Hong Kong: IB Diploma Results 2023

Over 2,200 students at international and private schools in Hong Kong have received their International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) and Career-related Programme (IBCP). Hong Kong’s students are celebrating an average score of 36.4, which surpasses the global average score for the May 2023 session of 30.24.

At a Glance: 2023 Results

• Hong Kong’s average IBDP score is 36.4 which surpasses the global average; last year’s average was 38.36 points. 
• The global average score is 30.24 (lower than last year's figure of 31.98).  
• 23 students in Hong Kong achieved the top score of 45, down from 93 in 2022. This is in line with a global decline; there were 179 top scoring students worldwide compared to640 last year.
• Hong Kong’s top scorers include eight students from the ESF group, and one student from the Canadian International School of Hong Kong.
• In Hong Kong, 706 students out of 2,275 achieved 40-plus points.
• The global average IBDP grade is 4.84. Students receive grades ranging from 7 to 1, with 7 being the highest for each subject. 
• Hong Kong’s pass rate has increased; it is is 97.7% compared to last year it was 94.74%; the global pass rate has dropped from 85.6% last year to 79.35% in 2023.
• The number of students taking the IBDP in Hong Kong was 2,275; it was 4,850 last year.
• A total of 179,917 students took the IBDP and IBCP examinations worldwide, compared with 173,878 IBDP students in 2022.  

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What do this year's results mean?

Both the UK and global average pass rates are lower than last year's but, after the discussion around the grade inflation of the Covid-19 years, this was to be expected. 

This years's grade awarding system returns to the IBO's pre-pandemic one. After the IB introduced “appropriate grade boundaries” in 2021 and 2022 due to the disruption caused by Covid-19, it decided that "the distribution of grades awarded for our qualifications returned close to those of May 2019."

Both 2020 and 2021 saw a rise in pass rates, average scores, diploma scores and the number of students achieving the top score. Last year's results, which were only marginally lower than 2020-21, marked a milestone in terms of 'a return to normality'. 

To ensure that last year’s grades were fair and continued to take into account the disruption caused by Covid-19, the IBO said that “appropriate grade boundaries will be set for each route, building in generosity that reflects the disruption experienced in teaching and learning around the world”.

Commenting on the grading for this year's exams, the IBO states: 

"In line with other national and international awarding organisations, the profile of grade distribution returned close to pre-pandemic standards. This return to established distributions of awarded grades is aligned with university expectations and has been a phased process: results for the May 2022 and November 2022 examination sessions were closer to the results of 2019 than those of 2021". 

The global average IBDP score for the May 2023 session is 30.24 points.

This compares with an average of 31.98 in 2022 when students returned to exams following the Covid 19 pandemic, against 32.98 in 2021, when students received Teacher Assessed Grades.

The global average in the last full set of examinations taken by students in 2019 was 29.62, which was actually a lower average than those of 2018 of 29.76. While the 2023 global average is lower than last year, it, still remains 0.60 points above the 2019 average of 29.62.

The discussion about results should not detract from the incredible efforts of students to learn and teachers to teach. Students have worked hard during an extremely difficult time in their secondary education – and today is a day to celebrate their achievements.

The IB in Hong Kong

The two-year IBDP programme is currently offered at 36 local and international schools in Hong Kong, including eight that are full IB schools. Hong Kong’s largest provider of English-medium international education, the English Schools Foundation (ESF), offers the IBDP at its five secondary schools and two all-through schools. The IBCP is also now offered at six ESF schools.

Hong Kong 2023 IB Results Table

The table below includes the average score for 2023, as well as the size of the cohort, the pass rate, the highest score achieved out of 45, the percentage of students achieving 40-plus and 35-plus points, and the average grade. We have also included the average scores for 2019-22.

np = Not published

IB Results 2019-2023

Global Average Figures

Historical global average figures for IBDP results are documented in the table below.