Is the MYP Personal Project marked out of 24 or 32?

Under the current Personal Project framework, it is marked out of 24. Students receive achievement levels of up to 8 for Planning, Applying skills, and Reflecting. The three levels are added, so the maximum is \(8 + 8 + 8 = 24\). A total out of 32 usually belongs to an MYP subject with four criteria, not the current Personal Project. Older online resources may show four Personal Project criteria, so students should use the guide specified for their examination session.

Does the final product receive a separate Personal Project grade?

The product or outcome is an essential part of the project, but it does not normally receive a separate craftsmanship grade independent of the report. Students must explain the product, preserve suitable evidence, and evaluate it against the success criteria they established. A visually impressive product will not automatically earn high levels if the report provides weak evidence of planning, ATL application, or reflection. Equally, a product with limitations can still support meaningful evaluation if the student analyzes those limitations honestly and specifically. The key issue is how effectively the report demonstrates achievement against the published criteria.

Can IB moderation lower a Personal Project grade?

Yes, moderation can result in an adjustment when the school's marking does not match the IB standard. The school first assesses all projects and conducts internal standardization among its assessors. The IB then reviews a selected sample rather than independently marking every student's project. If the sample indicates that the school's judgments were consistently too generous or too severe, submitted marks may be adjusted through moderation. This is why coordinators need clear standardization records and assessors must apply the published descriptors rather than personal impressions.

Are MYP Personal Project grade boundaries the same every year?

Students should not assume that a boundary table found online is permanently valid. The criterion structure remains stable within a guide, but final grade boundaries may be confirmed through the IB's grade-awarding and session reporting processes. A raw total should therefore be treated as provisional until the applicable conversion has been verified. Coordinators should consult current IB documentation, subject reports, and official results information for the relevant session. Estimated boundaries can support target-setting, but they are not a substitute for the official conversion.

What Personal Project grade is needed for the MYP Certificate?

A certificate candidate must achieve at least grade 3 in the Personal Project. The candidate must also receive at least grade 3 in every other required eAssessment component and obtain at least 28 points out of 56 overall. Meeting the total alone is not sufficient because the component minimum applies separately. The student must also satisfy the school's expectations for service as action and meet the other certificate requirements. A Personal Project grade of 2 therefore cannot be cancelled out by several grades of 6 or 7 elsewhere.

How should students improve a low Personal Project criterion level?

Students should compare their report with each strand of the current criterion rather than trying to make the whole report longer. For Planning, improvement usually requires clearer success criteria, a stronger explanation of personal interest, or a plan connected to every criterion for the product. For Applying skills, students need detailed examples showing what ATL strategy they used, when they used it, and how it affected the learning goal or product. For Reflecting, they should evaluate each success criterion with evidence and explain the project's effect on their learning. Any revision must remain the student's own work and should follow the school's rules on supervisor feedback and academic integrity.

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How the MYP Personal Project Is Graded Differently

MYP Assessment IB Grading

Rachel B.

• 11 Sept 2026•11

How the MYP Personal Project Is Graded Differently

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How the MYP Personal Project Is Graded Differently | RevisionDojo

Back to all posts

How the MYP Personal Project Is Graded Differently

MYP Assessment IB Grading

Rachel B.

• 11 Sept 2026•11

The MYP Personal Project is graded differently from subject grades because it uses three project-specific criteria, rather than the four criteria normally used in an MYP subject. Each criterion is worth up to 8 achievement levels, producing a total out of 24 that is converted into a final grade from 1 to 7.

The assessment process also differs. The school assesses and standardizes the project internally, after which the IB externally moderates the school's marking. Ordinary classroom subject grades usually remain school-determined unless the student participates in optional MYP eAssessment.

Personal Project grading at a glance

The Personal Project report is assessed against three equally weighted criteria:

Criterion	What it assesses	Maximum level
Criterion A: Planning	Learning goal, personal interest, intended product, success criteria, and plan	8
Criterion B: Applying skills	Application of ATL skills to the learning goal and product	8
Criterion C: Reflecting	Evaluation of the product and reflection on the project's impact	8
Total	Combined criterion levels	24

The IB Personal Project overview explains that the project includes a process, a product or outcome, and a report. The report communicates the evidence used for assessment. An impressive product therefore cannot compensate for a report that does not explain planning, ATL skill application, and evaluation.

Older materials may show four criteria: Investigating, Planning, Taking Action, and Reflecting. Current public IB guidance uses Planning, Applying skills, and Reflecting, so students must follow the rubric prescribed for their examination session rather than an outdated exemplar.

How MYP subject grading compares

Most MYP subject groups use four subject-specific criteria, labelled A to D. Although their names vary by subject, each is normally assessed on a 0--8 scale, creating a maximum criterion total of 32.

For school-reported grades, teachers gather evidence across the reporting period and make a best-fit judgment for each criterion. Best fit is not necessarily the highest task result or a numerical average. It considers the pattern and quality of demonstrated achievement against the descriptors.

