Global Statistics - 2022
IBDP Music within the Global Context
Twice a year, the IB released a range of statistics about the DP in the form of statistical bulletins. These documents contain assessment information more broadly as well as individual subjects. These pages offer you a summary of the statistics specifically in regards to music, namely the number of students who take the subject at both SL and HL, as well as the percentages awarded in each of the grade levels.
Photo by Chris Liverani on Unsplash
General Global Statistics in Music 2022
Some of the statistics for music are as follows:
(These figures have been extracted from the IB Statistical Bulletins for May 2022 and Nov 2022). If you wish to progress even further back, earlier statistical summaries are available to you as well. However, this earlier data may be misleading as it relates to the previous course and not the latest curriculum that was first assessed (in a limited capacity) in May 2022.
May 2022 SL HL Total
Number of Students Taking IBDP Music: 1615 1580 3195
Nov 2022
Number of Students Taking IBDP Music: 107 220 327
Total for 2022: 3522
Students are awarded a Grade on a scale of 1 to 7 for each of their subjects, based on their total percentages for their internal and external assessment (no examinations are required for Group 6 subjects).
There are changes to how the percentages are converted for each subject in each assessment period. In other words, for one cohort 79% in music, for example, may be enough to be awarded grade "7", but in other years, it may only be enough for a grade "6".
There is an overview of the grade boundaries since May 2022 in IBDP Music to be found HERE.Photo by Marek Studzinski on Unsplash
In May 2022, the percentages of students receiving 0-3 points for the CORE (EE and TOK combined) are as follows:
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 17.57% | 24.69% | 44.61% | 13.13% |
In Nov 2022, the percentages of students receiving 0-3 points for the CORE (EE and TOK combined) are as follows:
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 17.12% | 25.63% | 43.76% | 13.49% |
These statistics throughout 2022 largely remained the same.
For an understanding of the CORE point matrix, see below, which indicates the bonus points awarded for the grades awarded in both TOK and the EE.
For more on this, you may visit Music & Theory of Knowledge (TOK).
Here is a summary of the number of students who selected the Arts for their Extended Essay in May 2022 and their results:
| A | B | C | D | E | N | Total | |
| Arts | 1157 | 1385 | 2107 | 1076 | 93 | 100 | 5918 |
| Arts % | 19.6 | 23.4 | 35.6 | 18.2 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 100% |
| Global Totals | 12330 | 25219 | 34586 | 14867 | 571 | 978 | 88551 |
| Global Totals % | 13.9 | 28.5 | 39.1 | 16.8 | 0.6 | 1.1 | 100% |
The number of As in the Arts far exceeded the Global Totals (almost 20% as opposed to almost 14%).
The top three most chosen subjects for the Extended Essay in May 2022 were:
- English A
- History
- Psychology
Here is a summary of the number of students who selected the Arts for their Extended Essay in Nov 2022 and their results:
| A | B | C | D | E | N | Total | |
| Arts | 215 | 215 | 242 | 80 | 3 | 9 | 764 |
| Arts % | 28.1 | 28.1 | 31.7 | 10.5 | 0.4 | 1.2 | 100% |
| Global Totals | 1893 | 4141 | 4791 | 1271 | 19 | 95 | 12210 |
| Global Totals % | 15.5 | 33.9 | 39.2 | 10.4 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 100% |
The number of As in the Arts again far exceeded the Global Totals (over 28% as opposed to 15.5%).
The top three most chosen subjects for the Extended Essay in Nov 2022 were:
- History
- Spanish A
- English A
In May 2022, TOK grade distribution and percentage were as follows:
| A | B | C | D | E | N | Total | |
| Number | 8116 | 31128 | 40094 | 8776 | 189 | 996 | 89299 |
| % | 9.1 | 34.9 | 44.9 | 9.8 | 0.2 | 1.1 | 100% |
In Nov 2022, TOK grade distribution and percentage were as follows:
| A | B | C | D | E | N | Total | |
| Number | 946 | 4130 | 5338 | 1605 | 33 | 69 | 12121 |
| % | 7.8 | 34.1 | 44.0 | 13.2 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 100% |
These statistics throughout 2022 largely remained the same with a higher percentage of As in May, but significantly more Ds in Nov.
|
Group 6 Statistics for Nov 2022
Subject | Candidates | Mean Grade | % 1 | % 2 | % 3 | % 4 | % 5 | % 6 | % 7 |
Dance HL | 47 | 6.62 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 10.6 | 17.0 | 72.3 |
Dance SL | 13 | 5.31 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 15.4 | 38.5 | 46.2 | 0.0 |
Film HL | 201 | 5.20 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 11.3 | 20.0 | 19.5 | 33.3 | 15.4 |
FIlm SL | 73 | 4.42 | 1.4 | 4.2 | 29.2 | 11.1 | 31.9 | 15.3 | 6.9 |
Music HL | 220 | 5.63 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.8 | 11.5 | 28.4 | 34.9 | 22.5 |
Music SL | 107 | 4.33 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 18.8 | 43.6 | 16.8 | 11.9 | 5.9 |
Theatre HL | 205 | 5.86 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.9 | 9.8 | 18.1 | 36.3 | 32.8 |
Theatre SL | 109 | 4.68 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 11.2 | 39.3 | 27.1 | 15.0 | 7.5 |
Visual Arts HL | 874 | 4.79 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 12.4 | 25.1 | 36.5 | 20.5 | 5.0 |
Visual Arts SL | 1071 | 4.27 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 17.0 | 46.1 | 28.2 | 6.7 | 1.4 |
Based on the information that appears above, here is a summary of the number of students who manage to achieve a level 7:
May 2022 - Number of 7s
Higher Level students: 175 (11.1% of 1580)
Standard Level students: 97 (6% of 1615)
Nov 2022 - Number of 7s
Higher Level students: 49 (22.5% of 220)
Standard Level students: 6 (5.9% of 107)
Interestingly, for the standard-level students in both periods of assessment (May and Nov), the percentages remained more or less the same (around 6% of the number of candidates). However, for the higher-level students, a remarkably significant number of students managed to achieve a 7 in the November assessment period (22.5%), as opposed to less than half that figure (11.1%) for the corresponding May period of assessment.
It is worth noting however that these were extraordinary global circumstances and one of the higher-level components (The Contemporary Music Maker) was not assessed in this period. This is the first year of the new curriculum (May 2022) so comparing these numbers to previous years (with the rather different older curriculum) may not be that revealing.
For a list of the more recent subject reports for music, click HERE.
The Music Guide (First Assessment 2022) and accompanying materials (Music Teacher Support Materials) can be found on the site MyIB (click HERE, remember that you require a login and password, ordinarily given by your Diploma Level Coordinator)
The IB produces these documents and should form the basis of your decision-making in designing your course.
You can gain additional support from Global Music Concepts and/or the IBDP Music Teachers Worldwide.
Statistics in Other Subjects
These summaries have been extracted from the materials on MyIB, for a complete summary of ALL subjects visit HERE.