IB Results: What are remarks and when should you request one?

Did you know that the IB grades published on 6 July are not necessarily final?

After results are released, you can still try to improve your grades by requesting a remark, meaning a new marking of some components of your exams. Formally, this process is called an Enquiry Upon Results — often shortened to EUR.

This is not something that exists in the Italian maturità system, and it is one of the ways in which the IB tries to make assessment more standardised, controlled and objective.

If you make the right choices, you may be able to gain valuable marks — perhaps exactly the marks you need to obtain the IB Diploma, meet a conditional offer, or get into university.

But be careful: a remark can also go the wrong way. Your grade can go up, stay the same, or go down. And the new grade is final.

Essential Summary

Before reading the full guide, here are the key points you need to know.

1. IB grades can be reviewed

When IB results are released, you can ask your IB Coordinator to submit a remark request for most final IB exams, the TOK Essay and the Extended Essay.

You cannot normally request an individual remark for oral exams or internally assessed work, such as Internal Assessments.

This means that you are not necessarily reviewing the whole subject, but only the components marked externally by the IB.

2. Your grade can go up, stay the same, or go down

A remark is not risk-free.

A new examiner reviews the work and can confirm the mark, increase it, or reduce it. If the grade changes, the new grade becomes final. You cannot go back to the previous grade.

3. You need to check how close you are to the next grade boundary

Your final IB grade is a number from 1 to 7, but behind that number there are marks and grade boundaries. What matters is not only whether you got a 5 or a 6, but how many marks you are away from the next grade up.

If you are 1–2 marks away from the higher grade boundary, a remark may be worth considering. If you are much further away, it is unlikely to change the final grade. You also need to check how close you are to the lower boundary, because your grade can go down as well as up.

4. Remarks work best when only a few marks are missing

If you are 1 mark away from the next grade boundary, it is usually worth considering a remark.

If you are 2 marks away, it may still be possible, but you need to look carefully at the subject and the distribution of marks.

If you are 3 marks away, it may make sense only in selected cases.

If you are 4, 5 or 6 marks away, it becomes more difficult.

If you are far from the higher boundary and close to the lower boundary, the risk of going down may be more important than the potential benefit.

5. A remark can also work in Mathematics

Many students think that Mathematics is not worth reviewing because “there is only one correct answer”.

In reality, IB exams can award marks for the method as well as the final answer. These are often called method marks.

A student may have reached the wrong final answer but used a correct approach. In these cases, a second marking can make a difference.

6. A remark costs around €90 per subject, and you only pay if it is unsuccessful

The cost is around €90 per subject, but if the grade goes up, you do not pay.

This means that, when there is a realistic chance of improvement, a remark can be a sensible investment.

7. Only the school can submit the request

Students and families cannot request a remark directly from the IB.

The request must go through the school’s IB Coordinator.

The official deadline for the May session is 15 September, but many schools set internal deadlines much earlier, often at the end of July or in early August.

The Full Guide

In the IB Diploma, unlike in many other school systems, you can ask for some components of your exam to be marked again.

This means that another IB examiner reviews your work and decides whether the original mark should be confirmed, increased or reduced.

The important point is this: a remark is not just a formality. It is a real second marking.

For this reason, it can be very useful, but it needs to be used carefully.

The key question is: when is it actually worth requesting a remark?

1. How far are you from the next grade?

Every IB subject has mark boundaries for each grade band.

For example, you may have received a 5 in Biology HL and be only 1 mark away from a 6. Or you may have received a 5 but be very far from the 6 boundary.

That difference matters enormously.

In the first case, a remark may be a sensible option. In the second case, it may simply be an unnecessary risk.

When you see your results, the IB indicates how many marks you are away from the next grade boundary. This information is essential when deciding what to do.

