Quick Answer IB grade boundaries for 2026 are not published in advance. Based on recent sessions, a grade 7 typically needs 65% to 85% of raw marks, depending on the subject. Sciences and Mathematics HL tend to sit lower, often 65% to 76%, while Language A subjects tend to sit higher, often 76% to 91%. Each subject, level, and session (May or November) gets its own boundary once marking is complete. |
Every results season, IB Diploma students ask the same question: how many marks do I actually need for a 7? The honest answer is that nobody, not even your school, knows the exact number until after the exam papers are marked. What we can do is show you how boundaries have behaved across recent sessions, subject by subject, so you are planning against real patterns rather than guesswork.
This guide breaks down the IB grading process, walks through typical grade boundary ranges across all six subject groups, and explains where to find the real, confirmed numbers once May 2026 and November 2026 results are released.
What Are IB Grade Boundaries, and Why Do They Change Every Session?
An IB grade boundary is the minimum raw mark a student needs, out of the total marks available for a subject and level, to be awarded a specific grade from 1 to 7. It is not a fixed percentage that applies across every subject and every year. A 73% raw score might earn a 7 in one subject and only a 5 in another, because each subject’s boundary is set separately.
Boundaries also move between sessions. A boundary confirmed for May 2025 tells you almost nothing certain about May 2026, because a new cohort sits a new paper with its own level of difficulty. Students who plan their revision around last year’s exact cut-off, rather than the pattern of movement, are usually the ones caught out.
How the IBO Actually Sets Grade Boundaries
Grade boundaries are decided after every subject has been marked, at what the IBO calls a Grade Award meeting. Senior examiners and the chief examiner for each subject review two separate types of evidence before agreeing on the final cut-offs:
- Statistical evidence: how the current cohort’s raw marks compare with previous sessions, which flags whether a paper was harder or easier than intended.
- Judgemental review: examiners physically read scripts sitting at the proposed boundary mark and check whether that standard of work matches the IB’s published grade descriptors for that grade.
Neither input decides the outcome alone. A harder paper pulls the statistical data down, but examiners still confirm that the work at each boundary genuinely reflects that grade’s descriptor before anything is finalised. This is also why a lower boundary in a given session is not the IBO being lenient. It usually means the paper was more demanding, and the cut-off moved down to keep the standard of a 7 consistent with previous years.
Quick Answer IB grade boundaries move up or down mainly based on two things: how difficult that year’s exam paper was, and how the global cohort of students performed. A harder paper usually pulls boundaries lower. A stronger cohort or a more accessible paper usually pushes boundaries higher. Both factors are confirmed only after marking, so no prediction can be treated as certain. |
Will IB Grade Boundaries 2026 Be Higher or Lower?
There is no single answer that applies across every subject. In most sessions, some subjects drift upward, some drift downward, and several barely move at all, even within the same subject group. A few patterns are still useful for planning:
- Newer or recently revised syllabi (such as Computer Science, Digital Society, or Design Technology’s updated papers) tend to show more year-to-year movement while teachers and examiners are still calibrating what strong work looks like.
- Subjects with a heavy coursework or Internal Assessment component are somewhat more stable, since strong IA performance can offset a harder exam paper.
- Mathematics and the Sciences historically show the widest swings between sessions, because small shifts in question style affect scores across the entire global cohort at once.
The practical takeaway is to treat any single predicted number as the middle of a range, not a guarantee, and build in a mark buffer above the typical boundary rather than aiming to land exactly on it.
