European Baccalaureate Biology

Candidates sit five written examinations and three oral examinations at the end of year s7. L1, L2 and Mathematics are compulsory written examinations, and the compulsory oral examinations are L1, L2 or a subject taught through L2, namely History or Geography. You therefore have to show written and oral proficiency in at least two languages.

At the end of s7 pupils receive a preliminary mark accounting for 50% of the final mark, reflecting formative and summative assessment during the year. The other 50% comes from double correction of the written and oral examinations by internal and external examiners. Within that part, the five written examinations account for 35% and the three oral examinations for 15%.

The overall pass mark for the European Baccalaureate is 5 out of 10, that is 50 out of 100. This is an overall threshold rather than a per-paper one, so a weak subject can in principle be offset elsewhere, but the preliminary mark and the examination part each carry half of the total, so both matter.

Both written and oral examinations are marked by the candidate's teachers and by external examiners, and the final mark is the average of the two. If the disagreement exceeds two points, a third external corrector analyses the earlier corrections and sets a final mark between the highest and the lowest of the two previous marks.

Each examination covers the entire syllabus of the corresponding subject in s7, but it also assesses the competences, knowledge, skills and attitudes acquired in previous years, especially in s6. Revision should therefore not be limited to s7 content: earlier material is legitimately examinable and is often where candidates lose marks.

No. Assessment in the cycle is criteria referenced: it measures attainment against the learning objectives and required competences defined in the syllabus, not against the performance of other candidates. The inspectorate issues detailed assessment and marking guidelines for both oral and written examinations, so read the syllabus outcomes closely and check your work against them.

Start from the subjects where performance is most uncertain, and treat the written papers as the larger share of the examination part, since they account for 35% against 15% for the orals. Prepare the oral early enough to practise speaking about subject content in your second language, and keep classwork consistent, because the preliminary mark is half of the total.

Syllabi for the s6 and s7 baccalaureate cycle are published by the Office of the Secretary-General, grouped by base courses, advanced courses, 4-period options and 2-period complementary courses. Each syllabus is reviewed roughly every ten years, but changes can be introduced at any time by official decision, so always work from the version currently in force.

The core requires one scientific subject: Biology at 2 periods per week until s7 in school year 2024-2025, or Science, Technology and Society at 2 periods per week as from s6 in school year 2024-2025, or any other 4-period scientific subject in Biology, Chemistry or Physics. Note that STS is compulsory unless Physics, Chemistry or Biology is chosen as a 4-period option.

The published source material does not describe a retake procedure, so no reliable answer can be given here. Candidates who need to know should consult the European Baccalaureate Regulations in the official texts and ask their school's baccalaureate coordinator, since arrangements may depend on the session and on the school.