IB DP Maths AA · Exam special · SL & HL · all papers and time zones · ~6 min read
IB Maths AA Grade Boundaries (May 2025 & Nov 2024)
Every grade boundary for IB Maths AA from the IB subject reports: May 2025 time zones 1–3 and November 2024, SL and HL, overall and paper by paper, and what it takes to get a 7.
Overall boundariesPaper 1, 2, 3IA boundaries% for a 7Time zones2029 changes
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No tag = SL and HLHL ONLY HL students onlyFORMULA BOOKLET given in the examM1A1 how marks are awardedhighlight = comes up again and againHANDY worth memorisingTest yourself at the end
In 30 seconds
- A 7 in May 2025 needed 65–77 out of 100 at SL and 71–76 at HL, depending on the time zone. In November 2024 it needed 80 (SL) and 79 (HL).
- A 4 (often treated as a pass) needed only 25–33 at SL in May 2025: well under half the marks.
- Boundaries change every session and differ between time zones, because each zone sits a different variant of the paper. Treat them as a guide, not a promise.
- Every number on this page comes from the IB's own subject reports for November 2024 and May 2025.
1How IB Maths AA grades work
- Your final mark is out of 100. Each component is scaled to its weighting, added up, and the total is compared with the grade boundaries.
| Component | SL weighting | HL weighting | Marks on the paper |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paper 1 (no calculator) | 40% | 30% | SL 80, HL 110 |
| Paper 2 (calculator) | 40% | 30% | SL 80, HL 110 |
| Paper 3 (HL, calculator) | – | 20% | 55 |
| Internal assessment (exploration) | 20% | 20% | 20 |
- Grade boundaries are set after marking. Senior examiners look at the scripts and the statistics, then fix the lowest mark for each grade. A harder paper gets lower boundaries.
Exam tipTime zones: "TZ1", "TZ2" and "TZ3" sat different versions of the exams. You can only use the boundaries for the time zone (and session) that you sat.
2May 2025 and November 2024: overall boundaries
- The table shows the lowest overall mark (out of 100) for each grade. A 1 is anything below the grade 2 boundary.
Standard level (SL)
| Session | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2025 TZ1 | 7–14 | 15–24 | 25–37 | 38–51 | 52–64 | 65–100 |
| May 2025 TZ2 | 7–14 | 15–24 | 25–38 | 39–51 | 52–65 | 66–100 |
| May 2025 TZ3 | 10–20 | 21–32 | 33–47 | 48–61 | 62–76 | 77–100 |
| Nov 2024 | 13–25 | 26–36 | 37–52 | 53–66 | 67–79 | 80–100 |
Higher level (HL)
| Session | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2025 TZ1 | 12–23 | 24–33 | 34–47 | 48–59 | 60–72 | 73–100 |
| May 2025 TZ2 | 11–22 | 23–31 | 32–44 | 45–58 | 59–70 | 71–100 |
| May 2025 TZ3 | 13–25 | 26–37 | 38–50 | 51–63 | 64–75 | 76–100 |
| Nov 2024 | 14–25 | 26–36 | 37–51 | 52–64 | 65–78 | 79–100 |
3Paper-by-paper boundaries
- Each cell gives the lowest mark for a 7 (and that as a percentage of the paper), then the lowest mark for a 4. Read "50/80 (63%) · 19" as: 50 out of 80 for a 7, 19 for a 4.
SL papers
| Component (7 · 4) | May 2025 TZ1 | May 2025 TZ2 | May 2025 TZ3 | Nov 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paper 1 | 50/80 (62%) · 19 | 51/80 (64%) · 18 | 60/80 (75%) · 24 | 64/80 (80%) · 29 |
| Paper 2 | 47/80 (59%) · 15 | 48/80 (60%) · 16 | 60/79 (76%) · 25 | 62/80 (78%) · 29 |
| IA (out of 20) | 18/20 (90%) · 9 | 18/20 (90%) · 9 | 18/20 (90%) · 9 | 18/20 (90%) · 9 |
HL papers
| Component (7 · 4) | May 2025 TZ1 | May 2025 TZ2 | May 2025 TZ3 | Nov 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paper 1 | 76/110 (69%) · 30 | 74/110 (67%) · 26 | 70/110 (64%) · 31 | 86/110 (78%) · 37 |
| Paper 2 | 67/110 (61%) · 29 | 72/110 (65%) · 30 | 85/110 (77%) · 43 | 84/110 (76%) · 38 |
| Paper 3 | 48/55 (87%) · 28 | 42/55 (76%) · 23 | 48/55 (87%) · 27 | 45/55 (82%) · 24 |
| IA (out of 20) | 17/20 (85%) · 9 | 17/20 (85%) · 9 | 17/20 (85%) · 9 | 17/20 (85%) · 9 |
4What these numbers mean for you
- A 7 is not 90%. In May 2025 a 7 at SL TZ1 needed 65 out of 100. On SL Paper 2 TZ1 you could drop 33 of the 80 marks and still be at the 7 boundary for that paper.
- The IA is the most predictable 20%. A 7 on the IA needed 18/20 at SL and 17/20 at HL in every time zone. It's the one component you control before the exam.
- Every mark you don't lose matters more than marks you chase. The subject reports show that students lose marks every session on the same things: premature rounding, the wrong calculator mode, "show that" worked backwards and blank question parts. See Maths AA exam traps.
- Grade boundaries rise when a paper is easier. May 2025 TZ3 had much higher boundaries than TZ1 and TZ2, so a raw mark that gave a 7 in TZ1 gave a 6 in TZ3. Compare your practice scores with the boundary of the same paper.
Memory trickTarget mark trick: pick the boundary for the grade you want, add 5 marks of safety, and work out what that means per paper. At SL, each paper is worth 40 of the 100 marks and the IA 20, so 70/100 with 18/20 on the IA means about 52/80 on each paper.
5Changes for May 2029
Syllabus noteFrom the first exams in May 2029 the papers get shorter: SL Papers 1 and 2 become 75 marks each, HL Papers 1 and 2 become 100 marks each, and HL Paper 3 becomes 50 marks and 1 hour. The weightings stay the same. The exploration (IA) keeps 20 marks but moves to four criteria. Old raw boundaries won't translate directly to the new papers; percentages will be a better guide.
Linking questionGrade boundaries tell you the target; the exam traps note and the GDC guide help you reach it. For the IA, see Maths IA guide.
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