Feature	Typical MYP subject grade	MYP Personal Project
Number of criteria	Four	Three
Maximum criterion total	32	24
Evidence	Several subject tasks	Report and permitted supporting evidence
Initial assessment	Subject teacher	Supervisor or trained school assessor
IB moderation	Not usual for classroom grades	Required for Year 5 projects
Final scale	Usually 1--7	1--7

The RevisionDojo guide to MYP grading explains the broader principle: an achievement level describes the quality of work against a rubric, not simply the percentage of questions answered correctly.

Why the score is not a subject average

A Personal Project total should not be treated as a percentage. For example, 18 out of 24 is numerically 75%, but that does not automatically produce a particular letter grade or IB grade. The result must be interpreted through the applicable MYP grade boundaries and grade-awarding process.

A project total out of 24, a classroom subject total out of 32, and an on-screen examination mark are different scales. A student cannot compare 22/24 in the project with 22/32 in science and assume the performances are equivalent.

Published conversion tables can support estimates, but coordinators should verify the boundaries applicable to the relevant session. The RevisionDojo MYP grade-boundary guide explains the conversion principle, but its subject examples should not be confused with the Personal Project's 24-point total.

Worked grading example

Suppose a report receives these internally standardized levels:

Criterion	Level	Reason
Planning	6	Appropriate goals and criteria, but some connections are not fully explained
Applying skills	7	Detailed evidence shows how ATL skills supported the goal and product
Reflecting	6	Evidence-based evaluation, with some implications insufficiently developed
Total	19/24	6 + 7 + 6

The calculation stops at 19/24 until the applicable grade boundary is used. If, purely for illustration, grade 6 began at 18 for that session, the student would receive a 6. A different official boundary could produce another result.

This is why students should target the descriptors rather than reverse-engineering percentages. Levels can compensate across criteria when added, but a weak criterion still limits the total because all three carry equal weight.

Internal standardization and IB moderation

The supervisor supports the student, but criterion judgments must be based on the published rubric. Schools conduct internal standardization, during which assessors compare work and align their interpretation before submitting marks.

The school submits criterion totals and sends the IB selected reports as a moderation sample. The IB's seven steps for a successful Personal Project outlines the supervisor's assessment role and the coordinator's submission responsibilities.

Moderation does not mean an examiner independently re-marks every project. The IB examines sampled work to determine whether the school applied the criteria at the international standard. Marks may be adjusted if the school has assessed systematically too generously or severely.

Ordinary classroom subject grades generally do not undergo this process. They remain school-reported unless connected to an externally assessed or moderated eAssessment component.

Personal Project grading within eAssessment

MYP eAssessment includes several formats. On-screen examinations are externally marked, while relevant ePortfolios and the Personal Project are internally assessed and externally moderated. The IB MYP assessment overview distinguishes these methods.

Most subject eAssessments are optional for schools, but external validation of the Personal Project is mandatory for MYP schools ending in Year 5. The project may therefore be the only official IB-validated result for a student whose school does not enter candidates for the full certificate.

For certificate candidates, the Personal Project is one of eight results contributing to the total. The IB grading and awards guidance gives a maximum certificate score of 56, based on eight grades worth up to seven points each.

Candidates need at least 28 points overall, at least a grade 3 in every required eAssessment component, and completion of the school's service as action expectations. A high total cannot compensate for a Personal Project grade below 3. RevisionDojo's MYP Certificate guide explains how the components fit together.

What students should prioritize

The report should be an evidence-based account of independent learning, not an advertisement for the product. A polished film, app, event, or artwork helps only when the report demonstrates the assessed thinking behind it.

Students should:

Distinguish the learning goal from the intended product.
Create specific, testable success criteria before making the product.
Preserve dated evidence of research, decisions, testing, feedback, and revisions.
Explain how particular ATL skills affected actions or outcomes.
Evaluate every success criterion using evidence, including unmet criteria.
Check that the report explicitly addresses every rubric strand.

The RevisionDojo Personal Project Grader can help identify missing rubric evidence. Its feedback is formative and should be checked against the current official rubric, school handbook, and supervisor instructions. It cannot determine the moderated grade or replace the student's authorship.

Common grading misconceptions

“The product receives most of the marks.” The product matters, but the report must supply the planning, skills evidence, and evaluation required by the rubric.

“The supervisor's grade cannot change.” The school makes the initial judgment, but internal standardization and IB moderation can affect the submitted result.

“Every MYP assessment is out of 32.” Four-criterion subject totals are usually out of 32; the current Personal Project uses three criteria and is out of 24.

“Raw totals always convert identically.” Students should not assume that boundaries from another year, school, or assessment component apply to their session.

Conclusion

The MYP Personal Project differs from subject grading in its criteria, evidence base, total, and moderation process. It uses three equally weighted criteria worth 8 levels each, creating a total out of 24 before conversion to a 1--7 grade. Typical subjects use four criteria and a total out of 32.

Students should work directly from the current rubric, retain strong process evidence, and verify session-specific requirements with their coordinator. RevisionDojo's Personal Project Grader and Personal Project support guide can provide an additional rubric-focused check before submission.

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