IB Grade Boundaries 2026: Subject-by-Subject Reference Table
The table below covers all six IB subject groups and reflects the typical range a grade 7 and a grade 4 (pass) have required across recent sessions. These are historical patterns, not confirmed 2026 figures, and they are provided so students can see roughly where their subject sits relative to others rather than to set an exact revision target.
| Subject Group | Subject | Level | Typical Grade 7 Boundary | Typical Grade 4 (Pass) Boundary |
| Group 1: Language A | English A Language & Literature | HL / SL | 76% to 80% | 38% to 42% |
| Group 2: Language Acquisition | English B (Language Acquisition) | HL | 85% to 91% | 44% to 48% |
| Group 2: Language Acquisition | Language B (most languages) | HL / SL | 70% to 80% | 36% to 42% |
| Group 3: Individuals & Societies | Economics | HL | 75% to 84% | 40% to 44% |
| Group 3: Individuals & Societies | Business Management | HL | 70% to 77% | 36% to 40% |
| Group 3: Individuals & Societies | Psychology | HL | 65% to 70% | 32% to 36% |
| Group 3: Individuals & Societies | History | HL | 74% to 78% | 35% to 38% |
| Group 4: Sciences | Biology | HL / SL | 75% to 83% | 38% to 42% |
| Group 4: Sciences | Chemistry | HL | 72% to 82% | 38% to 42% |
| Group 4: Sciences | Physics | HL | 65% to 72% | 33% to 37% |
| Group 5: Mathematics | Analysis & Approaches (AA) | HL | 65% to 80% | 32% to 36% |
| Group 5: Mathematics | Analysis & Approaches (AA) | SL | 75% to 85% | 31% to 35% |
| Group 5: Mathematics | Applications & Interpretation (AI) | HL / SL | 62% to 75% | 29% to 33% |
| Group 6: The Arts | Visual Arts / Film / Theatre | HL / SL | 68% to 76% | 34% to 38% |
Two things stand out from this table that most students get wrong. First, English B HL regularly has one of the highest grade 7 boundaries across the entire Diploma Programme, well above English A. Worth noting: English B sits in Group 2 (Language Acquisition), not Group 1 alongside English A, so this is a cross-group comparison rather than two courses assessed on the same scale. The higher boundary reflects English B’s native-level fluency descriptors. Second, Mathematics: Applications and Interpretation tends to require a lower raw percentage for a 7 than Analysis and Approaches, which surprises students who assume AI is the “easier” course. If you are weighing up Maths pathways or want subject-specific support, our IB Mathematics tutoring page breaks down both AA and AI in more detail.
Does the May 2026 Session Differ From November 2026?
Yes, and this is a distinction most grade boundary articles skip entirely. The November session is smaller and skews toward two groups: students in the Southern Hemisphere sitting exams on a different academic calendar, and students retaking a subject after May. That different composition changes the statistical profile examiners are working from, so it is common for the same subject and paper to land on a different boundary in November than it did the previous May.
If you are retaking a subject in November 2026, do not assume the May 2026 boundary applies to you. Treat it as a separate session with its own Grade Award meeting.
TOK, the Extended Essay, and the Diploma Points Matrix
Theory of Knowledge and the Extended Essay sit outside the 1 to 7 subject scale entirely. Both are graded A to E by a separate award process, and the two grades are combined in a bonus matrix that awards 0 to 3 additional points toward the 45-point maximum.
The part students consistently underestimate is that the matrix is not symmetrical. A student with an A in TOK and a B in the Extended Essay earns 2 bonus points, while a student with an A in TOK and a C in the EE earns 0 — the E-failure rule means any C, D, or E in either component eliminates bonus points entirely. At the bottom of the scale, the stakes get higher still: an E grade in either TOK or the Extended Essay triggers automatic failure of the diploma, regardless of how well the six subjects were scored. A student with 40 points across their subjects will not receive the diploma if TOK or the EE is graded E.
Because of this, TOK and EE deserve the same planning attention as your subject grades, not an afterthought in the final term. Our 1-on-1 Guidance and Support sessions are built specifically for Internal Assessment and Extended Essay review, with detailed, mark-scheme-aligned feedback rather than general comments.
Quick Answer TOK and the Extended Essay are graded A to E separately from your six subjects and combine for up to 3 bonus points. An E grade in either component fails the diploma automatically, even if your total subject score is well above 24 points. |
Common Misconceptions About IB Grade Boundaries
“A 75% raw score always gets a grade 7.”
