What is the MYP Personal Project marked out of?

Under the current three-criterion model, the MYP Personal Project is marked out of 24. Criterion A: Planning, Criterion B: Applying skills, and Criterion C: Reflecting are each worth up to 8 achievement levels. The three levels are added to produce the criterion-level total. The IB then converts that total into a final grade from 1 to 7 using the applicable boundaries. Students should use the rubric issued for their cohort because older resources may show a four-criterion total out of 32.

What score do I need to get a 7 in the MYP Personal Project?

A grade of 7 requires a criterion-level total within the IB's top grade boundary for the relevant session. Because boundary information can be updated or presented differently in school handbooks, confirm the applicable range with your MYP coordinator rather than relying on an old online table. Practically, you should aim for the 7-8 achievement band in all three criteria. That requires detailed planning, evidence-supported explanations of ATL skill application, and a rigorous evaluation against every success criterion. A polished product by itself will not compensate for missing explanations or weak evidence in the report.

Is the MYP Personal Project product graded separately?

The product or outcome is not normally given a separate craftsmanship score that is added to the report mark. Instead, it provides evidence for your planning, skill application, and final evaluation. You must show how the product relates to your goal and success criteria, not merely include a photograph of the finished result. Its quality should be evaluated with specific evidence such as testing data, feedback, measurements, or accuracy checks. A modest but well-planned and thoroughly evaluated product can therefore support a stronger grade than an ambitious product accompanied by a vague report.

Does the process journal count toward the Personal Project grade?

The process journal supports your assessment by preserving evidence of research, planning, decisions, skill use, feedback, and changes. It should not be treated as a diary containing only descriptions of what you completed each week. Strong entries record why a decision was made, what evidence informed it, what happened, and what you changed next. Relevant extracts or artifacts can then support claims made in the report, following your school's submission instructions. The report still needs to select, organize, and explain that evidence against the assessment criteria.

Are Global Contexts still part of MYP Personal Project grading?

Older Personal Project criteria explicitly assessed a project's connection to a chosen global context. The current public three-criterion wording focuses on the learning goal, personal interest, product, success criteria, ATL skills, and reflection. However, schools may still use global contexts as part of project planning or require students to discuss one under their local handbook. You should therefore follow the current rubric and instructions supplied by your supervisor rather than deleting or adding a global-context section based solely on an online guide. If your school requires one, explain how it shaped your research, decisions, intended audience, or understanding instead of merely naming it.

Can I still get a high grade if my Personal Project does not work perfectly?

Yes, an imperfect product can still support a high grade when the report demonstrates strong planning, purposeful ATL skill application, and honest evaluation. A failed test or unmet criterion can provide valuable evidence if you analyze why it happened and what you learned from it. Do not hide weaknesses or claim that every criterion was achieved when the evidence shows otherwise. Compare the outcome with each original success criterion and make a justified judgment such as achieved, partly achieved, or not achieved. The assessment rewards the quality of your documented learning process and evaluation, not an unrealistic appearance of perfection.

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How Is the MYP Personal Project Graded?

MYP Personal Project Study Guides

• 11 Sept 2026•12

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How Is the MYP Personal Project Graded? | RevisionDojo

Back to all posts

How Is the MYP Personal Project Graded?

MYP Personal Project Study Guides

• 11 Sept 2026•12

The MYP Personal Project is graded using three equally weighted criteria: Criterion A: Planning, Criterion B: Applying skills, and Criterion C: Reflecting. Each criterion receives an achievement level from 0 to 8, giving a maximum total of 24. This total is converted into a final MYP grade from 1 to 7.

Your supervisor assesses the project against published descriptors, after which the school standardizes its marking and the IB externally moderates selected work. The final product matters, but it does not determine the grade by itself. Your report must provide evidence of your planning, ATL skill application, decisions, evaluation, and learning.

The MYP Personal Project grading structure

The current assessment model contains three criteria:

Criterion	What it assesses	Maximum level
A: Planning	Learning goal, personal interest, product, success criteria, and plan	8
B: Applying skills	Application of ATL skills to learning and product creation	8
C: Reflecting	Impact on learning and evaluation of the product	8
Total	Criterion-level total before grade conversion	24

The official IB Personal Project overview describes the project as a process, a product or outcome, and a reflective report. The supervisor assesses the report, while the IB moderates assessment to maintain international standards.

Some older resources show four criteria: Investigating, Planning, Taking action, and Reflecting, with a total out of 32. This belongs to an earlier model. Consult the rubric issued by your school for your assessment cohort, even when using the IB Personal Project subject brief or online guidance.

How achievement levels are awarded

MYP assessment is criterion-related, meaning your work is judged against descriptors rather than ranked against classmates. Each criterion has achievement bands such as 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, and 7-8.

Your supervisor uses a best-fit judgment to decide which descriptor most accurately represents the evidence. Marks are not normally awarded by assigning separate points to individual sentences and adding them together. A level of 0 applies when the work does not reach a standard described by the available descriptors.

Command terms indicate the expected depth. State requires a direct answer, describe requires a detailed account, explain requires reasons or relationships, and evaluate requires a supported judgment. Writing “I used communication skills” merely states a claim. Explaining the strategy, where it was applied, and how it affected the project provides assessable evidence.

