IBonomicsAverage IB Philosophy Grade
Latest data: May 2026Provisional
The average IB Philosophy grade in May 2026 was 4.9 at HL and 4.9 at SL. HL and SL had the same mean grade.
Compared with May 2025, the mean grade was down from 5.0 at HL and unchanged at SL.
- HL mean grade
- 4.9
- May 2025: 5.0
- SL mean grade
- 4.9
- May 2025: 4.9
Average Philosophy grade by session
The mean grade 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 how much each mean changed from the same session a year earlier.
| Session | HL | HL change | SL | SL change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2026provisional | 4.9 | −0.1 | 4.9 | 0.0 |
| November 2025 | 4.8 | −0.2 | 5.1 | 0.0 |
| May 2025 | 5.0 | 0.0 | 4.9 | −0.1 |
| November 2024 | 5.0 | −0.2 | 5.1 | −0.2 |
| May 2024 | 5.0 | 0.0 | 5.0 | +0.1 |
| November 2023 | 5.2 | −0.4 | 5.3 | −0.5 |
| May 2023 | 5.00 | −0.43 | 4.88 | −0.28 |
| November 2022 | 5.61 | −0.32 | 5.81 | +0.58 |
| May 2022 | 5.43 | — | 5.16 | — |
| November 2021 | 5.93 | — | 5.23 | — |
Change: the difference from the same session a year earlier, May from May and November from November.
—: no result for that session, or none a year earlier to compare it with.
- 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 average Philosophy grade compares with other subjects
Of the 23 subjects with at least 100 students at HL in May 2026, IB Philosophy had the joint 8th highest mean grade. At SL it had the joint 6th highest of 30. Every subject's mean grade is ranked in average IB grade by subject.
The chart and table show the mean grades of the subjects in Group 3: Individuals and Societies with at least 100 students at a level.
| Subject | HL | SL |
|---|---|---|
| Geography | 5.3 | 4.9 |
| Economics | 5.2 | 5.0 |
| Business Management | 5.0 | 4.9 |
| Global Politics | 5.0 | 4.7 |
| Philosophy | 4.9 | 4.9 |
| Psychology | 4.8 | 4.5 |
| Social and Cultural Anthropology | 4.8 | 4.5 |
| History | 4.5 | 4.8 |
| Digital Society | 4.4 | 4.5 |
| Turkey in the 20th Century | — | 5.5 |
| Brazilian Social Studies | — | 5.1 |
| World Religions | — | 4.6 |
| Art History | — | 3.7 |
—: 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 Philosophy statistics
- IB Philosophy Exam StatisticsHL and SL side by side, with every session's results
- IB Philosophy HL StatisticsHigher Level (HL) results in every session, with grade distributions
- IB Philosophy SL StatisticsStandard Level (SL) results in every session, with grade distributions
- IB Philosophy Grade DistributionGrades 1 to 7 at HL and SL in every session
- IB Philosophy Grade 7 RateThe share of students awarded a 7 in every session
Compare with other subjects
- Average IB Grade by SubjectMean grades at HL and SL, ranked
- IB Subjects With the Highest Grade 7 RatesSubjects ranked by the share of students awarded a 7
- 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.
- 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.
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