IB Italian ab initio SL Grade Boundaries: 79-88% for a 7

Overall boundaries, every session on record

Minimum scaled mark, out of 100, for each grade in IB Italian ab initio SL. One row per session and timezone; May 2021 and 2022 and November 2021 and 2022 show the examination route.
Session	7	6	5	4	3	2	Gap 6 to 7
May 2025	84	69	54	38	21	10	15
May 2024	83	68	51	35	19	9	15
May 2023	80	65	52	37	23	11	15
May 2022 (exam route)	79	64	50	35	18	8	15
May 2021 (exam route)	83	69	56	42	21	9	14
May 2019	88	75	62	48	30	14	13
May 2018	87	73	58	43	26	12	14
May 2017	86	72	61	47	30	15	14

Paper by paper: May 2025

May 2025: minimum raw mark for each grade on each component, and the 7 as a percentage of that component. Read from the IB grade boundaries document.
Component	Out of	7	6	5	4	3	7 as %
Internal assessment (oral)	30	27	22	18	13	8	90%
Paper 1	30	26	21	17	12	7	87%
Paper 2 (listening)	25	22	19	15	12	6	88%
Paper 2 (reading)	40	33	26	19	12	7	83%

What do I need

IB Italian ab initio SL: the mark you need, paper by paper

Session

Grade

In May 2025 a 7 overall started at 84 out of 100 scaled marks. On each component:

Component	Out of	Minimum for a 7	As %
Internal assessment (oral)	30	27	90%
Paper 1	30	26	87%
Paper 2 (listening)	25	22	88%
Paper 2 (reading)	40	33	83%

Component grades come straight from the IB document for that session. The overall grade is on a 100-mark scale built from the components with the weightings in the subject guide, so it is not computed here: a strong component carries a weaker one, and the table shows how much room each one leaves.

Non-examination route, 2021 and 2022

Sessions in which schools that could not sit written examinations were graded on coursework and predicted evidence. The IB issued a separate boundaries document for that route.
Session	7	6	5	4	3	2	Gap 6 to 7
May 2022 (non-exam route)	80	70	60	50	30	18	10
May 2021 (non-exam route)	86	71	57	42	27	14	15

What the components say about where to work

In May 2025 a 7 needed 90% on Internal assessment (oral) and 83% on Paper 2 (reading). The component with the lower threshold is the one candidates found hard, and it is usually the one where a few marks are cheapest to gain.

Marked work (internal assessment, orals, written tasks) is assessed against criteria known in advance, so it is the part of the grade under the student’s control before the exam. Which written paper has the lowest threshold changes from session to session, so a past paper should be marked against the boundaries of its own session, not against the latest one.

The gap between a 6 and a 7

In Italian ab initio SL the 6 sits on average 14.4 marks below the 7 on the 100-mark scale. That is roughly one question answered fully instead of half-answered, or the marks lost to misread instructions across a whole paper.

Use the range, not the last session. A student scoring 88% or more on full mocks under exam conditions has a 7 in every session on record. A student at 79% has a 7 only on the hardest paper, and should plan for the 6 to 7 gap rather than assume it.

Sources

All 8 sessions were read from the grade boundaries document the IB issues to Diploma Programme coordinators after each session (one document per session; 2021 and 2022 have an examination-route and a non-examination-route document). The full dataset for every IB subject is on the grade boundaries overview, as CSV and JSON.

Independent work, not endorsed by the International Baccalaureate. Last checked 4 November 2026. Corrections: pietro@pietromeloni.com.

Frequently asked questions

What percentage do you need for a 7 in IB Italian ab initio SL?

84% of the scaled marks in May 2025. Over 8 sessions since May 2017 the 7 has started between 79% and 88%, 83.8% on average. There is no fixed figure: the IB sets the boundaries after each session, once the papers have been marked.

How many marks separate a 6 from a 7 in Italian ab initio SL?

Between 13 and 15 on the 100-mark scale, 14.4 on average. In May 2025 it was 15 marks. That is the size of one question answered fully instead of half-answered, which is why exam technique moves this grade more than new content.

Which component needs the highest mark for a 7 in Italian ab initio SL?

In May 2025 Internal assessment (oral) needed 27 out of 30 (90%) for a 7, the highest of the components, while Paper 2 (reading) needed 33 out of 40 (83%). The overall grade is what counts: a strong component carries a weaker one.

Are Italian ab initio SL grade boundaries going up or down?

The May 7 moved from 83% in May 2024 to 84% in May 2025. A move of a few points between years is normal and reflects how hard that paper was, not a change in the standard.

Where do these numbers come from?

Every row on this page was read from the grade boundaries document the IB issues to Diploma Programme coordinators after each session, for all 8 sessions shown. The document lists, for every subject and level, the minimum raw mark for each grade on each component and the minimum scaled mark out of 100 for the overall grade.

IB Italian ab initio SL grade boundaries: what you need for a 7