Convert your International Baccalaureate (IB) grades to a US GPA. See your unweighted 4.0 GPA and weighted 5.0 GPA side by side.
IB courses use a 1–7 grading scale. To convert to a US GPA, each IB grade maps to a letter grade, which maps to grade points on the 4.0 scale. Because IB courses are treated as the equivalent of AP courses in terms of rigor, they receive a +1.0 point bonus on the weighted 5.0 scale.
| IB Grade | US Letter Grade | Unweighted GPA (4.0) | Weighted GPA (5.0) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | A | 4.0 | 5.0 |
| 6 | A− | 3.7 | 4.7 |
| 5 | B+ | 3.3 | 4.3 |
| 4 | B | 3.0 | 4.0 |
| 3 | C | 2.0 | 3.0 |
| 2 | D | 1.0 | 2.0 |
| 1 | F | 0.0 | 0.0 |
The IB publishes no official US GPA conversion; this is a common approximation, and individual high schools and colleges may use different scales. If your school uses a specific IB-to-GPA policy, check with your registrar to confirm.
If you only know your overall IB Diploma Programme (IBDP) total — not your six individual subject grades — this table gives an estimate. It assumes your total comes entirely from your six subject scores, with zero Theory of Knowledge (TOK) / Extended Essay (EE) bonus points. If you know you earned bonus points, subtract them from your total first (bonus points range from 0 to 3), then look up the reduced number below for a more accurate estimate. Diploma totals below 24 do not meet the minimum passing score for the IB Diploma.
Scroll to see all columns →
| Diploma Total (subject points only) | Est. Avg per Subject | Est. Unweighted GPA (4.0) | Est. Weighted GPA (5.0) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24 | 4.00 | 3.00 | 4.00 |
| 25 | 4.17 | 3.05 | 4.05 |
| 26 | 4.33 | 3.10 | 4.10 |
| 27 | 4.50 | 3.15 | 4.15 |
| 28 | 4.67 | 3.20 | 4.20 |
| 29 | 4.83 | 3.25 | 4.25 |
| 30 | 5.00 | 3.30 | 4.30 |
| 31 | 5.17 | 3.37 | 4.37 |
| 32 | 5.33 | 3.43 | 4.43 |
| 33 | 5.50 | 3.50 | 4.50 |
| 34 | 5.67 | 3.57 | 4.57 |
| 35 | 5.83 | 3.63 | 4.63 |
| 36 | 6.00 | 3.70 | 4.70 |
| 37 | 6.17 | 3.75 | 4.75 |
| 38 | 6.33 | 3.80 | 4.80 |
| 39 | 6.50 | 3.85 | 4.85 |
| 40 | 6.67 | 3.90 | 4.90 |
| 41 | 6.83 | 3.95 | 4.95 |
| 42 | 7.00 | 4.00 | 5.00 |
Why the same total can mean two different GPAs. TOK and EE add up to 3 bonus points on top of your six subject scores (max 42), which is exactly why a diploma total by itself is ambiguous. Take a total of 42: one student could have scored six 7s with 0 bonus points — a perfect 7.0 subject average, worth 4.0 unweighted / 5.0 weighted. Another student could have averaged 6.5 across six subjects (39 subject points) and earned all 3 bonus points — also a 42 total, but a 6.5 subject average worth only 3.85 unweighted / 4.85 weighted. Same diploma total, real GPA difference of 0.15. This is also why any total of 43, 44, or 45 always includes at least 1 bonus point — the maximum achievable from six subjects alone is 42, so those totals are only reachable with help from TOK/EE. For the most accurate GPA, use the per-subject calculator at the top of this page instead of the total.
In the IB program, courses are divided into Higher Level (HL) and Standard Level (SL). Many US high schools apply the same weighted bonus to both HL and SL IB courses, treating them like AP courses (Broward County, Florida, for example, adds +2 on its scale to IB the same as AP). Some schools give HL courses an extra 0.5 bonus (treating them like an additional honors bump on top of the IB bonus) while SL courses receive the standard +1.0.
Check your school's specific weighting policy — it varies. For this calculator, both HL and SL are weighted +1.0.
Students in the full IB Diploma Programme complete six subject groups plus the core components (Theory of Knowledge, Extended Essay, and CAS). Students in IB Course programmes take individual IB courses without pursuing the full diploma.
Both appear on transcripts and are weighted equally for GPA purposes. However, completing the full IB Diploma carries additional signal for selective college admissions — it demonstrates sustained academic rigor across a broad curriculum, similar to how a full AP Scholar designation reads differently from a few individual AP courses.
