At a glance
- Set by
- Subject teachers, coordinated by the school
- Scale
- 1 to 7 per subject; A to E for TOK and EE; total out of 45
- Main evidence
- DP1 exams, mocks, IA drafts, classwork
- Used by
- Universities that make offers before results
- Final grades
- Set by the IB from exams and moderated coursework, not by predictions
When predictions are made and what they affect
Schools set their own calendar. This is the common pattern; ask your school for its dates.
| Stage | What usually happens | What it affects |
|---|---|---|
| DP1, through the year | Tests, classwork and the first IA work build a picture of each student | Teacher expectations and level advice |
| End of DP1 | End-of-year exams, often treated as the key evidence | The predictions sent with early university applications |
| Early DP2 | Predictions confirmed for university references | UK applications (mid-October deadline for Oxford, Cambridge and most medicine courses) and early US applications |
| DP2 winter | Mock exams | Predictions for later applications and the January UCAS equal-consideration deadline |
| Exam session | The school also submits predicted grades to the IB | Part of the IB's process; final grades come from the assessments |
Check exact UCAS deadlines each year at ucas.com, and each university's own deadlines.
How universities use them
UK universities make conditional offers based largely on predicted grades, the personal statement and the school reference, for example a total points score with specific HL grades. If the prediction is below the published requirement, many courses will not make an offer at all. That is why the timing matters: predictions confirmed in early DP2 are the ones attached to the application.
US colleges read the school report and transcript and often ask counsellors for predicted IB results as context. Universities in the Gulf and elsewhere vary: some make conditional offers on predictions, others admit on final results or their own tests. Check each target university's published requirements for IB applicants.
Predictions do not affect the final IB grades. Those come from the exams and moderated internal assessments. A student predicted 38 who scores 35 may still be accepted, or may not; that depends on the university.
Honest ways to raise a predicted grade
- Treat the DP1 end-of-year exams as real exams. In many schools they carry the most weight, and they come before the summer, when it is too late to fix them.
- Ask each teacher, early and politely, what evidence they use and what would move the prediction up. Then do exactly that.
- Hand in strong IA drafts on time. Teachers see draft quality as evidence of what the student can do independently.
- Fix the specific weaknesses that cost marks in class tests, rather than doing more of what is already secure.
- Keep the core moving. TOK and Extended Essay grades feed the predicted total through the core points.
- Show a trend. A clear improvement across DP1 tests is more persuasive than one good result.
What does not work
- Pressuring teachers or asking them to inflate a prediction. Schools are careful with predictions because universities track how accurate a school's predictions are.
- Expecting the mock in DP2 to rescue a prediction already sent with an application.
- Outside tutoring as an argument in itself. Teachers respond to work and results, not to the fact that help is being paid for.
- Submitting IA or EE work that is not the student's own. Apart from integrity rules, it does not change how the student performs in exams.
How one-to-one lessons help
The most useful window is DP1, before the end-of-year exams. A tutor who teaches the subject works from the student's own test papers, finds the question types where marks are lost, and practises exactly those under timed conditions, so the next school test shows the improvement teachers are looking for.
For students whose prediction sits one grade below a university requirement in one or two subjects, a focused plan of weekly lessons on those subjects through DP1 and early DP2 is usually more effective than spreading effort across all six.
Ask for the date, not just the grade
Find out when each prediction is finalised for university applications. Knowing that the end-of-DP1 exams set the prediction changes how a student revises in DP1.
Common questions
Who sets IB predicted grades?
Subject teachers, usually reviewed by the school's IB coordinator or university counsellor. The IB does not set them; it collects them from schools during the exam session.
Can a predicted grade be changed after it is sent?
Schools sometimes update predictions for later applications if there is new evidence, such as strong mock results, but an application already sent usually keeps its original predictions. Policies differ by school.
What if my child's final IB score is below the predicted score?
If the final result misses an offer's conditions, the university decides whether to confirm the place. Some do for small shortfalls, especially when the specific HL grades are met. Results and next steps are covered on our IB results day page.
Do predicted grades matter for US universities?
They are often requested as context, alongside the transcript and school report. US admissions also weigh activities, essays and, at some colleges, test scores.
How much do IB lessons cost with LiveTutor?
$15 a lesson, the same flat rate for every subject and level, on a weekly plan of 1 to 5 lessons billed monthly. Lessons are 60 minutes, one to one and online, and the first lesson is a free trial.
Sources
Dates and figures on this page come from these official and published sources. Always confirm deadlines on the official page before acting on them.