IB Chemistry Grade Boundaries
This page summarises the published May 2025 IB Chemistry grade boundaries for the new Chemistry course, first assessed in 2025.
IB Chemistry is different from UK A-levels because boundaries can vary by level and timezone. Always check whether you sat HL or SL and which timezone applies to your paper.
Average final boundaries based on May 2025
Higher Level (HL)
- 7 = 74.3%
- 6 = 63.0%
- 5 = 51.7%
- 4 = 40.3%
- 3 = 26.3%
- 2 = 15.0%
Standard Level (SL)
- 7 = 71.0%
- 6 = 59.7%
- 5 = 48.3%
- 4 = 37.3%
- 3 = 26.7%
- 2 = 15.3%
Important: these are averages across May 2025 timezones. Your exact boundary depends on your level and timezone.
Use the final boundary first. Component boundaries are useful for judging how hard a paper was, but the final IB grade comes from the overall scaled mark out of 100.
May 2025 Final Grade Boundaries
Higher Level final boundaries
| Timezone | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Timezone 1 | 74 (74.0%) | 63 (63.0%) | 51 (51.0%) | 40 (40.0%) | 26 (26.0%) | 15 (15.0%) | 0 (0.0%) |
| Timezone 2 | 74 (74.0%) | 62 (62.0%) | 50 (50.0%) | 39 (39.0%) | 25 (25.0%) | 14 (14.0%) | 0 (0.0%) |
| Timezone 3 | 75 (75.0%) | 64 (64.0%) | 54 (54.0%) | 42 (42.0%) | 28 (28.0%) | 16 (16.0%) | 0 (0.0%) |
Standard Level final boundaries
| Timezone | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Timezone 1 | 71 (71.0%) | 60 (60.0%) | 49 (49.0%) | 38 (38.0%) | 28 (28.0%) | 16 (16.0%) | 0 (0.0%) |
| Timezone 2 | 72 (72.0%) | 61 (61.0%) | 49 (49.0%) | 38 (38.0%) | 28 (28.0%) | 16 (16.0%) | 0 (0.0%) |
| Timezone 3 | 70 (70.0%) | 58 (58.0%) | 47 (47.0%) | 36 (36.0%) | 24 (24.0%) | 14 (14.0%) | 0 (0.0%) |
May 2025 Component Boundaries
These component boundaries show the approximate grade level for each paper or piece of assessed work. Your final grade is based on the overall scaled mark, not on receiving a separate grade for each component.
Higher Level - Timezone 1 component boundaries
| Component | Max mark | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paper 1 (MCQ) | 39 | 31 (79.5%) | 26 (66.7%) | 21 (53.8%) | 16 (41.0%) | 12 (30.8%) | 10 (25.6%) | 0 (0.0%) |
| Paper 1B | 35 | 23 (65.7%) | 20 (57.1%) | 18 (51.4%) | 15 (42.9%) | 10 (28.6%) | 5 (14.3%) | 0 (0.0%) |
| Paper 2 | 90 | 67 (74.4%) | 56 (62.2%) | 45 (50.0%) | 34 (37.8%) | 21 (23.3%) | 11 (12.2%) | 0 (0.0%) |
| Practical work | 24 | 20 (83.3%) | 17 (70.8%) | 14 (58.3%) | 11 (45.8%) | 7 (29.2%) | 4 (16.7%) | 0 (0.0%) |
Higher Level - Timezone 2 component boundaries
| Component | Max mark | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paper 1 (MCQ) | 39 | 30 (76.9%) | 25 (64.1%) | 20 (51.3%) | 16 (41.0%) | 12 (30.8%) | 10 (25.6%) | 0 (0.0%) |
| Paper 1B | 35 | 22 (62.9%) | 19 (54.3%) | 16 (45.7%) | 13 (37.1%) | 8 (22.9%) | 4 (11.4%) | 0 (0.0%) |
| Paper 2 | 90 | 68 (75.6%) | 57 (63.3%) | 46 (51.1%) | 35 (38.9%) | 22 (24.4%) | 11 (12.2%) | 0 (0.0%) |
| Practical work | 24 | 20 (83.3%) | 17 (70.8%) | 14 (58.3%) | 11 (45.8%) | 7 (29.2%) | 4 (16.7%) | 0 (0.0%) |
