If we talk about grades, most of you would probably imagine marks obtained during final examinations that are conducted at the end of every academic year. While it’s true for schools following the traditional academic boards, the scenario is different for IB schools.
We understand that if you’re new to IB schools, it’s natural to be curious about their grading system. So, basically, all IB schools, such asApeejay School International, follow a more holistic approach to grading students throughout their academic year. Instead of judging students on the basis of how much they can memorise for a test, we test how each student learns, applies knowledge, reflects, and grows over time.
Today, in this blog post, we, at Apeejay School International, recognised among the best international school in Delhi, are breaking down the concept of grading in IB schools further for you to understand the unique assessment policy at our school and how it has been designed for the optimal benefit of students. Read the full blog to understand the key highlights of this grading system.
Philosophy of Assessment at IB Schools
Before we explore the grading approach, it’s crucial to understand the grading philosophy so you understand why specific assessment methods have been chosen for grading students’ performance.
The thing is that IB schools don’t consider assessment to be different from learning. Hence, assessment is strategically woven into the teaching process itself. At Apeejay School International, we firmly believe that assessment should do more than assigning scores to learners; it should encourage curiosity, self-reflection, and continuous improvement. This is why the ‘best-fit’ approach is used for awarding grades, wherein teachers look at the overall picture of a child’s performance across tasks and decide which grade closely matches their achievement.
This approach ensures that instead of being judged on one test, students’ grades reflect their consistent pattern of learning.
Grading System at IB Schools
Now that you’ve understood the philosophy behind the assessment approach at IB schools, you can better understand the methods used for continuous assessment. IB students are mostly graded without exams based on the following points:
- Formative Assessments
Formative assessments are a core component of assessments in IB’s MYP program, and are conducted throughout the year. These ongoing assessments are strategically interwoven with daily learning activities to gauge what students have learned and understood. This enables teachers to plan the future course of action accordingly.
Formative assessments can be done using class quizzes, group work, presentations, or even teacher-student discussions. These assessments may not always be graded because their primary purpose is to identify how well concepts are being understood.
- Summative Assessments
Summative assessments are conducted at the end of a unit/term/project to evaluate progress and demonstrate what students have learned over a period of time. Unlike formative assessments, summative assessments are formally graded even though they don’t always look like a traditional exam. These assessments can be conducted through written essays, research projects, science investigations, etc.
What makes this evaluation approach different is that it’s mapped against specific IB subject criteria instead of being the same for all. For example, a science assessment is graded based on how well a student designs an experiment, analyses results, and explains the findings, not just whether they can learn and write specific concepts on the answer sheet. This approach ensures grades reflect real skills and subject understanding.
- Use of Assessment Criteria and Descriptors
Every subject in the IB framework has a pre-determined criterion that describes what students should be able to achieve. This criterion is then used by teachers to assign grades to students. The level of achievement ranges from 1 to 7, with detailed descriptors explaining what each level means.
So, if a student scores 7, it generally showcases mastery of skills and concepts. Students scoring a 4 may reflect a satisfactory but incomplete understanding of a subject or skill. Since grades are criterion-referenced, students are judged against the standard instead of being compared with their classmates. This grading system stands out because it ensures fairness and clarity. It helps students understand what is needed to reach the next level.
- Internal Assessments and Deadlines
Internal assessments comprise a very important part of the grading system at IB schools. At Apeejay School International, one of the top IB schools in Delhi, these assessments are designed by teachers and students are required to submit them at different points in the year. Strict deadlines are set for all internal assessments.
While internal assessments can vary from one class to another, a common example is a research essay or a science lab report that must be handed over to teachers on time, following clear guidelines. Teachers then mark these projects using the IB criteria, and the authenticity of the work is carefully checked.
So, although tough, this evaluation method actually works great to teach students about accountability, time management, and the value of producing original work. These are the skills that go far beyond academics and contribute to a person’s success in all spheres of life.
- Predicted Grades
Another unique highlight of IB schools’ grading system is the predicted grades method. Here, teachers use evidence from a student’s performance across formative tasks, summative assessments, and internal assignments to predict the grade a student is most likely to achieve. These predictions are not guesswork but based on cumulative data and careful judgment.
Predicted grades are awarded to students in 11th and 12th standards and are significantly crucial for university applications because many international colleges ask for predicted grades before final IB results are released. Predicted grades can be really reassuring for both students and parents, as it’s obtained based on long-term observation of a student’s learning activities, not just one test.
Conclusion
Parents and students new to IB schools may find the entire grading system to be significantly different from what is followed in non-IB schools. Comparatively, IB’s grading system is more holistic and focuses on students’ level of understanding instead of rote memorisation. We’ve shared key assessment methods in this blog to give you a clear understanding of how IB students are graded.
At Apeejay School International, a well-known and one of the top IB schools in Delhi, we believe this holistic evaluation approach is ideally the better way to assess students’ skillset because it measures the real, practical knowledge retained by them rather than judging them on the basis of their memorisation power. It ensures that every learner not just gains a real understanding of concepts but also grows in terms of creativity and responsibility. This means learning in the IB framework isn’t just recorded but shaped for students’ best interests. It benefits students immensely by equipping them with the skills needed to succeed in life beyond school. Indeed, one of the many reasons we at Apeejay School International feel extremely proud of being an IB school.
