University admission resources
The International Baccalaureate (IB) develops resources to help you work with and support IB students.
For university and career counsellors in schools
All of the IB's resources for counsellors are located in our Guide for University and Career Counsellors. Find a comprehesive library of tools to support you with predicting IB grades, helping students apply to universities in various countries, sending transcript requests and more. The guide also includes a section featuring resources created by the University and Career Counsellor (UCC) Advisory Group.
For universities
A key introductory resource for universities, our IB 101 learning module shows you how the IB is taught, how students are assessed and what you should consider when reviewing an IB student's application.
More resources for universities
Find resources to support your university's efforts to recognize and recruit IB students.
Get familiar with IB curriculum
- Your university and the IB: Learn about the IB and why IB students are assets to universities in this brochure.
- DP subject groups and individual subject information: Understand the different Diploma Programme (DP) subject groups and details of the individual subjects.
- CP curriculum information: See how the Career-related Programme (CP) is structured.
- Guide to understanding IB mathematics: Refer to this guide for help with creating a meaningful and relevant mathematics requirement/admission policy.
- Guide for universities in the USA: IB languages and their university course equivalencies: Consult this guide for an outline of how IB language courses compare to university-level courses. Plus, see guidance on setting IB language recognition policies at your institution.
Attract and support IB students
- Develop and publish a recognition statement: Follow these steps to establish a presence on the IB Recognition Statements Database, which has more than 150,000 yearly visitors.
- Create a My IB account: Sign up for the Institute Administrator or Institute Transcript User role on My IB to access IB student transcripts, to publish on the database and to receive the university admissions newsletter three times per year.
- For others at your university, including those in senior positions and staff from the marketing, communications or recruitment departments, please share this newsletter sign-up form.
- Watch webinars for universities: On our "Advance your admissions expertise” webinar series playlist, you'll find recordings of webinars that cover recruiting IB students, receiving and evaluating IB exam results, granting credit for IB courses, and more.
- Transcript guidance: Understand how to access and evaluate IB student transcripts.
- Credit policy promotional graphic: Universities with policies that recognize both standard level (SL) and higher level (HL) courses for credit can showcase this with a graphic–share on social media and promotional materials to catch the attention of IB students looking for universities that grant SL and HL credit.
Read recommendations and research
- ACE recommendations: Read how the American Council on Education (ACE) recommends colleges and universities grant credit for IB courses.
- IB language course alignment: Learn how IB language courses align with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) and certain language-specific proficiency tests.
- Outcomes research: See the impact of IB programmes on teachers, schools and students.
- Research key findings: Explore programme-specific, regional and global research findings.