Higher Level - Timezone 3 component boundaries
| Component | Max mark | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paper 1 (MCQ) | 38 | 32 (84.2%) | 28 (73.7%) | 24 (63.2%) | 20 (52.6%) | 14 (36.8%) | 11 (28.9%) | 0 (0.0%) |
| Paper 1B | 35 | 22 (62.9%) | 19 (54.3%) | 17 (48.6%) | 14 (40.0%) | 9 (25.7%) | 5 (14.3%) | 0 (0.0%) |
| Paper 2 | 90 | 68 (75.6%) | 57 (63.3%) | 47 (52.2%) | 36 (40.0%) | 24 (26.7%) | 12 (13.3%) | 0 (0.0%) |
| Practical work | 24 | 20 (83.3%) | 17 (70.8%) | 14 (58.3%) | 11 (45.8%) | 7 (29.2%) | 4 (16.7%) | 0 (0.0%) |
Standard Level - Timezone 1 component boundaries
| Component | Max mark | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paper 1 (MCQ) | 29 | 20 (69.0%) | 17 (58.6%) | 14 (48.3%) | 11 (37.9%) | 9 (31.0%) | 7 (24.1%) | 0 (0.0%) |
| Paper 1B | 25 | 17 (68.0%) | 15 (60.0%) | 12 (48.0%) | 10 (40.0%) | 7 (28.0%) | 4 (16.0%) | 0 (0.0%) |
| Paper 2 | 50 | 36 (72.0%) | 30 (60.0%) | 25 (50.0%) | 19 (38.0%) | 15 (30.0%) | 8 (16.0%) | 0 (0.0%) |
| Practical work | 24 | 20 (83.3%) | 17 (70.8%) | 14 (58.3%) | 11 (45.8%) | 7 (29.2%) | 4 (16.7%) | 0 (0.0%) |
Standard Level - Timezone 2 component boundaries
| Component | Max mark | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paper 1 (MCQ) | 29 | 21 (72.4%) | 18 (62.1%) | 15 (51.7%) | 12 (41.4%) | 10 (34.5%) | 8 (27.6%) | 0 (0.0%) |
| Paper 1B | 25 | 16 (64.0%) | 14 (56.0%) | 11 (44.0%) | 9 (36.0%) | 6 (24.0%) | 3 (12.0%) | 0 (0.0%) |
| Paper 2 | 50 | 37 (74.0%) | 31 (62.0%) | 25 (50.0%) | 19 (38.0%) | 15 (30.0%) | 8 (16.0%) | 0 (0.0%) |
| Practical work | 24 | 20 (83.3%) | 17 (70.8%) | 14 (58.3%) | 11 (45.8%) | 7 (29.2%) | 4 (16.7%) | 0 (0.0%) |
Standard Level - Timezone 3 component boundaries
| Component | Max mark | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paper 1 (MCQ) | 29 | 22 (75.9%) | 19 (65.5%) | 16 (55.2%) | 13 (44.8%) | 10 (34.5%) | 8 (27.6%) | 0 (0.0%) |
| Paper 1B | 25 | 16 (64.0%) | 14 (56.0%) | 11 (44.0%) | 9 (36.0%) | 6 (24.0%) | 3 (12.0%) | 0 (0.0%) |
| Paper 2 | 50 | 34 (68.0%) | 27 (54.0%) | 22 (44.0%) | 16 (32.0%) | 11 (22.0%) | 6 (12.0%) | 0 (0.0%) |
| Practical work | 24 | 20 (83.3%) | 17 (70.8%) | 14 (58.3%) | 11 (45.8%) | 7 (29.2%) | 4 (16.7%) | 0 (0.0%) |
Sources
Old IB Chemistry Course: Rough Level 7 Guide
Old course Level 7 guide
- HL Chemistry: roughly 76% for a Level 7, with recent old-course boundaries usually ranging from about 69–81%.
- SL Chemistry: roughly 74% for a Level 7, with recent old-course boundaries usually ranging from about 69–79%.
Important: these figures are only a guide for the old IB Chemistry course. The current 2025 specification has a different assessment structure, so students should use the 2025 boundaries above for the most relevant comparison.
Source note: The old-course Level 7 guide above is based on historical IB Chemistry HL and SL grade boundary data for the 2016–2024 syllabus. IBCalculator separates Chemistry into the current 2025-present syllabus and the older 2016–2024 syllabus, which is why the old-course values are shown separately from the 2025 boundaries.