IB Diploma Pass Rate: What the Official Figures Show

The IB Diploma pass rate for the May 2025 session was 81.9%, according to the final statistical bulletin the IB published for that session. Of 102,233 diploma candidates, 83,703 were awarded the diploma and 18,530 were not. The mean total was 30.6 points out of 45. The figure counts full diploma candidates only, so students who take individual DP courses without entering for the diploma are not in it. Over the last three May sessions the rate has stayed between 80% and 82%, after higher figures in 2021 and 2022. Below are the five-year numbers, what they count, and what they reveal about the 24-point rule.

The latest official figure

The IB publishes a statistical bulletin for each assessment session. The May 2026 results are out, but we have not yet been able to check a May 2026 bulletin line by line. This article therefore uses May 2025, the most recent final bulletin we have checked. If you are reading this later in the cycle, the IB's statistical bulletins page will carry the newest numbers.

For May 2025 the headline figures are:

• diploma pass rate: 81.9%
• mean total points: 30.6
• mean subject grade: 4.9 (on the 7 to 1 scale)

Five years of IB Diploma pass rates

The 2021 and 2022 figures are clearly higher than anything since, and from 2023 onwards the rate and the mean total have both moved very little. If you compare a school's results or a friend's older figures with today's, compare like with like: a 2021 number is a weak benchmark for 2025.

What the pass rate counts, and what it leaves out

"What percentage of IB students pass?" sounds like a single question, but the IB counts several groups separately. The whole May 2025 session, with the Diploma Programme and the Career-related Programme together, had 202,102 students in 153 countries and 3,400 schools. The 81.9% applies to just 102,233 of them: the candidates entered for the full diploma.

Students who take one or more DP subjects without registering for the diploma receive course results, not a diploma, so a pass rate does not apply to them. Career-related Programme students have their own figure: the CP certificate pass rate in May 2025 was 76.2%.

A full diploma candidate who misses the requirements is not left with nothing. They receive a document called DP Course Results, which lists their subject grades, their TOK and Extended Essay results and confirmation of CAS. The student does not hold the diploma, and whether a university will accept those results is up to the university: the IB tells candidates to check admission requirements with each university directly.

Why 24 points is not the whole story

The IB's own wording is that the diploma is awarded to students who gain at least 24 points, subject to certain minimum levels of performance, including successful completion of the three elements of the DP core. TOK and the Extended Essay together can add up to 3 points. CAS adds no points, yet the diploma cannot be awarded without it. We list every failing condition in our article on how IB diploma scoring works, so we will not repeat them here.

The May 2025 bulletin shows how much those conditions matter in practice. This is how the 18,530 candidates who were not awarded the diploma were spread across total points:

Roughly one in five of the candidates who missed the diploma had 24 points or more. That is about 3,700 students who reached the number most people think of as "the pass mark" and still did not receive the diploma. Each of them missed a requirement other than the points total.

The IB says the same thing in its assessment FAQ. The difference between the diploma and DP Course Results can come down to a single point, 23 instead of 24, or to one unmet condition, such as a failing grade on the Extended Essay or CAS not being completed. In the IB's words, "a student with a total score far exceeding 24 points may not necessarily be awarded the diploma."

Is a 3 a pass in the IB?

Subject grades run from 7, the highest, down to 1, and higher level and standard level courses earn the same points. The IB's public assessment pages that we checked do not call any single subject grade a "pass".

Where a 3 does appear as a threshold on those pages is the bilingual diploma, which asks for a grade 3 or higher in two languages from the studies in language and literature group. For the diploma itself, a 3 adds three points to your total. Whether a 3, or several of them, is acceptable depends on the diploma's minimum conditions, and our scoring article sets those out one by one.

What the numbers mean for one student

A global pass rate describes the whole population of candidates. Your own risk sits in two places, and you can check both months before May.

1. Your margin over 24. In May 2025, 14.5% of all diploma candidates finished on 23 points or fewer. If your predicted total is in the mid-twenties, one subject dropping a grade can take you below the line, so the subject where you are closest to the next grade boundary is worth the extra revision time.
2. Every minimum condition. Students with 30 points and more missed the diploma in May 2025. Go through the list subject by subject, including TOK, the Extended Essay and CAS, and mark anything that is close.

What to do next

Write down your predicted grades, add them up, and check the total and each condition against the list in how IB diploma scoring works. If one subject or the core is the weak point, that is the part to work on with a one-to-one IB tutor. If you have already received DP Course Results and want to try again, our IB retake preparation covers the re-mark or resit decision and a revision plan. To talk it through first, book a Free Intro Call.

Sources

• IB, The IB Diploma Programme and Career-related Programme Final Statistical Bulletin, May 2025 Assessment Session
• IB, Understanding DP assessment
• IB, DP and CP assessment FAQ
• IB, Diploma Programme Assessment procedures 2026, Part B (General regulations)
• IB, Statistical bulletins (for the reader's newest figures)

Frequently asked questions