Marks and the IB Programme

Students enrolled in the full IB Diploma Programme must take 3 Higher Level (HL) and 3
Standard Level (SL) courses. Students can test out of up to 2 SL courses in May of their
grade 11 year. At Dr. J.H. Gillis, students writing French SL will test out in May, those
choosing French HL will write in May 2009, along with their other exams. Students
report cards will reflect percentage marks based on assignments and tests administered
throughout the term. The IB certificate will reflect the 1-7 marking scheme. For
comparison, universities usually accept a final IB mark of 5, 6, or 7 as criteria for
advanced credit in Higher Level courses. It is recommended that students and their
parents go to the university recognition section (found in Mary MacDonalds strait up for
parents site) to determine what total score individual universities are looking for when
granting scholarships or advanced credit.

The following table is a summary of the 1 to 7 grade descriptors used by IB.

Grade 7
Grade 6
Grade 5
Grade 4
Grade 3
Grade 2
Grade 1

Excellent Performance
Very Good Performance
Good Performance
Satisfactory Performance
Mediocre Performance
Poor Performance
Very Poor Performance

The Nova Scotia Department of Education has created the following conversion scale
that is to be used by all IB schools in Nova Scotia:
Grade
7
6
5
4
3
2
1

Conversion Scale
96-100
90-95
80-89
70-79
60-69
Not Acceptable
Not Acceptable

A complete set of regulations and rules for Awarding the IB Certificate can be found in
the document General Regulations: Diploma Programme, Article 15. All parents and

students are required to read this document. In order to gain an IB Diploma, a student
needs to accumulate 24 points. One exception to the rule is for students who score a
two or less on a Higher Level exam. If this is the case, then the total marks a student
has to accumulate increases to 28. Candidates should note that the highest potential
overall score a student can attain in IB is 45 points. This is made up of the six exams,
totaling a possible 42 points (7 points per exam). The final three points are from the
Extended Essay and TOK paper. IB uses a grading matrix that cross references the
level attained in the Extended Essay with the level from the TOK paper.

Extended
Essay

Theory of Knowledge
A
B
A
+3
+3
B
+3
+2
C
+2
+1
D
+2
+1
E
+1
0

C
+2
+1
+1
0
0

D
+2
+1
0
0
0

E
+1
0
0
0
F

For example, a student who receives level A for the Theory of Knowledge paper and
level C for the Extended Essay will be given two points. Students should be aware that
a level E on both the Extended Essay and Theory of Knowledge submissions will gain
them an F, which means that a student has failed the Diploma program even if all exam
scores add up to the minimum 24 required points. As can be seen in the above matrix,
the maximum number of points granted to an IB student from TOK and their Extended
Essay is three. This, combined with the exam total, adds up to the full 45 points.