IB Exams Cancelled In Response to COVID-19

The International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) announced on March 23 that the International Baccalaureate (IB) examinations in May will not be held in response to the global impact of COVID-19, or Coronavirus. This follows a similar decision previously made by the College Board to default to at-home Advanced Placement (AP) exams. 

As large gatherings of people are ill advised for safety concerns, schools internationally have undergone closures and students have been impacted by the spread and magnitude of COVID-19. The IBO stated on their website that “It is critical for us to ensure that the options we provide for our IB community, students and teachers are fair and compassionate during these difficult circumstances.” The IBO furthers that the cancellations were determined to be “the most responsible and ethical way forward.”

“As a mathematician, I can absolutely appreciate the need for us to have the general population stay at home in order to flatten the exponential growth curve and give medical professionals and scientists time to respond to this crisis.  I believe that the cancellation of seated exams was the right decision for IB to make, and I’m glad that they made it relatively quickly and communicated it to the public,” BVH IB Coordinator Jared Phelps said.

Students taking IB courses prepare all year to take the IB exam. In addition, IB Diploma Candidates prepare over the course of two years to take exams in core subjects; the scores on these exams determine whether or not they receive the IB Diploma at the end of their senior year. IB Diploma Candidates must earn a total of 24 points based on the scores they recieve on the May exams, scored one to seven, as well as other assessments such as the Extended Essay and Theory of Knowledge presentations. However, the bulk of the points comes from the exams. At Bonita Vista High (BVH), the IB Diploma Candidate class of 2020 planned to take most if not all six exams this year. 

“Initially [when the decision was announced to cancel exams] I was rather agitated. I had a sensation of deprivation having worked hard throughout my IB career,” IB Diploma Candidate and senior Isaac Aaron Broudy said. 

The IBO officially made the announcement of the cancellations on March 23, but a letter not released to the public circulated the Internet on March 22 with the IBO’s decision to cancel the May exams. The international IB community was unsure about the credibility of the letter and looked for further confirmation. 

“The screenshot [of the letter] seemed fairly official and said they’d state publicly on Monday [March 23],” Phelps said the day the letter was leaked. “I’d say that by the end of the day [March 23], we’ll have a sense of whether or not that was to be trusted.”

Along with the official update on the IBO website announcing IB exams would be cancelled, the IBO also gave insight into how they plan to score students and evaluate diploma eligibility without their exam scores. 

“The achievement will be based around the students’ coursework and the established assessment expertise, rigor and quality control already built into the programmes,” the IBO website states, “We will be using vast historical assessment data to ensure that we follow a rigorous process of due diligence in what is a truly unprecedent situation. Using the information above the IB will be able to provide official documentation of the students diploma or certification.”

The majority of BVH IB students are concerned about the description of how work will be scored. Many believe the description is too vague, leaving uncertainty, and others worry about their ability to earn college credit. 

“I feel there were alternative methods which could have been employed. For example, online testing, a similar approach to the College Board, could have been used,” Broudy said. “However, my understanding of the IBO’s capabilities to execute these methods, internationally, are limited. They claim to have done a thorough assessment before announcing their plans, so I trust they have made the right choice.” 

Speaking as a former IB Diploma Candidate, Phelps added that while he empathizes with the students who will not have the opportunity to take the exams this year, he also hopes the students understand that the IB program is not just about the end of the year exams. 

“I’m sure in retrospect that I’d have been devastated to find that the exams had been cancelled.  For as much as tests are generally not ‘fun’ – it’s part of a culminating experience,” Phelps said. “I’d also provide the perspective that IB was never about the tests.  IB at Bonita (under my watch anyway) has always been about the community and about the people you’re working on growing into being, and not taking exams doesn’t change that at all.”