No. College credit for IB work depends on your final IB exam scores, not your coursework GPA. Policies vary by college and subject, and Standard Level exams often earn nothing: the University of California accepts only Higher Level exams, granting 8 quarter units for an HL score of 5 or higher, plus 6 units for a Diploma total of 30 or more. A strong in-class GPA with a low IB exam score typically earns no college credit, even if the weighted GPA looks impressive.
Check each college's IB credit policy individually — the College Board and IB organization maintain searchable databases of institutional policies.
US colleges treat IB and AP courses as equivalent in terms of rigor. Many high schools give them the same weighted bonus, and both signal that a student sought out and completed college-level coursework in high school. Admissions officers evaluate IB and AP performance on the same scale — what matters is the grade earned in the course relative to what was available at your school.
IB students sometimes worry that the 1–7 scale is harder to interpret than letter grades. In practice, a 7 is clearly an A, a 5 is a B+, and so on — admissions offices are familiar with the IB scale and apply the conversion without penalizing IB students.
Most students take a mix of IB courses, regular courses, and sometimes AP or Honors courses. This calculator handles IB courses specifically. For a complete weighted GPA that includes AP, Honors, and regular courses alongside IB courses, use our Weighted GPA Calculator, which lets you set each course type individually.
What is a good IB GPA? On this calculator's scale, mostly 6s and 7s works out to roughly a 4.7–5.0 weighted (3.7–4.0 unweighted), and averaging a 5 is about a 4.3 weighted. Colleges often recalculate GPA themselves — the University of California, for example, uses its own A-G GPA — so compare your unweighted figure with each college's published GPA data.
Does this calculator account for Theory of Knowledge or the Extended Essay? No — TOK and the Extended Essay are graded separately (A–E) and combined with your subject scores for the IB Diploma's bonus points, but most US high schools don't fold them into your US-equivalent GPA. Check with your school counselor on how your transcript specifically handles them.
Is IB harder than AP for GPA purposes? Colleges don't rank IB as harder or easier than AP — both are treated as rigorous coursework and many high schools give them the same weighted bonus. The bigger difference is structural: IB Diploma students take a more prescribed, broader curriculum, while AP students can pick and choose individual courses.
Can I use this calculator if my school only offers IB Certificate courses (not the full Diploma)? Yes. The grade-to-GPA conversion is per-course and doesn't depend on whether you're pursuing the full Diploma or individual Certificates.
Is there an official IB to GPA conversion chart? No. The IB organization does not publish an official IB-to-GPA conversion — GPA is a US-specific system, and the IB Diploma is reported internationally using the 1–7 subject scale and the 45-point total. The 1–7 to 4.0 conversion used by this calculator (7=A, 6=A−, 5=B+, and so on) is the most widely used unofficial standard among US high schools and colleges, but individual schools may apply a slightly different scale.
How do I convert my IB diploma point total out of 45 to GPA? Use the diploma total table above (24–45 points) for a quick estimate, or enter your six individual subject scores into the calculator at the top of this page for an exact figure. The total-based table assumes zero TOK/Extended Essay bonus points — if you know how many bonus points you earned (0–3), subtract them from your total before looking it up. Per-subject entry is always more accurate than the total alone, since the same total can come from different combinations of subject scores and bonus points.
What GPA is a 38, 40, or 42 IB score? Assuming no TOK/EE bonus points, a diploma total of 38 converts to roughly 3.80 unweighted / 4.80 weighted, a 40 converts to roughly 3.90 unweighted / 4.90 weighted, and a 42 converts to a perfect 4.00 unweighted / 5.00 weighted. See the full total-to-GPA table above for every score from 24 to 42, and note that any total above 42 must include at least one TOK/EE bonus point.
What GPA does an IB score of 5 or 6 convert to? Under the standard conversion, an IB 6 converts to a B+/A− (3.7 unweighted, 4.7 weighted with the IB bonus), and an IB 5 converts to a B+ (3.3 unweighted, 4.3 weighted). See the full conversion table above for every score from 1 to 7.
Weighted GPA Calculator — calculate weighted GPA for mixed AP, IB, Honors, and regular courses.
GPA Calculator — calculate your unweighted cumulative GPA.
GPA Raise Calculator — how many strong grades do you need to hit your target?
Weighted GPA Guide for AP, IB & Honors Classes — the full breakdown of how weighting works.