In general:

Distance from the higher grade boundary	Evaluation
1 mark	Almost always worth considering
2 marks	Possible, but should be assessed carefully
3 marks	Possible only in selected cases
4–6 marks	Difficult
7+ marks	Unlikely, and often risky

Example: Biology HL

Let’s imagine that the boundary for a 5 is 24 marks.

Your mark	Distance from the next grade	Level of risk
23	1 mark from a 5	Worth considering
21	3 marks from a 5	Possible, but with caution
18	6 marks from a 5	Unlikely
16	8 marks from a 5	Real risk of staying the same or going down

Of course, this is only a simplification. The real decision depends on the subject, the type of paper, the weight of each component, and how close the grade is to the lower boundary as well.

How Valdo Academics can help: we help you calculate the distance from the next grade and understand the level of risk. We give you clear, free, no-obligation advice.

2. What can and cannot be remarked?

Not all IB components can be reviewed in the same way.

You can request a remark for:

• written exams, such as Paper 1, Paper 2 and Paper 3;

• the TOK Essay;

• the Extended Essay;

• other externally assessed components, depending on the subject.

You cannot request an individual remark for:

• Internal Assessments;

• language oral exams;

• practical work or internal projects;

• the Group 4 Project.

This is a point that often causes confusion.

If you received a low grade in a subject, it does not automatically mean that the whole subject can be marked again. You need to understand which components contributed to the final grade and which of those components are actually eligible for review.

What about Internal Assessments?

Internal Assessments normally cannot be reviewed through an individual request.

However, there is a different procedure: re-moderation.

IAs are first marked by the school and then moderated by the IB. Moderation is used to check whether the school is applying IB standards correctly.

If the IB believes that a school has awarded marks that are too high or too low, it can adjust the marks. Sometimes this leads to a reduction for the whole class.

In exceptional cases, if the entire class has received an unusual reduction in IA marks, the school can request re-moderation. This is not an individual procedure: it applies to the whole group of students, not to a single candidate.

Usually, for this procedure to be considered, the reduction needs to be significant, often around at least 15% across the moderated group.

How Valdo Academics can help: we explain exactly which components can be reviewed and which cannot, subject by subject. Our initial check is free.

3. A remark can also be worth it in Mathematics

Many students think that Mathematics cannot really be reviewed.

The reasoning is understandable: if the answer is right, it is right; if it is wrong, it is wrong.

But IB exams do not always work like that.

In Mathematics, as in many scientific subjects, you can receive marks for the method. These are often called method marks.

For example:

• you wrote the correct equation, but made a calculation error;

• you set up the problem correctly, but lost a sign;

• you used the right method, but the final answer was wrong;

• you followed a coherent line of reasoning, but left it incomplete.

In these cases, one examiner might award more partial marks than another.

This does not mean that every Mathematics grade should be challenged. But it does mean that Mathematics should not be excluded automatically.

We have supported several students who, through a Mathematics remark, moved from a 4 to a 5 or from a 5 to a 6 because additional method marks were recognised.

How Valdo Academics can help: we analyse your results with you and tell you whether there is a realistic chance that a review could help. The first consultation is always free.

4. What are remarks formally called?

Formally, what many people call “remarks” are called Enquiries Upon Results, or EURs.

There are different categories of EUR. The most common is a Category 1 EUR, which is the remarking of externally assessed components for a subject.

Here are the main categories.

Category 1 – Remarking of externally assessed components

This is the most commonly used procedure.

A senior examiner reviews the externally assessed components of a subject for an individual candidate.

The grade can:

• go up;

• stay the same;

• go down.

If it changes, the new grade is final.

This is the most relevant category when a student is close to the next grade boundary.

Category 1a – Remarking with written explanation

Category 1a is similar to Category 1, but it also includes a short written comment from the examiner.

This can be useful when the family or the school wants more transparency about why the grade changed, or why it did not change.

It is not always necessary. In many cases, a Category 1 request is enough.

Category 2 and 2a – Access to marked scripts

With Category 2, the coordinator can request access to the marked script.

