IBonomicsAverage IB Grade by Subject
Latest data: May 2026Provisional
In May 2026, Geography had the highest mean grade of the 23 subjects with at least 100 students at HL (5.3), and Turkey in the 20th Century the highest of the 30 at SL (5.5).
A subject's mean grade reflects the students who take it as well as how it is assessed, so average results are not a direct measure of how difficult a subject is.
Earlier May sessions are compared the same way. November sessions aren't: they are much smaller, and taken mostly in the southern hemisphere.
Average grade by subject at HL, May 2026
Mean grades at HL in May 2026 ranged from 5.3 in Geography to 4.3 in Film and Visual Arts. The table adds each subject's change from May 2025.
| Subject | Students | Mean grade | Change from May 2025 | Grade 7 rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Geography | 5,229 | 5.3 | 0.0 | 12.7% |
| 2Economics | 20,472 | 5.2 | 0.0 | 14.7% |
| 3Theatre | 2,381 | 5.1 | 0.0 | 12.8% |
| 4Business Management | 26,520 | 5.0 | 0.0 | 6.6% |
| 4Global Politics | 6,894 | 5.0 | −0.1 | 6.1% |
| 4Mathematics: Analysis and Approaches | 26,591 | 5.0 | +0.1 | 16.8% |
| 4Physics | 19,035 | 5.0 | +0.1 | 20.5% |
| 8Chemistry | 20,748 | 4.9 | +0.1 | 15.1% |
| 8Philosophy | 2,173 | 4.9 | −0.1 | 8.6% |
| 10Computer Science | 4,536 | 4.8 | +0.1 | 10.9% |
| 10Music | 1,503 | 4.8 | 0.0 | 7.9% |
| 10Psychology | 15,455 | 4.8 | 0.0 | 6.0% |
| 10Social and Cultural Anthropology | 949 | 4.8 | −0.1 | 7.7% |
| 14Sports, Exercise and Health Science | 1,942 | 4.7 | −0.1 | 6.9% |
| 15Design Technology | 2,159 | 4.6 | −0.1 | 3.4% |
| 15Mathematics: Applications and Interpretation | 8,500 | 4.6 | +0.1 | 10.0% |
| 17Biology | 33,585 | 4.5 | 0.0 | 7.4% |
| 17Dance | 394 | 4.5 | −0.1 | 6.1% |
| 17Environmental Systems and Societies | 3,857 | 4.5 | — | 5.4% |
| 17History | 38,195 | 4.5 | +0.1 | 2.6% |
| 21Digital Society | 1,160 | 4.4 | 0.0 | 2.3% |
| 22Film | 2,990 | 4.3 | −0.1 | 3.1% |
| 22Visual Arts | 9,709 | 4.3 | 0.0 | 2.9% |
Subjects with the same mean grade share a rank.
Change: the difference from May 2025. —: the subject had no HL results in May 2025.
May 2026 figures are provisional.
Average grade by subject at SL, May 2026
Mean grades at SL in May 2026 ranged from 5.5 in Turkey in the 20th Century to 3.7 in Art History. The table adds each subject's change from May 2025.
| Subject | Students | Mean grade | Change from May 2025 | Grade 7 rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Turkey in the 20th Century | 753 | 5.5 | 0.0 | 14.6% |
| 2Brazilian Social Studies | 503 | 5.1 | +0.2 | 8.7% |
| 2Language and Culture | 258 | 5.1 | +0.1 | 7.4% |
| 4Economics | 11,305 | 5.0 | 0.0 | 14.3% |
| 4Literature and Performance | 616 | 5.0 | +0.3 | 5.5% |
| 6Business Management | 14,167 | 4.9 | 0.0 | 10.0% |
| 6Geography | 4,724 | 4.9 | 0.0 | 7.5% |
| 6Philosophy | 2,934 | 4.9 | 0.0 | 8.6% |
| 9History | 9,460 | 4.8 | +0.1 | 3.3% |
| 10Global Politics | 4,602 | 4.7 | 0.0 | 4.1% |
| 11Theatre | 1,289 | 4.6 | 0.0 | 6.7% |
| 11World Religions | 1,917 | 4.6 | −0.2 | 2.3% |
| 13Chemistry | 18,475 | 4.5 | +0.2 | 10.5% |
| 13Digital Society | 1,284 | 4.5 | +0.2 | 3.1% |
| 13Mathematics: Analysis and Approaches | 42,995 | 4.5 | 0.0 | 8.5% |
| 13Psychology | 13,895 | 4.5 | +0.1 | 4.0% |
| 13Social and Cultural Anthropology | 1,735 | 4.5 | 0.0 | 2.6% |
| 18Computer Science | 4,140 | 4.4 | +0.1 | 8.4% |
| 18Music | 1,455 | 4.4 | +0.1 | 4.2% |
| 20Biology | 22,064 | 4.3 | 0.0 | 5.5% |
| 20Environmental Systems and Societies | 20,964 | 4.3 | 0.0 | 5.0% |
| 20Physics | 14,461 | 4.3 | +0.1 | 11.1% |
| 23Dance | 463 | 4.1 | 0.0 | 5.2% |
| 23Design Technology | 1,966 | 4.1 | 0.0 | 0.3% |
| 23Film | 1,843 | 4.1 | −0.1 | 2.0% |
| 26Visual Arts | 6,076 | 4.0 | 0.0 | 1.2% |
| 27Mathematics: Applications and Interpretation | 44,196 | 3.9 | 0.0 | 3.7% |
| 27Sports, Exercise and Health Science | 6,313 | 3.9 | +0.1 | 1.9% |
| 29Marine Science | 523 | 3.8 | 0.0 | 3.6% |
| 30Art History | 115 | 3.7 | −0.6 | 7.0% |
Subjects with the same mean grade share a rank.
Change: the difference from May 2025.
May 2026 figures are provisional.
How subjects are ranked
- Each ranking is of one May session, and every figure in it is from that session's bulletin.
- HL and SL are ranked separately. They are different courses, taken by different students, and their figures are never averaged together.
- Only subjects with at least 100 students at the level are ranked, so a class of a dozen can't stand out on a handful of grades. The results explorer has every subject, whatever its size.
- The language courses (Language A: Language and Literature, Language A: Literature, Language ab initio, Language B) aren't ranked, because the bulletins report their results by language.
- Subjects with the same figure share a rank, and the next rank is skipped.
More subject comparisons
- 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 Grade Distribution by SubjectGrades 1 to 7 side by side for every subject
- Compare IB Subject StatisticsThe leading subjects in every May session
- 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 and Career-Related Programme Final Statistical Bulletin, May 2025
- The IB Diploma Programme and Career-Related Programme Final Statistical Bulletin, May 2024
- The IB Diploma Programme and Career-Related Programme Final Statistical Bulletin, May 2023
- The IB Diploma Programme and Career-Related Programme Final Statistical Bulletin, May 2022
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 May 2024 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.