Written by: Leyla
Edited by: Erich
As the first round of predicted grades come out for ISM’s seniors, pressure for students in other batches, particularly juniors, are at all-time highs, as they begin to think about strategies in order to work towards high predicted grades. Although this topic is widely discussed amongst Bearcats, there isn’t much transparency from teachers regarding how these grades are determined. Through interviews with different teachers and ISM’s IB coordinator himself, Mr. Hillman, more clarity will be brought to this mystery.
According to Mr. Hillman, the definition of a predicted grade is “the teacher’s best estimate of how a student will perform both in the May exam and when internal assessment comes”. These grades are usually included in university applications, as a gauge for admission staff to determine whether or not an offer should be extended. Interestingly enough, Mr. Hillman notes that although there exists a system for predicted grades, it has to be adapted for different subjects because of specific assessments and curriculums.
Biology, a Group 4 subject offered to IB students, for example, has unit summatives as well as an End of Year 1 exam, which closely emulates a real IB exam. Mr. Roth, a high school IB biology teacher, explains how he “gives unit summatives an overall 40% weighting in the spreadsheet, the IA 20% and the end of year 1 cumulative exam (Paper 1 and 2) 40% weighting”. However, he comments that consistency in a student’s grade may also play a role in his decisions for their predicted grade, as it offers a general indication of a students’ overall performance over time.
English Literature, on the other hand, is a Group 1 subject, where assessments and quizzes take on the form of different essay types. This affects the consideration of predicted grades, as Mr. Khan, the SL English Literature teacher, notes how he “look[s] at the trend from the most recent assessments” as opposed to assigning percentages like Mr. Roth does when determining predicted grades. This is an example of how Mr. Hillman’s aforementioned system can be adapted to suit specific courses, producing more accurate measures of predicted grades.
In conclusion, predicted grades are decided differently for each course. Yet, despite discrepancies in systems used to determine these grades, both Mr. Khan and Mr. Roth note how their predictions are, more often than not, accurate. Thus, there isn’t much surprise coming from students upon receiving their actual IB scores. Mr. Hillman further emphasizes the importance of providing accurate predicted grades, as this will aid students in their pursuit of higher education. When asked what a student can do to achieve higher predicted grades, all three teachers highlighted the importance of putting in the effort during junior year, as that’s when the majority of assessments considered for predicted grades take place. Evidently, a student’s final score can be different, but teachers across all departments work towards making sure that the predicted grades they decide upon are as accurate of a reflection of a student’s academic performance as it can be.
