Your overall IB grade from 1-7 is calculated based on your scores on both the internal assessment (your experiment report) and the external assessment (the exam). For details on how each aspect of the external assessment is scored, see this post: https://psychexamreview.com/how-is-the-ib-psychology-exam-graded/

How much each section counts toward your IB grade depends on whether you take SL or HL. These calculators provide an estimate of your IB Psychology grade based on your marks for each section. Details of how each section is calculated and the grade boundaries of the May 2023 Exam are below the calculators.

Here’s how the percentage scores are calculated for SL:

Internal Assessment is 25% of the overall grade:

The internal assessment for SL contains 22 possible marks, so each mark is multiplied by 1.136 for points counted towards your overall raw score out of 100.

External Assessment is 75% of the overall grade:

This is split between Paper 1 and Paper 2. Paper 1 is worth a total of 49 marks (3 SAQs each worth 9 marks and one ERQ worth 22 marks). Each mark on this paper is then multiplied by 1.02 towards your total points out of 100.

Paper 2 consists of one ERQ worth 22 marks. These marks are then multiplied by 1.136 to equal 25% of a total 100 points.

Here’s how the percentage scores are calculated for HL:

Internal Assessment is 20% of the overall grade:

For HL the internal assessment contains 22 possible marks, so these are multiplied by 0.91 to calculate points toward the raw score out of 100.

External Assessment is 80% of the overall grade:

This is split between paper 1 (40%), paper 2 (20%) and paper 3 (20%).

Paper 1 is worth 49 marks (same as SL) and each mark is multiplied by 0.816 points toward the total score. Paper 2 consists of two ERQs worth 22 marks for a total of 44 marks, each so each mark is multiplied by 0.454 points toward the percentage score. Paper 3 consists of 24 marks so each mark is multiplied by .833 points toward the percentage score.

Total Points (out of 100) Conversion to IB Grade

If you add up the total points (not to be confused with “marks”) above you’ll get a percentage score out of 100 that can be used to estimate your overall IB grade for psychology. Note that the exact grade boundaries change for each exam so this isn’t perfectly accurate. These numbers are from May 2021 time zone 1; students taking the exam in 2024 can expect similar but not identical grade boundaries.

SL Grade Boundaries (May 2023 TZ1)

0-8 = 1

9-19 = 2

20-29 = 3

30-44 = 4

45-58 = 5

59-73 = 6

74-100 = 7

HL Grade Boundaries (May 2023 TZ1)

0-9 = 1

10-21 = 2

22-34 = 3

35-48 = 4

49-60 = 5

61-73 = 6

74-100 = 7

Preparing for the IB Psychology Exam? The Master Introductory Psychology guide can help!

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