With Category 2a, they can also request further examiner comments, where available.

This procedure does not change the grade. However, it helps you understand what happened.

It can be useful when the result looks very strange, when one paper is much lower than the others, or when you need to decide whether it makes sense to proceed with a remark.

Real case: when seeing the marked script changed everything

In one case we supported, a student received an E in the Extended Essay in Business Management.

This was a very strange result. The student was strong, and the grade seemed completely out of line with the quality of the work.

Instead of simply accepting the result, we advised the family to ask the school to access the marked material.

From there, a clear anomaly emerged: part of the assessment did not appear to have been counted correctly.

After the review, the Extended Essay mark increased by 6 points. This changed the student’s overall outcome, and the student received the IB Diploma.

This is why, when a result looks very strange, you should not only look at the final grade. You need to understand whether there may be an anomaly in the marking and choose the right procedure.

Category 3 – Re-moderation of Internal Assessments

Category 3 concerns the re-moderation of Internal Assessments for an entire group of students.

It is not an individual request.

It can be used by the school when the whole class has experienced unusual or very severe moderation of IA marks.

It is a rare procedure and needs to be well documented.

How Valdo Academics can help: we help you understand which procedure is appropriate in your case. If it makes sense to request Category 1, Category 1a, access to scripts, or re-moderation, we tell you clearly.

5. How to see your IB results

By the official publication date, normally 6 July, the school usually sends you the login details for the IB candidate portal.

The website is:

https://candidates.ibo.org

Once you log in, you can see:

• the final grade for each subject, from 1 to 7;

• the total Diploma score, out of 45;

• the TOK and Extended Essay results;

• how many marks separate you from the next grade in each subject.

This last piece of information is essential.

If you received a 6 in a subject but are only 2 marks away from a 7, that subject should be assessed.

If you received a 5 but are very far from a 6 and close to a 4, you need to be much more careful.

6. How to decide whether to request a remark

To decide properly, it is not enough to ask: “Do I want a higher grade?”

You need to make a more strategic assessment.

Here are the main questions.

How far are you from the next grade?

If you are 1–2 marks away from the higher boundary, a remark may make sense.

If you are 3 marks away, you need to look carefully at the subject and the papers.

If you are 4 or more marks away, the probability of improving becomes lower.

How close are you to the lower boundary?

This is just as important.

If you are very close to the lower boundary, requesting a remark can be risky.

For example, if you received a 6 but are only just above the 6 boundary, a negative review could take you down to a 5.

In some cases, losing one grade can be more serious than gaining one.

Would the extra point actually matter?

Sometimes a remark makes sense because the extra point would change something concrete.

For example:

• you need it to obtain the IB Diploma;

• you need it to meet a conditional offer;

• you need it to reach the total score required by a university;

• you need it for a scholarship;

• you need it to strengthen an application that is still open.

In other cases, the extra point would be nice, but it would not really change the situation.

In that case, you need to decide whether it is worth taking the risk.

How are the marks distributed across the papers?

This is one of the most important parts of the analysis.

If all the papers are consistent with each other, the final grade is probably stable.

But if one paper is much lower than the others, you need to look more carefully.

For example, imagine a student receives the following results in one subject:

• Paper 1: very strong;

• Paper 2: very low;

• Internal Assessment: very strong.

In this case, if Paper 2 is a written, argumentative or otherwise subjective paper, there may be room for a review.

The signal is not only: “I am close to the higher boundary.”

The signal is: “This result does not seem consistent with the rest.”

Real case: the Philosophy paper that went up by 9 marks

In another case, a student received a very low result in a Philosophy paper, completely inconsistent with the rest of their profile and with the other results in the subject.

Here too, the first signal was not simply that the student was close to the next grade boundary.

The signal was that something did not make sense: one component seemed too low compared with the others.

After the review request, it emerged that one question had not been assessed correctly. The paper mark went up by 9 marks.

Cases like this are rare, but they show why it is important to read the results carefully.

