IBonomicsWhat Percentage of Students Get a 7 in IB Biology?
Latest data: May 2026Provisional
In May 2026, 7.4% of the 33,585 students who took IB Biology HL were awarded a 7, and 5.5% of the 22,064 who took it at SL.
Compared with May 2025, the grade 7 rate was up from 7.2% at HL and down from 5.9% at SL.
- HL grade 7 rate
- 7.4%
- May 2025: 7.2%
- SL grade 7 rate
- 5.5%
- May 2025: 5.9%
Biology grade 7 rate by session
The share of students awarded a 7 at HL and SL in every session since November 2021. Solid lines are May sessions and dashed lines November, a much smaller session. The table adds the change from the same session a year earlier. For the other grades, see the IB Biology grade distribution.
| Session | HL | HL change | SL | SL change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2026provisional | 7.4% | +0.2 | 5.5% | −0.4 |
| November 2025 | 13.7% | +1.1 | 4.2% | +0.5 |
| May 2025 | 7.2% | +0.1 | 5.9% | +0.3 |
| November 2024 | 12.6% | +0.9 | 3.7% | +0.6 |
| May 2024 | 7.1% | — | 5.6% | — |
| November 2023 | 11.7% | — | 3.1% | — |
| May 2023 | 6.3% | −4.8 | 5.3% | −2.5 |
| November 2022 | 16.5% | −2.8 | 5.2% | −0.8 |
| May 2022 | 11.1% | — | 7.8% | — |
| November 2021 | 19.3% | — | 6.0% | — |
Change: the difference from the same session a year earlier, May from May and November from November, in percentage points.
—: no result for that session, or none a year earlier to compare it with.
Grade shares from November 2023 count students with no grade (N) and earlier ones don't, so changes across that point aren't shown.
- These bulletins print no N (no grade) column, so grades 1-7 are shares of the students who received a grade, and N is shown as —. (November 2021, May 2022, November 2022, May 2023)
- These bulletins include N (no grade) in the total, so grades 1-7 add up to less than 100% and are measured on a slightly different basis from sessions without an N column. (November 2023, May 2024, November 2024, May 2025, November 2025, May 2026)
- Grade cells the bulletin leaves blank are shown as 0.0%. (November 2021, May 2022, November 2022, May 2023, May 2024, May 2025)
- The IB states that these results combine examination and non-examination assessment routes, which were used during the COVID-19 disruption. (May 2022)
How the Biology grade 7 rate compares with other subjects
Of the 23 subjects with at least 100 students at HL in May 2026, IB Biology had the 12th highest grade 7 rate. At SL it had the joint 14th highest of 30. Every subject is ranked in IB subjects with the highest grade 7 rates.
The chart and table show the grade 7 rates of the subjects in Group 4: Sciences with at least 100 students at a level.
| Subject | HL | SL |
|---|---|---|
| Physics | 20.5% | 11.1% |
| Chemistry | 15.1% | 10.5% |
| Computer Science | 10.9% | 8.4% |
| Biology | 7.4% | 5.5% |
| Sports, Exercise and Health Science | 6.9% | 1.9% |
| Design Technology | 3.4% | 0.3% |
| Marine Science | — | 3.6% |
—: not offered at that level, or fewer than 100 students took it.
Rankings include every subject with at least 100 students at the level except the language courses, whose results are reported by language.
More Biology statistics
- IB Biology Exam StatisticsHL and SL side by side, with every session's results
- IB Biology HL StatisticsHigher Level (HL) results in every session, with grade distributions
- IB Biology SL StatisticsStandard Level (SL) results in every session, with grade distributions
- IB Biology Grade DistributionGrades 1 to 7 at HL and SL in every session
- Average IB Biology GradeMean grades in every session, and how they changed
Compare with other subjects
- IB Subjects With the Highest Grade 7 RatesSubjects ranked by the share of students awarded a 7
- Average IB Grade by SubjectMean grades at HL and SL, ranked
- Most Popular IB SubjectsSubjects ranked by number of students
- IB May 2026 Exam StatisticsEvery subject's results in May 2026, with the Diploma pass rate
- IB Results Explorer: All Subjects and LanguagesEvery subject and language, with no minimum number of students
Source and methodology
These statistics are from the International Baccalaureate's statistical bulletins. The latest data shown is from the May 2026 assessment session.
Bulletins
- The IB Diploma Programme and Career-Related Programme Provisional Statistical Bulletin, May 2026
- The IB Diploma Programme Final Statistical Bulletin, November 2025
- The IB Diploma Programme and Career-Related Programme Final Statistical Bulletin, May 2025
- The IB Diploma Programme Final Statistical Bulletin, November 2024
- The IB Diploma Programme and Career-Related Programme Final Statistical Bulletin, May 2024
- The IB Diploma Programme Final Statistical Bulletin, November 2023
- The IB Diploma Programme and Career-Related Programme Final Statistical Bulletin, May 2023
- The IB Diploma Programme Final Statistical Bulletin, November 2022
- The IB Diploma Programme and Career-Related Programme Final Statistical Bulletin, May 2022
- The IB Diploma Programme Final Statistical Bulletin, November 2021
About this data
- May and November are separate assessment sessions. November is much smaller and mostly taken by schools in the southern hemisphere, so its figures aren't directly comparable with May's.
- The May 2026 figures are from the IB's provisional bulletin and may change when the final bulletin is published.
- Older bulletins call the people sitting the exams “candidates” and newer ones “students”. This site says “students” throughout.
- “<10” means the IB didn't publish the exact number because fewer than 10 students took the subject. These figures are never estimated or counted as zero.
- The grade 7 rate is the share of students the bulletin reports at grade 7. The grade 6 or 7 rate is calculated by IBonomics by adding the published shares for grades 6 and 7. Every other figure is as published.
- From November 2023 the bulletins include students who received no grade (N) in each subject's percentages, so grades 1 to 7 add up to slightly less than 100%. Earlier bulletins give percentages of graded students only.
- Bulletins up to May 2023 print figures to two decimal places and later ones to one. Each figure is shown as printed, and changes are compared at the lower precision.
IBonomics is not affiliated with or endorsed by the International Baccalaureate.