Criterion A: Planning

Criterion A is worth up to 8 levels. It assesses whether you can:

State a learning goal and explain how a personal interest led to it.
State an intended product and develop appropriate success criteria.
Present a clear, detailed plan for achieving the product and criteria.

The learning goal concerns what you want to understand or learn, while the product is what you will create. For example, a learning goal might be to understand how interface design makes vocabulary applications accessible to beginners. The product could be a tested, clickable vocabulary-learning prototype for students aged 11-13.

Success criteria must be specific enough to evaluate. “The application will look professional” is subjective. Better criteria might require three working sections, consistent typography, an average usability score of four out of five from eight testers, and two revisions based on feedback.

Your plan should connect tasks to these criteria and include research, creation, testing, revision, and evaluation. If you are still defining the project, RevisionDojo's guide to choosing a strong Personal Project topic can help you assess feasibility and scope.

Criterion B: Applying skills

Criterion B is worth up to 8 levels and examines how you applied approaches to learning, or ATL, skills to achieve your learning goal and create your product. The five broad ATL categories are communication, social, self-management, research, and thinking skills.

Naming a category is insufficient. Strong explanations identify the particular skill, situation, action, and effect. Instead of writing, “I used research skills to learn about nutrition,” explain how you compared government guidance with academic sources, resolved conflicting recommendations, and used the findings to revise your recipe criteria.

Use appropriate evidence for both learning and product creation. Source evaluations and research notes may demonstrate learning, while testing data, annotated drafts, schedules, feedback summaries, and photographs may show how skills improved the product. Evidence should be authentic, relevant, and clearly connected to the explanation.

Criterion C: Reflecting

Criterion C is worth up to 8 levels. It assesses your explanation of the project's impact on you or your learning and your evaluation of the product against its success criteria.

Reflection is not simply a timeline of completed tasks. A stronger response identifies what changed in your knowledge, assumptions, habits, confidence, or understanding and explains why. For example, user testing might challenge your assumption that younger students want detailed instructions, causing you to simplify an interface and reconsider how audience needs influence design.

Evaluate every success criterion separately using evidence:

Success criterion	Evidence	Judgment
Eight students test the prototype	Nine completed test forms	Fully achieved
Average usability score of 4/5	Mean score of 4.2/5	Fully achieved
All buttons function correctly	Two failed on mobile devices	Partly achieved
Two feedback-based revisions	Version history shows three	Exceeded

An honest weakness does not automatically lower your mark. Acknowledging limitations and making evidence-based judgments demonstrates evaluation more effectively than unsupported praise.

How the total becomes a final grade

The three achievement levels are added to produce a total out of 24. For example, levels of 7, 6, and 7 produce a total of 20.

The IB converts this total into a grade from 1 to 7 using the applicable grade boundaries. Do not treat the score as a simple percentage or assume that an old boundary table applies to your session. Consult your coordinator for the relevant information and see the IB grading and awards overview for the wider MYP framework.

Marking, standardization, and moderation

Your supervisor first assesses the submitted report against the criteria. The school then conducts internal standardization, during which teachers compare judgments and align their interpretations of the descriptors.

The IB externally moderates selected reports and may confirm or adjust the school's marks. According to the IB's guidance on preparing for the Personal Project, submission materials include the report, bibliography, academic honesty documentation, and records of at least three supervisor meetings.

This process prevents marks being awarded merely for effort, expense, or topic difficulty. The submitted evidence must satisfy the descriptors.

Does the product receive a separate mark?

The product is essential, but it does not normally receive a separate craftsmanship score added to the report mark. Its quality matters because you must show how you planned it, used ATL skills to create it, and evaluated it against appropriate criteria.

A relatively simple product can support an excellent report if the learning is challenging, the process is well evidenced, and the evaluation is rigorous. Conversely, an impressive film, application, performance, or engineered object cannot compensate for vague planning and unsupported reflection. RevisionDojo's Personal Project topic ideas can help with scope, but the final project must remain your own work.

Common grading mistakes and submission checks

Students commonly lose marks by describing actions without explaining their significance, writing success criteria after completing the product, or treating the process journal as the final report. Other problems include relying on memory instead of test evidence and structuring the report around outdated criteria. RevisionDojo's guide to common Personal Project mistakes provides additional checks.

Before submitting, confirm that you have:

Distinguished your learning goal from your intended product.
Explained how personal interest led to the learning goal.
Created specific, relevant, and testable success criteria.
Connected the plan to research, creation, testing, and revision.
Explained ATL skill application for both learning and product creation.
Supported important claims with examples or evidence.
Evaluated every success criterion individually.
Explained how the project affected you or your learning.
Cited borrowed information, quotations, ideas, and media.
Followed your school's format and academic-integrity requirements.

You can study MYP Personal Project examples to understand organization and evidence, but you should not copy their language. If your school permits it, the RevisionDojo MYP Personal Project Grader can flag missing evidence or unclear explanations. Such feedback is advisory; your official rubric and supervisor remain authoritative.

Conclusion

The MYP Personal Project is graded through Planning, Applying skills, and Reflecting, each worth up to 8, for a maximum total of 24. High achievement depends on measurable criteria, detailed evidence, clear explanations, and honest evaluation rather than product quality alone. RevisionDojo's exemplars and rubric-aligned grader can support your final review, while your supervisor should confirm cohort-specific rules.

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