You should not request remarks randomly, but you should also not ignore an obvious anomaly.

Is the subject more subjective or more objective?

More essay-based subjects tend to have more room for variation.

For example:

• English;

• History;

• Philosophy;

• Economics;

• Business Management;

• Global Politics;

• TOK;

• Extended Essay.

In these subjects, assessment depends heavily on the interpretation of arguments, the quality of analysis, the structure of the response and the application of the criteria.

This does not mean that the grade is arbitrary. It does mean, however, that a second marking can sometimes lead to a different mark.

In more objective subjects, such as some components of Science or Mathematics, the margin may be smaller. But it is not zero, especially when there are method marks, open questions or partial marks.

Have you already met a conditional offer?

This is a very delicate point.

If you have already met your university offer, requesting a remark just to improve your total score can be risky.

For example, if the university asked for 36 points and you received 36, you need to be very careful before requesting a review in a subject that could go down.

Even if you would like to improve your score, you need to ask yourself:

• what happens if the grade goes down?

• would the offer still be met?

• would the Diploma still be safe?

• is the risk worth the benefit?

In some cases, the best choice is to leave the result as it is.

7. When is it really worth requesting a remark?

In general, a remark may make sense when:

• you are 1 or 2 marks away from the higher boundary;

• the subject is written or partly subjective;

• one paper is much lower than the others;

• the grade is inconsistent with the student’s profile;

• the extra point would actually change something;

• you are not too close to the lower boundary;

• you are not putting an already-met conditional offer at risk.

A remark is usually less advisable when:

• you are far from the higher boundary;

• you are close to the lower boundary;

• the subject is very objective;

• the extra point would not change anything;

• the risk of going down would have serious consequences;

• you want to do it only “to try”.

The rule is simple: you should be neither passive nor impulsive.

You need to read the data and make an informed decision.

8. How much does an IB remark cost?

The cost can vary slightly depending on the school and the procedure, but for a Category 1 EUR it is usually around €90 per subject.

If the grade goes up, the IB normally refunds the cost of the request.

This makes a remark particularly sensible in cases where there is a realistic chance of improvement.

However, the financial cost is not the only cost to consider.

The real risk is that the grade may go down.

9. Who can request a remark?

Only the school’s IB Coordinator can submit the request to the IB.

The family and the student cannot do it directly.

This is why it is important to contact the school quickly, ask for the results breakdown and understand the internal deadlines.

The IB deadline for the May session is normally 15 September, but many schools ask families to decide much earlier.

Some schools set their own deadline at the end of July or in early August, because they need time to collect requests, manage payments and submit everything correctly.

10. How Valdo Academics can help

We can help you read the results and understand whether a remark request makes sense.

In particular, we can help you:

• understand how many marks you are away from the next grade;

• assess the risk of going down;

• interpret the breakdown of marks across papers;

• understand which components can be reviewed;

• distinguish between Category 1, Category 1a, Category 2 and Category 3;

• understand whether it is worth asking to see the script first;

• prepare a clear message to send to the school;

• decide whether the benefit is worth the risk.

Our aim is not to push you to request remarks at all costs.

On the contrary: if we think it is not worth the risk, we tell you clearly.

Our clients pay for tutoring, not for the initial strategy around IB results. This is why the first consultation on remarks is free and without obligation.

11. What to do now

If you have just received your IB results, we recommend doing three things.

1. Log in to the IB candidate portal

Go to:

https://candidates.ibo.org

Check your grades, your total score and the distance from the higher boundary in each subject.

2. Ask the school for the breakdown

Write to your IB Coordinator and ask for the breakdown of marks by subject and by component.

This step is essential to understand whether one paper is anomalous or whether the grade is distributed consistently.

3. Speak to us for free

Send us your results and we will analyse them with you.

We will tell you whether we think it is worth requesting a remark, whether it makes sense to ask to see the script first, or whether it is better not to take the risk.