IB Japanese ab initio SL Grade Boundaries: 74-87% for a 7

Overall boundaries, every session on record

Minimum scaled mark, out of 100, for each grade in IB Japanese 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 TZ2	81	67	52	37	23	11	14
May 2025 TZ1	84	70	55	41	24	11	14
November 2024	83	69	54	39	24	12	14
May 2024 TZ2	79	63	49	33	22	11	16
May 2024 TZ1	78	62	48	32	22	11	16
November 2023	83	69	57	43	26	12	14
May 2023 TZ2	82	67	52	36	23	11	15
May 2023 TZ1	81	66	50	36	23	11	15
November 2022 (exam route)	78	64	51	37	21	10	14
May 2022 (exam route)	75	61	46	32	20	9	14
November 2021 (exam route)	74	60	48	34	19	9	14
May 2021 (exam route)	76	59	37	25	16	7	17
November 2020	77	63	50	36	26	12	14
November 2019	87	74	61	47	30	15	13
May 2019	86	73	59	45	28	14	13
May 2018	87	73	60	45	28	13	14
May 2017	86	73	59	45	28	14	13

Paper by paper: May 2025 TZ2

May 2025 TZ2: 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	25	20	15	10	7	83%
Paper 2 (listening)	25	21	19	16	14	8	84%
Paper 2 (reading)	40	31	24	17	10	7	78%

What do I need

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

Session

Grade

In May 2025 TZ2 a 7 overall started at 81 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	25	83%
Paper 2 (listening)	25	21	84%
Paper 2 (reading)	40	31	78%

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
November 2022 (non-exam route)	78	64	51	37	21	10	14
May 2022 (non-exam route)	83	66	52	40	26	13	17
November 2021 (non-exam route)	86	71	57	42	27	14	15
May 2021 (non-exam route)	86	71	57	42	27	14	15

What the components say about where to work

In May 2025 TZ2 a 7 needed 90% on Internal assessment (oral) and 78% 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.

Timezones: the same session, different papers

In May the IB sets different papers for different parts of the world, and each gets its own boundaries. In May 2025 the 7 started at 81% in TZ2 and at 84% in TZ1.

A gap between timezones is not an advantage for one of them: the boundary follows the paper. The useful reading is the range across all timezones and sessions, which is what the first table shows.

May against November

On record the 7 in Japanese ab initio SL has averaged 81.4% in May and 80.3% in November. The two sessions are set to the same standard; the difference is the papers, not the season.

The gap between a 6 and a 7

In Japanese 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 87% or more on full mocks under exam conditions has a 7 in every session on record. A student at 74% has a 7 only on the hardest paper, and should plan for the 6 to 7 gap rather than assume it.

Sources

All 14 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 Japanese ab initio SL?

81% of the scaled marks in May 2025 TZ2. Over 14 sessions since May 2017 the 7 has started between 74% and 87%, 81% 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 Japanese ab initio SL?

Between 13 and 17 on the 100-mark scale, 14.4 on average. In May 2025 TZ2 it was 14 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 Japanese ab initio SL?

In May 2025 TZ2 Internal assessment (oral) needed 27 out of 30 (90%) for a 7, the highest of the components, while Paper 2 (reading) needed 31 out of 40 (78%). The overall grade is what counts: a strong component carries a weaker one.

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

The May 7 moved from 79% in May 2024 TZ2 to 81% in May 2025 TZ2. A move of a few points between years is normal and reflects how hard that paper was, not a change in the standard.

Is November easier than May in Japanese ab initio SL?

Not in the boundaries: the 7 has averaged 81.4% in May sessions and 80.3% in November sessions on record. The IB sets both to the same standard, so a difference of a point or two reflects the papers of those sessions, not a softer session.

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 14 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 Japanese ab initio SL grade boundaries: what you need for a 7