IB Results Day 2023: Tougher exams this year? 2023 pass rate plunges by 7% compared to 2022
The global average IB scores for 2023 have been released, and it looks like this year’s cohort had a tougher time than the cohort from last year. The pass rate has plummeted from 86.11% in 2022 to just 79.35% in 2023 – a seven-point drop that suggests that the 2023 IB examinations were more challenging than those in previous years and that the IB have rowed back on granting further leeway to students who will have been impacted by the Covid years. .
Exam performance has lowered across the board since last year, with the DP mean grade dropping down to 4.84 (compared to 5.13 last year), the Average total points dipping down from 32 in 2022 to 30.24 in 2023, and the number of students who achieved the top mark of 45 points dropping dramatically from 772 in 2022 to just 179 students across the world in 2023.
These remarkable drops suggest that COVID-related grade inflation is now fully over, since 2023 results are now more in line with the average figures seen pre pandemic in 2019. The below table shows IB results averages over the year, and there is a marked increase in performance over the period of 2020-2022, reflecting the more generous marking schemes employed to account for the disruption experienced over the pandemic.
IB exam results global figures over the years
| Year | Diploma mean grade | Diploma Pass Rate | Diploma Average total points | Diploma Candidates with 45 Points | CP Pass rate | CP Mean grade |
| 2023 | 4.84 | 79.35 | 30.24 | 179 | ||
| 2022 | 5.13 | 86.11 | 32 | 772 | 81.39 | 4.10 |
| 2021 | 5.2 | 88.95 | 32.98 | 1,351 | NA | NA |
| 2020 | 4.95 | 85.18 | 31.34 | 339 | NA | NA |
| 2019 | 4.64 | 77.81 | 29.65 | 275 | NA | NA |
| 2018 | 4.79 | 78.18 | 29.76 | 259 | NA | NA |
| 2017 | 4.81 | 78.40 | 29.87 | 278 | NA | NA |
The International Baccalaureate Organisation (IBO) states that, in line with other national and international awarding organizations, the profile of grade distribution returned close to pre-pandemic standards in 2023. This return to established distributions of awarded grades is aligned with university expectations and has been a phased process:
results for the May 2022 and November 2022 examination sessions were closer to the results of 2019 than those of 2021.
However, mitigation for disruption to teaching and learning arising from the Covid-19 pandemic was applied during the setting of grade boundaries.
Olli-Pekka Heinonen, Director General of the International Baccalaureate, said:
“I am delighted to congratulate this year’s IB graduates. Their achievement in reaching this milestone is wonderful – and many will undoubtedly go on to achieve great things both at university and in their lives. Throughout its history, the IB has prided itself on giving the world many of its great change-makers, and this cohort will no doubt follow in this tradition. It is also exciting to be able to celebrate with students who have been able to experience the full breadth of what the IB has to offer after the many challenges of the last several years”.
For the May 2023 examination session, DP and CP students completed all assessment components for each subject and the IB awarded grades using all components, coursework and examinations.
We are still awaiting overall average grades for the UAE, and will update this when we receive them. We will now need to see whether the harsh marking of this year’s exams is picked up by universities in the way they respond to students holding offers of a place, but which fall short of the grades required.
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