to obtain the diploma. Learners also need to achieve some minimum performance levels to receive the certificate.
The highest possible score in IB is 45, 42 points of which are obtained with the six courses. The remaining three points can be obtained with the Theory of Knowledge course (TOK) and the extended essay.