MYP eAssessment is the International Baccalaureate’s system for externally validating achievement at the end of MYP Year 5. It combines on-screen examinations, digitally submitted coursework, an externally moderated personal project, and, for language acquisition, a speaking assessment.
Students receive a grade from 1 to 7 for each registered component. They may take individual eAssessments for IB-validated course results or complete the required combination of components for the full IB MYP certificate.
What is MYP eAssessment?
MYP eAssessment is the externally marked or moderated part of the Middle Years Programme. According to the IB MYP assessment overview, schools can register students for individual subjects or for the complete set of assessments leading to the certificate.
Most external assessment components are optional. The personal project, however, is a required part of MYP Year 5, and schools seeking IB-validated results submit project marks and work for external moderation.
An MYP course result is not the same as the full certificate. A student registered for selected subjects can receive official results in those subjects without completing all certificate components.
MYP eAssessment formats
The IB uses several formats because timed examinations cannot capture every MYP skill. Practical, creative, and process-based subjects require evidence developed over time.
| Component | Assessment format | Quality assurance |
|---|---|---|
| Language and literature | On-screen examination | Externally marked |
| Individuals and societies | On-screen examination | Externally marked |
| Sciences | On-screen examination | Externally marked |
| Mathematics | On-screen examination | Externally marked |
| Interdisciplinary learning | On-screen examination | Externally marked |
| Language acquisition | On-screen tasks and speaking assessment | Examination externally marked; speaking moderated |
| Arts, design, or physical and health education | ePortfolio | Teacher-marked and externally moderated |
| Personal project | Digitally submitted project evidence | Teacher-marked and externally moderated |
On-screen examinations
On-screen examinations generally last between 1 hour 45 minutes and 2 hours, depending on the subject and current examination design. They run through dedicated examination software installed by the school, rather than through an ordinary web page. A continuous internet connection is not necessarily required during the examination.
Questions may include text, data, images, audio, video, animations, simulations, calculations, short answers, and extended responses. These examinations assess more than recall: students must interpret unfamiliar material, apply knowledge, communicate reasoning, and evaluate evidence.
ePortfolios and moderation
An ePortfolio contains work completed over an extended period under school supervision. It is used when designing, creating, performing, planning, or evaluating cannot be assessed adequately through a timed test.
Teachers mark the work using published MYP Year 5 criteria. The IB then reviews a sample through moderation. If the sample shows that the school applied the standard too generously or severely, marks for the relevant group may be adjusted.
Moderation does not mean every portfolio is remarked individually. It is a quality-control process that makes teacher-awarded marks more comparable internationally.
Language acquisition
Language acquisition combines on-screen receptive and written tasks with speaking assessed by the teacher and moderated by the IB. The official language acquisition subject brief identifies listening, reading, speaking, and writing as the four assessed communication areas. Registration also reflects the student’s appropriate proficiency level and course.
How MYP eAssessment grading works
MYP eAssessment is criterion-related, not norm-referenced. Students are judged against defined standards; the IB does not require a fixed proportion of candidates to receive each grade.
For an on-screen examination, the process is generally:
- Questions are linked to subject assessment criteria.
- Examiners award raw marks using an IB markscheme.
- The marks are totalled for the assessment.
- The IB completes grade awarding for that subject and session.
- Session-specific boundaries convert the total into a grade from 1 to 7.
Short questions may use point-based markschemes. Extended responses often use mark bands reflecting the quality of analysis, reasoning, communication, or evaluation.
Most MYP subjects have four assessment criteria, labelled A to D. Interdisciplinary learning uses three criteria: evaluating, synthesizing, and reflecting. Subject examination blueprints show how criteria and marks are distributed across tasks.
The IB’s assessment principles and practices explains why grade boundaries can vary between sessions. Adjusting boundaries helps account for differences in paper difficulty while preserving a comparable achievement standard.
