IB body defends ‘fair and robust’ evaluation after thousands complain about their grades
Thousands of International Baccalaureate pupils have asked for reassessments of their results after receiving scores far below their predicted grades.
More than 3,000 teenagers signed a petition asking the organisation that oversees the International Baccalaureate to re-evaluate pupils’ results for free.
But the IBO said the grades were awarded fairly.
On July 6, more than 170,000 pupils worldwide received their IB Diploma and Career-related programme results.
The IBO had cancelled the diploma exams because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Instead, pupils’ final scores were calculated based on internal school assessments and predicted grades from teachers.
Many pupils complained that their final results were far lower than their predicted grades.
“Tens of thousands of pupils who graduated in May 2020 from the IB DP/CP have received discriminatory grades that aren’t a reflection of either their IAs [internal assessments] nor their coursework,” read a petition signed by thousands of pupils.
“Most pupils saw a decrease of about six to eight marks from their predicted grades.”
On social media, disappointed pupils shared their thoughts with the hashtag #ibscandal.
Some said their grades dropped by several points and accused the IBO of not being clear about marking.
“I went from 42 to 33. My dream university rescinded my offer and I have to pay for the re-take exams,” one pupil wrote on Twitter.
“IB scores were a joke this year,” tweeted another pupil. “People can brush it off, assuming we’re just mad because we didn’t get the results we wanted.”
An IBO representative told The National the final grades were based on pupils’ coursework throughout the two-year programmes, predicted grades provided by schools and historic assessment data.
For the subjects in which pupils would normally sit exams, results from previous years were analysed to determine the correlation betwe en coursework, predicted grades and final marks.
The IBO representative said the organisation had listened to IB pupils, teachers and schools around the world since the results were released on July 6.
“[We] understand there have been mixed emotions and disappointment expressed by some,” the representative said.
“The IB is confident that it has awarded grades in the fairest and most robust way possible in the absence of examinations, and the grades awarded to pupils are of equal value to those awarded in any other year.”
Pupils can ask for regrading. This year’s average diploma score is 29.90 points, up from 29.62 in 2019.
More than 3,000 teenagers signed a petition asking for a reevaluation of results