There is no fixed percentage that applies across subjects or sessions. The same raw score can land anywhere from a 5 to a 7 depending on which subject, level, and session it was scored in.
“A lower boundary means the exam was easier.”
It is usually the opposite. Lower boundaries are the IBO’s way of correcting for a harder-than-intended paper, so that students demonstrating the same underlying ability still receive the grade that reflects it.
“Last year’s boundary is a safe target for this year.”
Boundaries reset every session based on that year’s paper and cohort. Use historical boundaries to understand the typical range for your subject, then aim comfortably above it rather than exactly at it.
“Community-reported boundaries on forums are official.”
Community databases and exam-prep forums aggregate self-reported marks from students. They can indicate general difficulty trends but should never replace your IB Coordinator’s confirmed table.
Where to Find Official IB Grade Boundaries Once They Are Released
The IBO does not publish grade boundaries as public documents. They are released to schools through IBIS and My IB, the IBO’s secure systems, which students cannot access directly. Three sources are worth knowing:
- Your IB Coordinator: the fastest and most accurate route. Coordinators can pull the full boundary table for your session directly from IBIS shortly after results are released.
- Subject reports: published by the IBO a few months after each session, written by chief examiners, and often more useful than the raw number because they explain where candidates typically lost marks.
- Community databases (used cautiously): aggregated, self-reported figures that can indicate general difficulty trends but should never replace your coordinator’s confirmed table.
Avoid PDFs circulating on social media claiming to show official boundaries. These are frequently mislabelled by session or year, and the IBO does not distribute boundary tables in that format.
How to Prepare When You Cannot Predict the Exact Boundary
Since the exact 2026 boundary for your subject will not exist until after your exam is marked, the most useful strategy is building a margin rather than chasing a specific number.
- Practise against the typical range for your subject, not a single figure, and aim 5 to 10 marks above the upper end of that range.
- Mark your own timed papers strictly against the official mark scheme, not your own sense of what deserves credit, so you know exactly where marks are being lost.
- Prioritise the components where you are furthest below a comfortable margin. A mark gained on a weak component is usually worth more to your final grade than an extra mark on one you have already secured.
This is exactly the kind of targeted, mark-scheme-driven preparation our examiners and subject specialists work on with students inside our IB Tutoring Services, across Sciences, Mathematics, Economics, Business Management, Psychology, and every other Diploma Programme subject, or one of our Rapid Revision Courses, which are built specifically around mark-scheme-driven exam preparation.
Not Sure Where You Stand Against Your Subject’s Boundary? A certified IB examiner or specialist tutor can mark your practice papers against the real mark scheme and show you exactly how many marks separate you from a 6 or a 7. Book a session with IB Innovators and start closing the gap with subject-specific, mark-scheme-driven support. |
Frequently Asked Questions
There is no single percentage, since each subject sets its own boundary after marking. Based on recent sessions, a 7 typically needs 65% to 85% of raw marks, with Sciences and Mathematics HL often lower and Language A subjects often higher. The confirmed 2026 figures are only released after results day.
No. The IBO finalises boundaries only after every script is marked, and releases them to schools through IBIS around the same time students receive results, typically early July for May 2026 and early January 2027 for November 2026. They are never published in advance.
Yes. Higher Level and Standard Level papers are assessed separately, with different content depth and mark schemes, so each level gets its own grade boundary. An HL and SL boundary for the same subject can differ by several percentage points in either direction.
Boundaries are reset at every Grade Award meeting based on that session's specific paper difficulty and global cohort performance. A harder paper typically lowers the boundary, while a stronger cohort or more accessible paper typically raises it, so no two sessions use identical cut-offs.
Ask your IB Coordinator, who can retrieve the confirmed boundary table for your session through IBIS shortly after results day. IBO subject reports, published a few months later, also reference boundary data along with examiner commentary on where marks were typically lost.