External boundaries versus classroom grading
Students often confuse classroom MYP boundaries with official eAssessment boundaries. They involve the same 1-to-7 reporting scale, but the conversion processes differ.
| Result | Starting evidence | Conversion |
|---|---|---|
| Internal school grade | Criterion achievement levels, commonly totalled out of 32 | General MYP classroom boundary table |
| On-screen eAssessment grade | Raw marks from IB examiners | Subject- and session-specific boundaries |
| ePortfolio or project grade | Teacher marks after moderation adjustments | IB grade-award process |
For classroom reporting, four criterion levels commonly use this conversion:
| Criterion total | Grade |
|---|---|
| 1--5 | 1 |
| 6--9 | 2 |
| 10--14 | 3 |
| 15--18 | 4 |
| 19--23 | 5 |
| 24--27 | 6 |
| 28--32 | 7 |
This table must not be applied directly to an external examination mark. A score of 75 out of 100, for example, does not automatically correspond to a classroom criterion total of 24 out of 32. Students can consult the RevisionDojo guide to MYP grade boundaries for a fuller comparison.
Worked grading example
Suppose a science examination is marked out of 100. These boundaries are hypothetical and illustrate the method only.
| Raw mark | Hypothetical grade |
|---|---|
| 78--100 | 7 |
| 66--77 | 6 |
| 54--65 | 5 |
| 42--53 | 4 |
| 31--41 | 3 |
| 20--30 | 2 |
| 0--19 | 1 |
A student earning 64 marks receives grade 5 under this schedule because the total falls within the grade 5 range. The calculation is not simply “64 percent equals grade 5.” Another session could use different boundaries while maintaining the intended standard for each grade.
How the MYP certificate is calculated
The complete certificate contains eight equally weighted grades, each reported from 1 to 7. The maximum total is therefore 56 points.
A certificate candidate must generally:
- Complete the eight required eAssessment components.
- Earn at least 28 points out of 56.
- Receive at least grade 3 in every required component.
- Meet the school’s expectations for service as action.
The IB grading and awards page provides the official summary. A student whose eight grades are 5, 4, 4, 5, 3, 4, 4, and 4 has 33 points, with no component below grade 3, so the academic grade conditions are met. By contrast, 35 points with a grade 2 in one required component would not satisfy the certificate conditions.
Preparing for on-screen examinations
Students should use official specimen assessments and familiarisation activities supplied through their school. The IB preparation guidance explains the examination delivery process and equipment.
Effective preparation should include:
- Navigating between questions and tracking incomplete answers.
- Applying command terms such as analyse, evaluate, and justify.
- Interpreting sources, graphs, and multimedia material on screen.
- Typing structured responses under timed conditions.
- Checking evidence, units, conclusions, and task requirements.
A useful cycle is to review one weak concept, answer an exam-style question, compare the response with the relevant criterion, diagnose the lost marks, and rewrite the weakest section. The RevisionDojo MYP resource hub and 30-day MYP eAssessment study plan can help structure this work.
Common misconceptions
Not every MYP student takes every eAssessment. Schools decide which external components to offer and which candidates to register.
On-screen does not necessarily mean continuously online. The examination can run locally through installed software.
A classroom total of 28 out of 32 does not guarantee an eAssessment grade 7. External examinations use raw marks and session-specific boundaries.
ePortfolios are not marked entirely by external examiners. Teachers mark them first, after which the IB moderates a sample. The RevisionDojo guide to MYP assessment criteria explains the criterion-based expectations students should apply.
Conclusion
MYP eAssessment combines externally marked on-screen examinations with externally moderated coursework. Results are reported from 1 to 7, while the full certificate requires at least 28 out of 56, no required component below grade 3, and completion of service expectations.
Students should distinguish classroom criterion totals from official examination boundaries and combine subject knowledge with criterion-based, timed digital practice. RevisionDojo Study Notes, Questionbank, Jojo AI, and mock-style practice can support this preparation alongside official IB materials and teacher guidance.
Sources and referenced URLs
- IB MYP assessment overview
- IB grading and awards
- IB preparation for on-screen examinations
- IB assessment principles and practices
- IB language acquisition subject brief
- RevisionDojo MYP resources
- RevisionDojo MYP eAssessment study plan
- RevisionDojo guide to MYP grade boundaries
- RevisionDojo guide to MYP assessment criteria