International Baccalaureate (IB) Studies

This information is provided to assist students who are completing the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma or Bilingual Diploma and intend to apply through QTAC for a tertiary place.

Students completing the International Baccalaureate Career-related Certificate (IBCC) should contact QTAC for specific advice.

IB students who have completed IB at an Australian school can now change their preferences until Sunday 8 January 2012. This date has been extended from Thursday 5 January 2012.

How do IB students apply for tertiary entry?

If you are completing the IB at an Australian school, please use your IB number to apply via QTAC’s Twelve to Tertiary (TTT) online application service.  Your IB number will be three letters followed by three numbers, eg abc123.  

If you are completing the IB at a school outside Australia, you apply via QTAC’s Apply by Web (ABW) online application service.

Do I need to provide QTAC with my IB results?

QTAC is able to obtain your IB results directly from the International Baccalaureate Organisation (IBO) if your school has used the Results Release Service on the International Baccalaureate Information System (IBIS) to nominate QTAC as a recipient of your results.  You should check with the IB coordinator at your school to determine if your school has submitted this request via IBIS on your behalf.

In the absence of online Results Release Service authorisation, you will need to provide QTAC with a certified copy of your IB results transcript as soon as this becomes available. Transcripts downloaded from the Internet are not acceptable.

You are strongly encouraged to arrange for QTAC to obtain your results directly from the IBO to ensure these are received in time for the major offer rounds.  This is particularly important if you are sitting your IB examinations in the November 2011 session as results will not become available until early January 2012.

How is my selection rank calculated?

Across Australia, a common national measure of Year 12 student achievement called the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) is used in the tertiary selection process. ATARs are expressed in a scale extending from 99.95 (highest) down to 30.00.

The score out of 45 from the completed IB Diploma is also expressed in this common national measure.  Termed the ‘Combined Rank’, the following table shows the common national measures assigned to each of the IB scores attainable in a completed 2011 IB Diploma:

 

IB Score in Completed Diploma (2011)	2011 Combined Rank	QTAC Rank based on 2011 conversions
45	99.95	99
44	99.80	99
43	99.55	99
42	99.20	99
41	98.70	98
40	98.05	98
39	97.40	97
38	96.60	96
37	95.60	95
36	94.15	94
35	92.75	93
34	91.10	91
33	89.35	89
32	87.30	88
31	85.35	86
30	82.40	83
29	79.75	81
28	77.70	79
27	75.35	77
26	73.00	75
25	70.40	73
24	67.25	71

 

For tertiary entrance purposes in Queensland, these common national measures of achievement (ATAR and Combined Rank for IB students) are converted to a QTAC rank on a 99 (highest) to 1 scale.

The QTAC rank for 2011 Combined Ranks based on the December 2011 conversions is shown in the right hand column of the table above. 

Tables for previous years can be accessed from the links below:

IB Diplomas completed in 2006 and earlier

IB Diplomas completed in 2007

IB Diplomas completed in 2008

IB Diplomas completed in 2009

IB Diplomas completed in 2010

To view a document explaining the procedures used by tertiary admission centres to determine tertiary entrance rankings for IB students, click here. This document was prepared by the Australasian Conference of Tertiary Admissions Centres (ACTAC) of which QTAC is a member.

Do IB subjects satisfy prerequisites?

Subject prerequisites are specified in terms of Queensland Studies Authority subjects studied as part of Queensland Senior which have been undertaken over a duration of study (ie 4 semesters of study) to a satisfactory level of achievement (ie 'Sound Achievement').  For example, most Bachelor of Education courses will have English (4,SA) specified as the subject prerequisite.

A list of IB subjects deemed comparable to Queensland Studies Authority subjects is shown in the table below:

IB Subjects comparable to QSA subjects

 

IB Subject Title	IB Subject Level	Comparable to Queensland Authority Subject
Ancient History	SL	Ancient History
Biology	HL or SL	Biology
Chemistry	HL or SL	Chemistry
Chinese A1, Chinese A2, Chinese B, Chinese Studies	HL or SL	Chinese
Dance	SL	Dance
Drama	SL	Drama
Economics	HL or SL	Economics
English A1, English A2, English B	HL or SL	English
French A1, French A2, French AB, French B	HL or SL	French
Further Mathematics	SL	Maths B or C
Geography	HL or SL	Geography
German A1, German A2, German AB, German B	HL or SL	German
History (Africa, America, East and South East Asia and Oceania, Europe, South Asia and the Middle East)	HL or SL	Modern History
Indonesian A1, Indonesian AB, Indonesian B	HL or SL	Indonesian
Italian A1, Italian A2, Italian AB, Italian B	HL or SL	Italian
Japanese A1, Japanese A2, Japanese AB, Japanese B	HL or SL	Japanese
Mandarin B, Mandarin AB	HL or SL	Chinese
Mathematical Studies	SL	Maths A
Mathematics	HL	Maths B or Maths C
Mathematics	SL	Maths B
Music, Music Group Performance, Music Solo Performance	HL or SL	Music
Physics	HL or SL	Physics
Russian A1, Russian A2, Russian AB, Russian B	HL or SL	Russian
Social and Cultural Anthropology, Social Studies	HL or SL	Study of Society
Spanish A1, Spanish A2, Spanish AB, Spanish B	HL or SL	Spanish
Theatre	HL or SL	Drama
Vietnamese A1, Vietnamese B	HL or SL	Vietnamese
Visual Arts, Visual Arts A, Visual Arts B	HL or SL	Art

 

In terms of duration of study and level of achievement, the following are required from IB subjects:

Standard Level or Higher Level are both deemed to satisfy the 4 semesters requirement.

To satisfy the Sound Achievement requirement a subject result of 3 or better in a HL subject or a subject result of 4 or better in an SL subject are required.

What if I do not satisfy the requirements to be awarded the IB Diploma and am awarded an IB Certificate? 

QTAC will calculate a rank by analogy using the approved year specific guidelines for OP-ineligible students. 

IB subject grades are converted to the following Queensland Authority subject equivalents in the rank by analogy process on the OP-ineligible schedules as follows:

For HL Subjects: IB Grades 7 and 6 = VHA; IB Grades 5 and 4 = HA; IB Grade 3 = SA; IB Grade 2 = LA; and IB Grade 1 = VLA.

For SL subjects: IB Grade 7 = VHA; IB Grades 6 and 5 = HA; IB Grade 4 = SA; IB Grades 3 and 2 = LA; and IB Grade 1 = VLA.

What if I am completing one or two IB subjects in conjunction with a regular Australian Year 12 program of study ie Queensland Senior, NSW HSC etc?

The IB subjects you complete can be used to satisfy subject prerequisites if you attain grades of 3 or better in the HL subjects or 4 or better in the SL subjects.

What if I am completing both an IB Diploma and another secondary qualification ie Queensland Senior, USA High School Diploma, etc?

Please ensure that details of both qualifications are included in your QTAC application.  QTAC will calculate a rank from both qualifications, and the highest rank attained is expected to be used in the tertiary selection process.  Subject prerequisites can be satisfied using either of the secondary qualifications.

This information was correct as at 30 December 2011.

 

 

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