FAQs Government and University Recognition

General enquiries – not country specific

Issue of results to public

The IB organization does not issue individual school results to the general public. We do, however, issue statistical information on the examination session a few months after the sessions are completed. These statistical bulletins are available on the IBO public website, the latest of which can be accessed here. These results will give you as sense of what the world averages were for the overall diploma, as well as individual subject results. You might wish to contact the schools you are interested in and ask how each of them fares against the world average.

Is it rigorous?

The IB diploma is certainly a rigorous program, and designed for the academically motivated 16-19 year old student who wishes to push himself/herself academically. The IB diploma is available in close to 300 schools in the Asia Pacific; each school will have their own entrance/eligibility requirements. For the most part, the diploma in the Asia Pacific region is recognized as equivalent to the national or state requirement for pre-university entrance. Students who earn an IB diploma are eligible to apply to universities around the world. However, it should be noted that many universities have additional eligibility requirements (SAT for the US universities, for example). In some universities in North America, entrance with an IB diploma can often result in an entire year of credit being waived, allowing students to graduate a year earlier than what would normally be expected.

For more information on university acceptance, please see the university section of the IB public website for each country. The country index (pull down menu) is available at http://www.ibo.org/country/index.cfm

Pass rates

The global pass rate for 2008 was 78.3% (meaning that percentage of registered diploma candidates earned their diplomas) which has not changed significantly from previous years. The mean diploma score is around 29/30 points, which includes the additional core points for Theory of Knowledge/Extended Essay.

For information on previous statistical bulletins for both the May and November sessions, see the public website:

http://www.ibo.org/facts/statbulletin/dpstats/index.cfm

Year 1 and 2 compatibility

IB courses offered in one school are not necessarily transferrable to another. Please note that the IB organization most certainly does impose strict standards and practices that are enforced to all IB schools that are authorized to offer our programmes. However, as part of the process, it is entirely up to the school to decide on how to develop and maintain records of student work between the first and second year of the diploma programme. Additionally, in the case of students who wish to transfer between the first and second year of the diploma programme, it is entirely up to the recipient school to decide what information and supporting evidence (such as courses being studied, internal coursework completion) is needed in deciding on whether or not to accept such a transfer candidate. Whilst one would hope that such a transition would be as seamless as possible, unfortunately it is not always straightforward. That said, your concern has been duly noted, and your experiences will be helpful to us in our regular review of both schools.

Comparisons with A level/IGCSE

Perhaps the best way to explain the three IB programmes (PYP/MYP/DP) would be to consider them as curriculum frameworks. Each programme (PYP, MYP, DP) has its own framework and transdisciplinary themes. Each of these frameworks set the parameters for inquiry based teaching and learning (pedagogy), all three of which are based on the learner profile and, of course, the IB mission statement. For the PYP and MYP, this means that schools are able to implement their own actual curriculum materials (or national curriculum) inside these frameworks. For example, a PYP school in Victoria, Australia would use the Victorian Essential Learning Standards (VELS) with the overarching framework of the PYP. Likewise, schools that use the MYP framework are able to integrate individual subject curricula such as the UK based IGCSE.

The DP is different in the sense that in addition to the framework, there is a specific curriculum documents for each of the 6 subject areas. The DP framework (in the last 2 years of senior school) requires that students study from 6 different subject areas (including a minimum of 2 languages), as well as completing a course called Theory of Knowledge (ToK), complete a 4,000 word extended essay (EE), and complete at least 150 hours of community service related activities (CAS). With respect to the courses in the subject areas, three of the courses must be completed at the higher level (HL) (greater depth) and three must be completed at the standard level (SL). Content-wise, the UK A level courses are quite similar to the HL courses, and the A/S level courses would be similar to the SL courses. Both the HL and SL courses are expected to be completed over the 2 years of the programme, along with the EE, ToK, CAS.

With respect to diploma assessment, there are significant differences between the UK curriculum and the IB programmes. Assessment in the IB is criterion related, meaning that student work is assessed against clear criterion that all teachers and students are provided throughout the course of study. In the DP, some of the work is assessed internally (ie by the classroom teacher) and moderated externally by IB appointed moderators throughout the world – both using the same criterion. Most of the work, however, is assessed externally by IB appointed examiners throughout the world (approximately 6,000 to date), again using uniform criteria. The assessments take on various forms depending on the subjects. For example, in sciences the internal work consists of laboratory work, while the external work consists of a series of (paper/pencil) examinations over a two day period. In music, students will submit for internal assessment a portfolio of work including recording of performances, original compositions, and case studies. For the external assessment, students will sit a comprehensive exam including score review and analysis. In the language exams, students submit for internal assessment, students submit oral recordings of responses to questions provided by their teachers, as well as samples of written work produced over the two years. Externally, the students sit for 2 papers to assess their ability to communicate ideas in the target language. As there are 7 different levels of IB languages available, and over a hundred different languages examined each year, the nature and types of questions will of course, vary considerably.

To ensure both reliability and validity, these examinations are the same for all students around the world. That is to say a student in Hong Kong will write the same examination as a student in London, on the same day, at approximately the same (local) time. The examiners are also moderated, meaning samples of their marking is again checked by more senior examiners. The subject marking culminates in a final grade committee meeting, where the ultimate grade boundaries for each subject (from 1- 7) are determined. Additionally, owing to the holistic nature of the diploma programme, a final diploma grade award meeting is held where all of the chief examiners of each subject come together to review all of the subjects together, and review individual cases as necessary.